Right Where I Need to Be

"Right Where I Need to Be" is a song written by Casey Beathard and Kendell Marvel and recorded by American country music artist Gary Allan. It was released in September 2000 as the third and last single from Allan's 1999 album Smoke Rings in the Dark. The song reached number 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Tracks and Singles chart in June 2001, thus becoming his first Top 5 hit and his third Top 10.

"Right Where I Need to Be"
Single by Gary Allan
from the album Smoke Rings in the Dark
B-side"Don't Tell Mama"
ReleasedSeptember 11, 2000
Recorded1999
GenreCountry rock
Length3:02
LabelMCA Nashville 172180
Songwriter(s)Casey Beathard
Kendell Marvel
Producer(s)Mark Wright
Tony Brown
Byron Hill
Gary Allan singles chronology
"Lovin' You Against My Will"
(2000)		 "Right Where I Need to Be"
(2000)		 "Man of Me"
(2001)

Content

In this song, the narrator is a promotion-bound executive who is climbing the corporate ladder at the expense of his private life. His boss says he will get a promotion if he flies to New Orleans on business. The executive decides to leave his first-class seat empty in favor of staying with his significant other. He states that being with his lover is "right where [he] need[s] to be."

Music video

The music video was directed by Chris Rogers. The video was shot on a deserted runway at Nashville International Airport in 98 degree heat. It shows Allan and a full band performing the song on a mobile stage on the airport tarmac, while several women slowly show up behind a chain-link fence watching the performance and singing along. When the second chorus hits, the women (and some men as well) break down the fence and start running towards the stage, and disappear as they approach. It ends with a shot of a plane taking off.

Chart performance

Before it was released as a single, it charted from unsolicited airplay while "Lovin' You Against My Will" was still climbing the charts. According to Joel Whitburn's Hot Country Songs 1944–2008, this song spent 48 weeks on the country charts, giving it the longest chart run of the 2000s decade.[1] Billboard credits the song with fewer weeks on the charts because of a rule change enacted starting with the chart dated January 13, 2001. Starting that week, Hot Country Singles shrank from 75 to 60 positions, so each song on the chart that week had its total number of weeks spent on the chart re-calculated to count only weeks spent at No. 60 or higher. As a result, Billboard reduced the total number of weeks that "Right Where I Need to Be" had spent on the charts from 23 to 16.[2]

Before its release, "Right Where I Need to Be" was the b-side to the album's title track.[1]

Chart (2000-2001) Peak
position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[3] 62[lower-alpha 1]
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[4] 5
US Billboard Hot 100[5] 42

Year-end charts
Chart (2001) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[6] 28

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[7] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Notes
  1. "Right Where I Need To Be" had not yet peaked when RPM ceased publication in November 2000.

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944– 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 644. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  2. Jessen, Wade (January 13, 2001). "Country Corner" (PDF). Billboard.
  3. "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 7268." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  4. "Gary Allan Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  5. "Gary Allan Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  6. "Best of 2001: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2001. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  7. "American single certifications – Gary Allan – Right Where I Need to Be". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
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