More Than a Memory

"More Than a Memory" is a song written by Lee Brice, Billy Montana, and Kyle Jacobs and recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on August 27, 2007 as his 51st single and first single from his third compilation album The Ultimate Hits. On the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated for September 15, 2007, it became the first song to debut at #1 in the entire history of that chart. (Seven years later, Craig Wayne Boyd's "My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face" became the second song to debut at #1 on Hot Country Songs, although by then the methodology had changed to include downloads and streaming, along with radio play. At the time of “More Than a Memory,” the chart was based on radio airplay alone.) The song was also Brooks's first #1 hit since "To Make You Feel My Love" in 1998.

"More Than a Memory"
Single by Garth Brooks
from the album The Ultimate Hits
ReleasedAugust 27, 2007
GenreCountry
Length3:25
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Allen Reynolds
Garth Brooks singles chronology
"That Girl Is a Cowboy"
(2006)		 "More Than a Memory"
(2007)		 "Workin' for a Livin'"
(2008)

Content

"More Than a Memory" is a mid-tempo ballad, featuring accompaniment primarily from piano, pedal steel guitar, and a string section. In it, the male narrator describes his attempts to forget about a lover who has left him, by destroying anything that reminds him of her and drinking heavily. Despite his attempts to forget her, he still finds himself attempting to call her on the telephone, and tries to stay awake so as not to dream of her. He states that since he still thinks of her, she is "more than a memory," even though he has been told by others that he will forget about her.

Chart performance

By debuting at #1 on Hot Country Songs, "More Than a Memory" set a new record for the highest debut on that chart, beating the previous record set only one week earlier by Kenny Chesney's "Don't Blink", which debuted at #16.[1][2][3] Its chart debut was described by Billboard as "almost impossible", since most #1 debuts on other singles charts (such as the Billboard Hot 100) are tabulated by sales, and not on radio airplay alone. Since airplay usually builds at a more gradual rate than record sales do, very high debuts are less likely to occur on airplay-only charts such as Hot Country Songs.[4]

In addition to its chart-topping debut, the song was Brooks's first #1 single on Billboard since "To Make You Feel My Love" in 1998 (see 1998 in country music). After its debut week, "More Than a Memory" fell to #8, and after slipping to #10, it began to climb, eventually rebounding to #2 for the chart weeks of December 8 and 15 before falling out of the top 10. The song spent a total of 20 weeks on Hot Country Songs. "More Than a Memory" also debuted at #73 on the Hot 100 for the chart week of September 15, 2007,[1] peaking at #53.

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (2007) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 53
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[7] 62

Year-end charts
Chart (2007) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[8] 43

References
  1. Cohen, Jonathan (2007-09-06). "Soulja Boy 'Cranks' Hot 100 No. 1 With Debut Single". Billboard magazine. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  2. "Garth Brooks Back on Top" Archived 2011-07-09 at the Wayback Machine, Great American Country, September 5, 2007.
  3. "Garth Brooks Makes History at Country Radio", CMT.com, September 5, 2007.
  4. Johnson, Fred (2007-09-06). "'More' Is The Most". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  5. "Garth Brooks Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  6. "Garth Brooks Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. "Garth Brooks Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  8. "Best of 2007: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
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