So Small
Encyclopedia
"So Small" is a song composed by fourth-season
American Idol
winner and country pop
singer Carrie Underwood
, Hillary Lindsey
and Luke Laird
. It is the first single
from Underwood's second studio album
, Carnival Ride
, released in Canada
on August 14, 2007, and in the United States
on August 28, 2007. (See 2007 in music
).
Carrie Underwood's quote on So Small:
The single was digitally released on Napster on August 14, 2007, the same day it was made available for sale on the Canadian iTunes Store
, but was removed after several days. The song was permanently available for download on Napster and released on the U.S. iTunes Store on August 28, 2007.
She debuted this song at the 2007 Country Music Association Awards
.
, but instead premiered on September 20, 2007 on CMT, where the channel became "Carrie Music Television" and aired the video continuously from 6:00am–12:00pm straight, playing it an estimated 66 times. The video was also made available to purchase exclusively on the iTunes
music store on September 20.
The video begins with a teenager girl walking down a country road alone at dusk, carrying only a backpack. A flashback is shown of her arguing with her mother before she walks out of her house. Two cars are then shown approaching her from opposite ends, driven by a man and a crying woman. As the woman's car nears the teenager, she steps in front of it in an attempt to commit suicide. The woman swerves to the left side of the road to avoid hitting her, colliding instead with the man's car. Both vehicles freeze in mid-collision, with their occupants unharmed but unaffected by the collision. Both the man and the woman have flashbacks of themselves leaving home after having a fight with their respective families and leaving them. As the night fades with a sunrise, the collision is reversed, and the teenager steps back from the road instead of onto it. Seeing this, both the man and the woman stop their cars and step out. The video ends with the three of them returning to their homes and reconciling with their families.
Carrie Underwood is also seen throughout the video standing in the middle of the road in separate shots, singing both at night and in the morning.
on August 18, 2007, making the highest chart entry by a solo country female artist in 43 years of Nielsen BDS
history. The song subsequently debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
on the same day.
It made its debut entry in the Hot 100 at 98 two weeks later. It jumped 76 positions on the Hot 100 in its third week on the chart, from 93 to 17, with 71,000 digital downloads, becoming Underwood's fifth top twenty hit on the chart.
The song also became Underwood's fourth Number One single on the Billboard country music charts, holding the peak position for three weeks, and her fifth consecutive Number One country single overall. On the chart week of December 22, 2007, the song fell from Number One to #10, the biggest fall from Number One since 1996, when Shania Twain
's "You Win My Love
" fell from Number One to #11.
However, "So Small" has become a cross-over hit, selling 962,000 downloads, certified Gold, and managed to be in top 20.
season 8 finalist Matt Giraud
performed this song during Grand Ole Opry
week.
| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "So Small" ||align="center"| Triple-Play Songwriter (along with "All-American Girl
", "Last Name") ||
| align="center"|2008 ||align="center"| "So Small" ||align="center"| Female Video of the Year ||
| align="center"|2008 ||align="center"| "So Small" ||align="center"| Inspirational Country Music Video of the Year ||
| align="center"|2008 ||align="center"| "So Small" ||align="center"| Songwriter of the Year (Carrie Underwood) ||
American Idol (Season 4)
The fourth season of American Idol premiered on January 18, 2005 and continued until May 25, 2005. It was hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell also returned to judge. It was won by Carrie Underwood, who has gone on to become a five-time Grammy-winning country megastar...
American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
winner and country pop
Country pop
Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to...
singer Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, in 2005...
, Hillary Lindsey
Hillary Lindsey
Hillary Lindsey is a country music singer-songwriter. As a songwriter, she has written songs with or for Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, and Tim McGraw. One of her compositions, Underwood's Number One hit "Jesus, Take the Wheel",...
and Luke Laird
Luke Laird
Luke Laird is an American country music songwriter. He is best known for co-writing singles recorded by Carrie Underwood....
. It is the first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from Underwood's second studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
, Carnival Ride
Carnival Ride
Carnival Ride is the second studio album from American country pop artist Carrie Underwood. It was released in the United States on October 23, 2007. It has been certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA. The album includes the singles "So Small", "All-American Girl", "Last Name", "Just a Dream", and "I...
, released in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on August 14, 2007, and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on August 28, 2007. (See 2007 in music
2007 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...
).
Background
"So Small" is the first single for which Underwood shares a writing credit. Underwood co-wrote the song "I Ain't In Checotah Anymore" but it was not released as a single from her debut album Some Hearts.Carrie Underwood's quote on So Small:
Single release
"So Small" was officially released to country radio stations on July 31, 2007.The single was digitally released on Napster on August 14, 2007, the same day it was made available for sale on the Canadian iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
, but was removed after several days. The song was permanently available for download on Napster and released on the U.S. iTunes Store on August 28, 2007.
She debuted this song at the 2007 Country Music Association Awards
Country Music Association Awards
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
.
Music video
Carrie Underwood's video for "So Small" was directed by Roman White. The video was originally planned to be premiering on September 13 on CMTCountry Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...
, but instead premiered on September 20, 2007 on CMT, where the channel became "Carrie Music Television" and aired the video continuously from 6:00am–12:00pm straight, playing it an estimated 66 times. The video was also made available to purchase exclusively on the iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
music store on September 20.
The video begins with a teenager girl walking down a country road alone at dusk, carrying only a backpack. A flashback is shown of her arguing with her mother before she walks out of her house. Two cars are then shown approaching her from opposite ends, driven by a man and a crying woman. As the woman's car nears the teenager, she steps in front of it in an attempt to commit suicide. The woman swerves to the left side of the road to avoid hitting her, colliding instead with the man's car. Both vehicles freeze in mid-collision, with their occupants unharmed but unaffected by the collision. Both the man and the woman have flashbacks of themselves leaving home after having a fight with their respective families and leaving them. As the night fades with a sunrise, the collision is reversed, and the teenager steps back from the road instead of onto it. Seeing this, both the man and the woman stop their cars and step out. The video ends with the three of them returning to their homes and reconciling with their families.
Carrie Underwood is also seen throughout the video standing in the middle of the road in separate shots, singing both at night and in the morning.
Chart performance
"So Small" debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot Country SongsHot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
on August 18, 2007, making the highest chart entry by a solo country female artist in 43 years of Nielsen BDS
Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems
Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, better known as BDS, is a service that tracks monitored radio, television and internet airplay of songs based on the number of spins and detections...
history. The song subsequently debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
on the same day.
It made its debut entry in the Hot 100 at 98 two weeks later. It jumped 76 positions on the Hot 100 in its third week on the chart, from 93 to 17, with 71,000 digital downloads, becoming Underwood's fifth top twenty hit on the chart.
The song also became Underwood's fourth Number One single on the Billboard country music charts, holding the peak position for three weeks, and her fifth consecutive Number One country single overall. On the chart week of December 22, 2007, the song fell from Number One to #10, the biggest fall from Number One since 1996, when Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
's "You Win My Love
You Win My Love
"You Win My Love" is a song by Canadian singer Shania Twain. It was the fifth single released from her 1995 album The Woman in Me. The song was written solely by Mutt Lange, making it one of the very few Shania songs which she did not co-write. The song became Twain's third number-one hit at...
" fell from Number One to #11.
However, "So Small" has become a cross-over hit, selling 962,000 downloads, certified Gold, and managed to be in top 20.
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
August 14, 2007 | Music download | Sony Music |
| Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
|||
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
August 28, 2007 | Arista Nashville | |
| Canada | Airplay | Sony Music | |
| Australia | |||
| United States | Arista Nashville | ||
| New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
October 20, 2007 | Music download | Sony Music |
Cover versions
American IdolAmerican Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
season 8 finalist Matt Giraud
Matt Giraud
Matthew Scott "Matt" Giraud is a dueling piano player from Kalamazoo, Michigan and the fifth place finalist of the eighth season of the reality television series American Idol.-Early life:...
performed this song during Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
week.
2010 CMA Triple-Play Awards
|-| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "So Small" ||align="center"| Triple-Play Songwriter (along with "All-American Girl
All-American Girl (song)
"All-American Girl" is a song composed by country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Ashley Gorley and Kelley Lovelace. It is the second single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in the United States on December 17, 2007...
", "Last Name") ||
2008 CMT Music Awards
|-| align="center"|2008 ||align="center"| "So Small" ||align="center"| Female Video of the Year ||
14th Inspirational Country Music Awards
|-| align="center"|2008 ||align="center"| "So Small" ||align="center"| Inspirational Country Music Video of the Year ||
2008 BMI Awards
|-| align="center"|2008 ||align="center"| "So Small" ||align="center"| Songwriter of the Year (Carrie Underwood) ||