The Shape I'm In (Joe Nichols song)
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| "The Shape I'm In" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Joe Nichols | ||||
| from the album Old Things New | ||||
| Released | July 19, 2010 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:10 | |||
| Label | Show Dog-Universal Music | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Rhett Akins Dallas Davidson Ben Hayslip | |||
| Producer(s) | Mark Wright | |||
| Joe Nichols singles chronology | ||||
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"The Shape I'm In" is a song written by The Peach Pickers (Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip) and recorded by American country music singer Joe Nichols. It was released in July 2010 as the third single from Nichols' 2009 album Old Things New.
"The Shape I'm In" explains that his significant other left him and then describes his night out partying after the breakup. The song discusses moving on from the relationship. Nichols told KMPS-FM that he considered it "a very Muscle Shoals kind of song". Co-writer Ben Hayslip told The Boot that the chorus came from his grandfather who said "I'm OK for the shape I'm in ..." when Hayslip asked him how he was. Hayslip said that he had the idea in his notebook for eight to ten years but never used it before. Co-writer Dallas Davidson told The Boot that the morning they wrote the song he was hungover and he had a napkin on his desk that had a girl's phone number on it.[1]
Critical reception
The song has been met with positive reviews among critics. Kyle Ward of Roughstock gave it four stars and thought that the lyrics are "somewhat understated, and but quite effective" and said that the sparse production really "elevates the song because "the "distraction is minimal"[2] Karlie Justus of Engine 145 gave it a thumbs-up, saying that the song has "loads of self-deprecating charm".[3] Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave it an A, calling it a "classic country heartbreak theme, quite a few clever lines, and an altogether realistic account of a man begrudgingly coming to terms with the end of a relationship." He also calls it the best record George Strait hadn't recorded in a long time.[4]