Every Light in the House

"Every Light in the House" is a song written by Kent Robbins and recorded by American country music artist Trace Adkins. It was released in August 1996 as the second single from his debut album Dreamin' Out Loud. It was his first Top 5 single on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart, where it peaked at #3.

"Every Light in the House"
Single by Trace Adkins
from the album Dreamin' Out Loud
B-side"If I Fall (You're Goin' with Me)"[1]
ReleasedAugust 20, 1996[2]
GenreCountry
Length2:59
LabelCapitol Nashville
Songwriter(s)Kent Robbins
Producer(s)Scott Hendricks
Trace Adkins singles chronology
"There's a Girl in Texas"
(1996)		 "Every Light in the House"
(1996)		 "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing"
(1997)
Music video
"Every Light in the House" at CMT.com

Content

The song is a mid-tempo ballad mostly accompanied by piano and fiddle in which the narrator was recently split from his wife. He literally turns every single light on in the house and keeps them on for her in case she wants to return to his side all the while paying absolutely no attention to the intense electrical hazard this will cause or the financial burden that will ensue.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that "Adkin's deep, powerful voice does justice to the yearning in this lyric about a man who has left the lights on waiting for his lover to return."[3] Rick Cohoon of Allmusic gave the song a favorable review, calling it a "creative approach to the age-old 'goodbye, I miss you' song." He commended Adkins' voice for "communicat[ing] pain so well" despite the singer's stature, although he considered some of the similes forced (e.g. "the backyard's bright as the crack of dawn").[4]

Music video

The music video for this song is in black-and-white, and begins with Adkins sitting on the porch of a house with his dog after his woman left home. He then gets off the porch, and he and some workers get to work on a power generator. Scenes also feature him singing inside of the same house which also featured an alternative sub chorus "Drinkin' Bush Light til the crack of dawn" whilst a slew of empty Busch cans can be seen next to the generator, ultimately this scene and lyric was scrubbed and the original was used.

Chart performance

"Every Light in the House" debuted at number 72 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart dated August 24, 1996. It charted for 21 weeks on that chart, and peaked at number 3 on the country chart dated December 14, 1996, giving Adkins the first Top 5 single of his career. In addition, it peaked at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100, also marking his first entry on that chart.

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[5] 10
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 78
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7] 3

Parodies

On his 1998 album Did I Shave My Back for This?, country parodist Cledus T. Judd parodied the song as "Every Light in the House Is Blown". Trace Adkins is featured in the music video after the song ends.

gollark: I refuse.
gollark: ?
gollark: https://xerbo.net/img/TransitBinView.png
gollark: And yet
gollark: Which Tux1 just lost, by the way.

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 18. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
  2. AOL Music profile for "Every Light in the House is On"
  3. "Trace Adkins Every Light in the House". Billboard. August 24, 1996. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  4. Cohoon, Rick. "Trace Adkins - "Every Light in the House is On"". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  5. "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 9900." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. December 9, 1996. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  6. "Trace Adkins Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. "Trace Adkins Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
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