Every #1 Country Single of the Nineties: Alabama, “I’m in a Hurry (and Don’t Know Why)”

“I’m in a Hurry (and Don’t Know Why)”

Alabama

Written by Roger Murrah and Randy VanWarmer

Billboard

#1 (2 weeks)

November 21 – November 28, 1992

Radio & Records

#1 (1 week)

November 20, 1992

Alabama tops the charts with one of its best nineties hits.

The Road to No. 1

Alabama’s American Pride album was led off with “Take a Little Trip,” which went top five.  It then produced three consecutive No. 1 hits, but only the first of them topped both charts.

The No. 1

Just like “9 to 5” was the perfect anthem for the work-centric eighties, “I’m in a Hurry (and Don’t Know Why)” was the perfect anthem for the workaholic hangover of the early nineties, as the country suffered through a rough recession and all that effort became an exercise in inertia.

Yet the record itself is exhilarating.  It’s an energetic romp that leans into the frenzied lifestyle captured in the lyric.

You get the sense the boys might collapse once they finish singing, but they keep up the frenetic pace from start to finish.

The Road From No. 1

Alabama kicked off another run of consecutive No. 1 singles with “I’m in a Hurry,” and we’ll see the next three in 1993.

“I’m in a Hurry (and Don’t Know Why)” gets an A.

Every No. 1 Single of the Nineties

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3 Comments

  1. Alabama never sounded so contemporary, and in the moment, as they did with This single. It hummed with an energy and drive all its own.

    This was the song that hooked my Hamline University roommate into country music in its heyday. He was infatuated with this single.

    Another roommate was equally enchanted by Trisha Yearwood’s “Down on my Knees” and Diamond Rio’s “In a Week or Two.” So crazy fun to share country music with people who were not typically inclined to listen to it.

  2. Yet another one of Alabama’s early 90’s songs that brings back so many good memories! I just love energy of this record, both in the production and arrangement and the harmonies. I also love the various sound effects used such as the ticking when Randy sings “Shaking hands with the clock” and the machine like noises heard near the end when it’s otherwise down to only the boys and their signature harmonies. Even though it’s about a workaholic, this song just always makes me happy and makes me think of great times! Even that guitar solo after the bridge puts me in a good mood.

    I remember even as a kid at the time I could recognize that this was something a bit “different” coming from Alabama, and how it was a lot more energetic than anything else I’d heard from them at that point. This song ended up on one of my all time favorite tapes I recorded around the Spring of ’93, which also includes a previous entry in this feature, Joe Diffie’s “A New Way To Light Up An Old Flame.” It’s an old 80’s Sony tape, and once again, I’m simply amazed that it’s managed to survive all these years and still play well enough today. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve played it over the years, and it’s been such a big part of my childhood’s soundtrack. My dad was always a big fan of Alabama, as well, (he and Randy Owen are actually around the same age) and this was among one of his many favorites.

    And again, this is another music video I’ve always really enjoyed! It’s even quite funny in parts. I even remember my mom getting a laugh out of it when she flipped her TV to GAC one night (our house got GAC in the mid 90’s).

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