Peak
40
Weeks
20
Score
1,356
Chart Year
2013
Footage from the 46th Country Music Association Award performance were used to comprise a music video for "The Only Way I Know", directed by Paul Mille
This David Lee Murphy and Ben Hayslip penned song finds Aldean collaborating with Luke Bryan and Eric Church, both of whom have toured with the Country star. "The three of us are friends, and I felt like this song, having a little attitude about it, just made sense for those guys," he told Billboard magazine. "Luke's not necessarily known for a lot of attitude, Eric is, but I thought having Luke come in on the verse he came in on fit him real well. I just thought it would be a cool moment on the record, us doing our thing. Luke's hot as can be, Eric's hot, having us all three on a song that made sense was a no-brainer. It started out with the idea of us three being on it, and once we got the green light, it was 'alright, this is gonna be pretty special,' and it turned out to be." All three of the artists have a busy schedule, so the recording process took a lot of planning. Aldean explained to The Boot: "I cut my part of the song first, and then [producer Michael] Knox and I sat down and said, 'I think this would be a good part for Luke and then we could bring Eric in on this. You somewhat have it mapped out how you want it to go. We brought Luke in, he did his thing. I was there when he did his part." Aldean was away touring when Church laid down his part after which he and Knox had the job of piecing together the three contributions. "You figure out what sounds best where, who sang this line better," he explained. "Make it where it doesn't sound like you're trying to give three guys a part when it sounds jumbled up. You want every part of it to kind of breathe a little bit. The listeners, you want their ears to have time to adjust and go, 'OK, that's Luke... that's Eric... that's Jason.' A lot of times you'll try things that don't work, and then you'll go back and try something else, until you finally dial it in. We had somewhat of an idea of how we wanted it to be before we ever got in there." The song topped the Country charts, Aldean's seventh consecutive #1 and the eleventh of his career. This won the Academy of Country Music award for Vocal Event of the Year. Eric Church also won Album of the Year for Chief at the ceremony.
Well, I grew up in one of them old farm towns Where they hit it hard 'til the sun goes down Nobody really seemed to care That we were living in the middle of nowhere We just figured that's how it was And everybody else was just like us Soaking in the rain baking in the sun Don't quit 'til the job gets done That's the only way I know Don't stop 'til everything's gone Straight ahead, never turn round Don't back up, don't back down Full throttle, wide open You get tired and you don't show it Dig a little deeper when you think you can't dig no more That's the only way I know That old red dirt, the first thing you learn Is you don't get nothing that you don't earn Humble pride that I grew up on You find out just how bad you want it Sun in our eyes backs to the fences We didn't know the odds were against us Hit the wall smoking and spinning Still wasn't thinking 'bout nothing but winning That's the only way I know Don't stop 'til everything's gone Straight ahead, never turn round Don't back up, don't back down Full throttle, wide open You get tired and you don't show it Dig a little deeper when you think you can't dig no more That's the only way I know Maybe there's another path that Will get you there a little bit faster, But I'm sticking with the one inside of me. That's the only way I know Don't stop 'til everything's gone Straight ahead, never turn round Don't back up, don't back down Full throttle, wide open You get tired and you don't show it Dig a little deeper when you think you can't dig no more That's the only way I... That's the only way I know Don't stop 'til everything's gone Straight ahead, never turn round Don't back up, don't back down Full throttle, wide open You get tired, you don't show it Dig a little deeper when you think you can't dig no more That's the only way I know That's the only way I know That's the only way I know The only way I know
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 24, 2012 | 93 | 33 |
| 2 | Dec 1, 2012 | 78 | 48 |
| 3 | Dec 8, 2012 | 74 | 52 |
| 4 | Dec 15, 2012 | 65 | 61 |
| 5 | Dec 22, 2012 | 64 | 62 |
| 6 | Dec 29, 2012 | 60 | 66 |
| 7 | Jan 5, 2013 | 57 | 69 |
| 8 | Jan 12, 2013 | 52 | 74 |
| 9 | Jan 19, 2013 | 52 | 74 |
| 10 | Jan 26, 2013 | 46 | 80 |
| 11 | Feb 2, 2013 | 44 | 82 |
| 12 | Feb 9, 2013 | 41 | 85 |
| 13 | Feb 16, 2013 | 40 | 86 |
| 14 | Feb 23, 2013 | 51 | 75 |
| 15 | Mar 2, 2013 | 62 | 64 |
| 16 | Mar 9, 2013 | 66 | 60 |
| 17 | Mar 16, 2013 | 75 | 51 |
| 18 | Mar 23, 2013 | 79 | 47 |
| 19 | Mar 30, 2013 | 88 | 38 |
| 20 | Apr 6, 2013 | 98 | 28 |