Peak
47
Weeks
18
Score
1,070
Chart Year
2015
Underwood posted a teaser video to her social media accounts on January 28, 2015 with the caption "Friday..." and the hashtags #LittleToyGuns and #CUX1 (Carrie Underwood Decade 1, an initialism for her greatest hits album),[14] which was later confirmed as a preview for the "Little Toy Guns" video premiering via Facebook on January 30, 2015.[2][15] The video was directed by P.R. Brown, who has previously collaborated with Underwood's on her "Two Black Cadillacs" video. The video managed to reach 7.5 million Facebook views on its debut week before being deleted off Facebook and being officially released to Vevo and YouTube. The video received positive feedback and was nominated for "Female Video of the Year" at the 2015 CMT Music Awards; however, it lost to another of Carrie's videos, the one for her previous single "Something in the Water" (which also won "Video of the Year" at the ceremony). The video stars Grace Rundhaug, who starred alongside Underwood in The Sound of Music Live! television special, as a girl who escapes her parents' fighting by mentally transporting herself to a "storybook land" where she plays a mythical hero and reunites her captive parents. Sara Antonio plays the mother and Kris Wente plays the father, who start the video with a "vicious fight (sans any music at all)."[16] Underwood can be seen in between, singing the song in various locations of the forest.[17][18] Beville Dunkerley at Rolling Stone noted that the end of the video provides a more peaceful resolution than the lyrics of the song
Carrie Underwood co-wrote this song with Chris DeStefano ("Good Girl," "Something in the Water") and Hillary Lindsey ("Jesus, Take The Wheel," "Last Name," "Two Black Cadillacs.") The tune is about the effect that parents' falling out has on their children. "There's these characters in the song and there's a little girl and she hears her parents fighting, as unfortunately a lot of kids do," Underwood explained to Country Vibe. "So it's basically her saying, in her words, 'I wish their words weren't real. I wish they were like little toy guns and they didn't hurt you.'" Underwood penned the lyrics from her personal observations. "I've seen it first hand from different people in my life and seen how the tumultuous parental relationship between each other can affect a child," she said. "So that's kind of what it's about, but it's a really tempo-driven song as well, so it's kind of a bit of a juxtaposition as far as the story content and the music… It sounds rockin', but it has a positive message." Underwood spoke about the song during an interview with Chicago's US99.5. "It's about words," she explained. "It's about a child hearing her parents fighting. Even at a young age she realizes how much they hurt. And she wishes they were plastic and fake, like toys, and they didn't actually cause any damage." The song's music video was directed by P.R. Brown, who previously collaborated with Underwood on her "Two Black Cadillacs" clip. It stars Grace Rundhaug, who played Marta alongside Underwood in 2014's The Sound of Music Live! television special Brown pitched to Underwood the concept of a storybook land-themed visual where the young girl could be the hero, an idea which the songstress loved. Underwood then suggested Grace Rundhaug for the part of the girl. "Whenever I thought of the types of things I wanted to see in this video, I just saw her face," she stated. The song developed from a basic form that Chris DeStefano brought into the writing session with Carrie Underwood and Hillary Lindsey. "I had this musical idea - the track, basically," he recalled to Taste of Country. "I kinda brought that in, and I might have even had some of the parts kinda moved around. I remember playing it for Carrie and Hillary, and they both really reacted to it. I remember Hillary saying, 'I love that riff that you're doing in the verse there, you should move that to the main intro riff, that would be awesome.'" Lindsey also suggested a title, "Wooden Guns." "We kinda talked about what it could mean, and we kept throwing ideas out," DeStefano remembered. "And Carrie said, 'What if we called it 'Little Toy Guns'? And it just took it to a different level, I think, when we hit that. It felt right, and once we had that direction, we had more than enough to hang the song on."
In between the coats in the closet She held on to that heart shaped locket Staring at a family flawless But it ain't a pretty picture tonight Mom and daddy just won't stop it Fightin' at the drop of the faucet Cuts through the walls catastrophic She's caught in the crossfire Puts her hands over her ears Starts talking through the tears She's saying, she's praying. I wish words were like little toy guns No sting, no hurt no one, just a bang bang Rolling off your tongue (I wish words were like little toy guns) Yeah, no smoke, no bullets No kick from the trigger when you pull it, no pain, no damage done (I wish words were like little toy guns) And just a bang bang rolling off your tongue (I wish words were like little toy guns) Wish there was a white flag waving Or that they were both just faking And it was just a game they were playing Like shoot'em up cowboys Leave the plastic pistols in the front yard Throw away the score card And just turn off all the noise. I wish words were like little toy guns No sting, no hurt no one, just a bang bang Rolling off your tongue (I wish words were like little toy guns) Yeah, no smoke, no bullets No kick from the trigger when you pull it, no pain, no damage done (I wish words were like little toy guns) And just a bang bang rolling off your tongue (I wish words were like little toy guns) Oh I wish they didn't cut like a knife I wish they didn't break you inside I wish they didn't bang bang make you wanna run, yeah Like little toy guns No sting, no hurt no one, just a bang bang Rolling off your tongue (I wish words were like little toy guns) Yeah, no smoke, no bullets No shot from the trigger when you pull it, no pain, no damage done (I wish words were like little toy guns) And just a bang bang rolling off your tongue (I wish words were like little toy guns) Oh like little toy guns
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mar 28, 2015 | 99 | 27 |
| 3 | Apr 11, 2015 | 90 | 36 |
| 4 | Apr 18, 2015 | 86 | 40 |
| 5 | Apr 25, 2015 | 77 | 49 |
| 6 | May 2, 2015 | 75 | 51 |
| 7 | May 9, 2015 | 74 | 52 |
| 8 | May 16, 2015 | 70 | 56 |
| 9 | May 23, 2015 | 69 | 57 |
| 10 | May 30, 2015 | 64 | 62 |
| 11 | Jun 6, 2015 | 65 | 61 |
| 12 | Jun 13, 2015 | 59 | 67 |
| 13 | Jun 20, 2015 | 55 | 71 |
| 14 | Jun 27, 2015 | 48 | 78 |
| 15 | Jul 4, 2015 | 47 | 79 |
| 16 | Jul 11, 2015 | 50 | 76 |
| 17 | Jul 18, 2015 | 65 | 61 |
| 18 | Jul 25, 2015 | 73 | 53 |
| 19 | Aug 1, 2015 | 86 | 40 |