The song was written by Brown with Matt McGinn and Jordan Schmidt. The song is about a couple where the question "what if" is asked repeatedly about what would happen in their relationship.[2] It features a duet with Lauren Alaina, a school friend from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School when he was living in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.[3] According to Brown, the song was initially not intended to be a duet, he said: "Once we decided on adding a woman to "What Ifs," I knew that I wanted Lauren to sing it, and, of course, she killed it."[4] According to Brown, another song was going to be used in the album, however, he was asked so much about "What Ifs" on social media that it was then decided that the song should be included in the album.[2]
Composition
The song is in the key of G minor with a moderately fast tempo of approximately 126 beats per minute. It follows the chord progression Gm-B♭-F. Brown's vocals range from F2-B♭4.[5]
Chart performance
"What Ifs" sold 6,000 downloads in the US the week the album was released on December 2, 2016, allowing it to chart at number 37 on the US Hot Country Songs chart.[6] The song first entered the US Country Airplay chart for the week of March 4, 2017 at number 60.[7] It reached number one on Hot Country Songs in October 2017, ending the record breaking 34-week reign of Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road". The song is the first number one on the chart for both Brown and Alaina.[8] The following week, for the chart dated October 28, 2017, "What Ifs" stayed at number one, as well as topping the Country Airplay and Country Streaming Songs charts, becoming Alaina's second number one on the former chart after her solo single, "Road Less Traveled", topped the chart earlier in the year. Together with the release of the deluxe edition of the album which also reached number on Top Country Albums, and another number one for a new track "Heaven" on digital sales,[9] Brown became the first artist to have simultaneous number ones on all five main country charts.[4]
The single became the third most-consumed country song of 2017, with 1,551,000 units including streams (599,000 in pure sales) sold in the year.[10][11] As of January 2019, the single has sold 889,000 copies in the US.[12] On September 29, 2020, the single was certified six times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and streaming equivalent units of over six million units in the United States.[13]
Music video
The official music video for the song was directed by P.R. Brown and produced by Steve Lamar. The video was filmed along the Californian coast at The Inn at Newport Ranch, a resort and cattle ranch to the north of San Francisco. It features Brown and his duet partner Lauren Alaina singing along the coast. It was released on May 14, 2017.[14] An earlier lyric video was first released on May 4, 2017, and shows Brown and Alaina cruising down a road.[15]
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