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How “Honkytonk Badonkadonk” by Trace Adkins Came To Life

Honkytonk Badonkadonk by Trace Adkins
by
  • Arden is a Senior Country Music Journalist for Country Thang Daily, specializing in classic hits and contemporary chart-toppers.
  • Prior to joining Country Thang Daily, Arden wrote for Billboard and People magazine, covering country music legends and emerging artists.
  • Arden holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Tennessee, with a minor in Music Studies.

Whenever you ask any country fan to name their favorite country songs, chances are they’ll eventually end up naming Trace Adkins’ “Honkytonk Badonkadonk.” The song was released as the final single off his 2005 album, Songs About Me, and it turned out to be a pop crossover hit for Adkins.

It reached the top 40 on both Billboard Hot 100 and Pop 100 charts, marking Adkins’ first entry to the charts’ top 40 hits. It also peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.

Story Behind The Song 

Written by the country songwriters Dallas Davidson, Jamey Johnson, and Randy Houser, “Honkytonk Badonkadonk” is your ultimate party song. The moment it starts playing on the radio, you can’t help but groove to it.

According to Johnson, the song came while the trio were having a great time at Nashville’s Wild Horse Saloon. He laughingly recalled the three of them as “poor songwriters” who’d hang out at the bar to get some free beer.

Then they started to notice a girl dancing on the floor with such big buttocks – that it seemed like someone “stuffed a beach ball in her pants.” But what makes her interesting is that she was dancing like nobody’s watching. She just didn’t care about the world – though she’s drunk and wasted, she was having the time of her life.

It was then that those three songwriters began throwing one-liners and out of nowhere came “badonkadonk” – which they knew they had to write in a song right then and there. 

Johnson, Houser, and Davidson completed the song in just about one hour, but half of it was spent laughing. “And it turned out to be the best damn joke any of us had ever told,” Johnson said, and also one the biggest Trace Adkins hits.

 You can play the video below to listen to “Honkytonk Badonkadonk” by Trace Adkins.

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