“Sittin’ On Go“
Bryan White
Written by Rick Bowles and Josh Leo
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
May 31, 1997
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
May 23, 1997
Bryan White goes full teeny bopper.
The Road to No. 1
After four consecutive No. 1 hits, Bryan White went top fifteen with the third single from Between Now and Forever, “That’s Another Song.” The cleanup single from his second album is his most recent solo No. 1.
The No. 1
Most of Bryan White’s records didn’t match up with his teen idol image, but “Sittin’ On Go” certainly did.
It’s pure youthful angst, as White awaits a girl he’s crushing on to return the sentiment. A silly “off to the races” metaphor is used, as he fantasizes about the two of them standing beside each other at “the finish line.”
Is the finish line the wedding altar, or just a shared ice cream cone at the Dairy Queen? Even if the songwriters intended it to be the former, White’s innocent delivery makes it sound like the latter.
The Road From No. 1
Bryan White’s third album, The Right Place, produced his final major radio hits: the top five “Love is the Right Place” and the top twenty “One Small Miracle.” He wouldn’t crack the top twenty again as a solo artist, but we will see him one more time in this feature, as the duet partner of the top selling female country artist of all time.
“Sittin’ On Go” gets a C.
Every No. 1 Single of the Nineties
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White’s music never got any hotter than warm milk for me. At its best, it was mildly comforting. He always sounded like he was playing it safe!
It’s more teeny bopper for sure, but it’s still such an enjoyable feel good song for me! It’s yet another song that just makes me happy and takes me back to better (for me personally) times. I personally love how fun and youthful this record is. I love Bryan’s enthusiastic performance, the insanely catchy melody, and the sound of the electric guitar in the main instrumental hook. And once again, like many of these late 90’s songs, Paul Franklin’s steel guitar just sounds so good to my ears and it’s such a breath of fresh air sonically, compared to the sound of most of what’s on the radio now.
Like Alabama’s “Sad Lookin’ Moon,” Bryan’s “Sittin’ On Go” is one of the other songs that always makes me think of the trip to Florida we went on in the Spring of 1997. Specifically, it was playing on the rental car’s radio while we were on the way to the Cypress Gardens theme park, which my mom wanted to go to. Meanwhile, I was in the backseat looking at the Universal Studios brochure, wishing we were going there instead, lol. “Sittin’ On Go” just really caught my ear at that time, though, and I especially loved the “ooh ooh’s” in the chorus, along with its very catchy melody and joyful feel, which was perfect for how good and carefree we were all feeling during that trip. Even my parents really seemed to be enjoying it, with my mom humming along. By then, even they knew who Bryan White was, and they would recognize his voice whenever one of his songs came on. My step dad often referred to him as “the kid.” Anyway, Cypress Gardens actually turned out to be another one of my favorite parts of that Florida trip, and I’m sad to find out that the park is no more.
Btw, the racing theme/metaphor of the song back then would always remind me of Mario Kart 64, which was one of the games I was really into around this time in 1997, lol.
It’s too bad this is Bryan’s last number one, because the next two singles after this are two of my all time favorites of his. “Love Is The Right Place” is yet another one of my favorite feel good songs from 1997, and it brings back wonderful memories from early into my 6th grade year. :) “One Small Miracle,” on the other hand, is one of my most favorites of his ballads, and may be the most traditional song he ever cut.
I also absolutely adore “That’s Another song” which was the single before this one, and it’s still a heavily played song on both my ipod and Spotify. It’s also the first of Bryan’s videos I ever saw on GAC. :)
Seeing artists like Bryan White, Ty Herndon, John Berry, Mindy McCready, Deana Carter, Kevin Sharp, Paul Brandt, etc., on this feature lately has personally given me a lot of late 90’s nostalgia, and it’s kind of sad to see that most of them are either already done or nearly done on this feature already. All those artists and many more from the late 90’s are still a regular part of my listening habits today.