Shotgun (Christina Aguilera song)

"Shotgun" is a downtempo country pop ballad, and a second song by Christina Aguilera recorded for the ABC musical drama series Nashville (the first one being "The Real Thing").

[1][4][5][6] Digital Spy's editor Lewis Corner called it a "slow and rousing" ballad and the exact opposite of "The Real Thing", which was a "jaunty pop-rock bop".

Co-written by Aguilera, Sean McConnell and Audra Mae, and produced by Buddy Miller,[9] "Shotgun" is a love song about the strength of an emotional relationship and its stability.

[13] Although both "Shotgun" and "The Real Thing" officially premiered as digital singles,[12] neither song appears on The Music of Nashville: Season 3, Volume 2 album due to label rights (Aguilera being a RCA artist, and the soundtrack being released under Big Machine Records).

Bianca Gracie of Idolator provided a positive review toward the song, applauding Aguilera's "soothing and emotive vocal tone", and summarizing it as a "stunning tune".

[10] Writing for PopCrush, Zara Husaini called "Shotgun" a "gorgeous ballad",[4] while the Music Times editor Carolyn Menyes praised both Aguilera as a "powerhouse diva" and the song for its "stripped down, banjo-filled" sound.

"[14] Cosmopolitan's Rebecca Rose expressed her curiosity about whether Aguilera will "keep venturing into other music genres", and added: "one thing is for sure — I'm going to play [the song] on repeat basically forever.

[16] Journalist Carolyn Menyes thought the rendition showed a "softer side" of the singer and elaborated: "Through the lens of her character Jade St. John, Aguilera turns her throaty vocals into a twang alongside a male accompaniment, and it's effective as a country single.