User:Songsteel/Flat on the Floor

"Flat on the Floor" is a country song written by Ashley Monroe and Brett James, and originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Katrina Elam for her unreleased second studio album, Turn Me Up. It was serviced to country radio in early 2007 as the album's second single, and rose to number 52 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. That same year, American country pop singer Carrie Underwood recorded a cover of the song for her second studio album, Carnival Ride (2007).

In 2011, the song was covered twice by American Idol season ten runner-up Lauren Alaina.

Composition
"Flat on the Floor" is a country rock song set to a moderate tempo of 88 BPM. It is composed in the key of A major with vocal range spanning G$3$—E$5$. Its instrumentation consists primarily of guitar and piano but also features a banjo, fiddle, and drum machine. Written by Ashley Monroe and Brett James, it speaks to laying low and waiting out a difficult situation, incorporating what Amazon.com called an "Appalachian angst".

Live performances
"Flat on the Floor" served as the opening number each night for Carrie Underwood's 2008 Carnival Ride tour and for her setlist on the joint Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour with Keith Urban.

Lauren Alaina performed a version of the song on May 3, 2011 as her "Songs From Now" choice in the Top 5 week of American Idol season ten. This week was the first and only time Alaina was in the bottom two and at risk for elimination, implying a negative reception from viewers. She reprised the song in her finale week setlist on May 24, 2011, selecting it as her favourite song she sang that season. Mellika Rao at Rolling Stone criticized the choice, describing it "a head-scratcher," while Michele Amabile Angermiller of The Hollywood Reporter thought that Alaina's performance "rocked the house" and compared her favorably to Underwood, who won her respective season of Idol.