Rollin' with the Flow

For the album by Mark Chesnutt, see Rollin' with the Flow (album).

"Rollin' with the Flow" is a song first released by American country music artist T.G. Sheppard, in 1974 on the B-side of a single and in 1975 on his debut album T.G. Sheppard. It is better known for a version released by Charlie Rich in 1977. The Rich single was his eighth Number One on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles charts.^[1] "Rollin' with the Flow" also crossed over into the top-40 of the adult contemporary music charts and narrowly missed the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 101 on the Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart. The song returned to the country music charts in 2008, with a version by Mark Chesnutt reaching number 25 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

"Rollin' with the Flow"
Single by Charlie Rich
from the album Rollin' with the Flow
B-side	"To Sing a Love Song"
Released	May 1977
Recorded	April 1977
Genre	Country
Length	2:43
Label	Epic 50392
Songwriter(s)	Jerry Hayes
Producer(s)	Billy Sherrill
Charlie Rich singles chronology
"My Mountain Dew" (1977) "Rollin' with the Flow" (1977) "Beautiful Woman" (1978)

Content

The mid-tempo song is sung from the perspective of a man who, despite being at an age when most of his peers have started raising families (at least 30 years old according to the second line), still lives a hard-partying, rock-and-roll lifestyle more in tune with far younger men. The song also makes reference to his Christian faith, noting that he knows he cannot continue like this in heaven (thus why he does it while he is still alive) and that he will eventually be forgiven, not just by Jesus, but his "crazy friends" as well.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1977)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[2]	47
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[3]	1
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard)[4]	1
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[5]	32
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
Canadian RPM Top Singles	100
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	35

Year-end charts

Chart (1977)	Position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[6]	6

Mark Chesnutt version

"Rollin' with the Flow"
Single by Mark Chesnutt
from the album Rollin' with the Flow
Released	August 2007
Genre	Country
Length	2:47
Label	Lofton Creek
Songwriter(s)	Jerry Hayes
Producer(s)	Jimmy Ritchey
Mark Chesnutt singles chronology
"Heard It in a Love Song" (2007) "Rollin' with the Flow" (2007) "When You Love Her Like Crazy" (2008)

In 2007, country music artist Mark Chesnutt recorded the song as the title track for an album. It was released on June 24, 2008. Chesnutt's version became his first Top 40 hit since "I'm a Saint" in late 2004-early 2005, peaking at number 25.

Chart performance

Chart (2007–2008)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7]	25

Kurt Vile version

American indie rock artist Kurt Vile covered the song on his 2018 album, Bottle It In.^[8]