The Origin Story
How an email thread became a website. Only took 16 years.
In July 2010, a group of friends started emailing each other “outlines” of Kenny Chesney songs.
The premise was simple: Chesney's songs are so formulaic that you can reduce them to hierarchical bullet-point outlines and they still make perfect sense. Beach, beer, trucks, barefoot, nostalgia, sunset — it's a template.
The group then tried outlining non-Chesney songs — The Rolling Stones' “Paint It Black,” Weird Al's “Eat It,” Bon Jovi's “It's My Life,” R.E.M.'s “World Leader Pretend” — and discovered that other artists' songs don't work nearly as well.
Words from the Thread
The Discovery
“after attempting to outline 10+ songs, i think the extent to which Kenny Chesney songs fit the outline format so well is pretty amazing. i didnt fully appreciate until i started trying to outline other songs.”
— DMM, July 17, 2010
The Validation
“I feel like this is validation for what I've been saying all along.”
— MJM, July 17, 2010
The Tagline
“It's really true that nothing works quite like a Chesney song (or runs like a Deere)”
— MJM, July 17, 2010
The Website Idea
“noice. we should create a song-diagraming website. maybe a tumblr or sumpin.”
— BDM, March 25, 2013
The Listeous One
“this may be the listeous of all cheznwazzle songs, which is saying a lot. Also, it should be noted that the way the vocals in the song are done, the song sounds like a laundry list of ideas. Very listevious.”
— DMM, May 23, 2013
The Duplicate Outline Incident
“Did BDM outline the Stones song not realizing I had already outlined that same song?”
— DMM, February 26, 2012
The Duplicate Response
“ww appurrently i did.”
— BDM, February 27, 2012
The Last Known Request
“Chesneys American Kids needs to be added here.”
— DMM, August 14, 2014
Timeline
Jul 2010
First outlines exchanged via email between friends
Jul 2010
The Discovery: Chesney songs are uniquely outlineable
Sep 2010
The Duplicate Incident: BDM outlines Paint It Black without realizing DMM already did
Feb 2012
DMM discovers the duplicate, 18 months later
Mar 2013
BDM suggests "we should create a song-diagraming website"
Mar 2013
DMM checks domain availability for OutliningChesney.com
May 2013
DMM outlines "Live a Little" — the listeous of all cheznwazzle songs
Jun 2013
MJM finds a Yahoo Answers link about Chesney songs being lists
Aug 2014
Last thread message: "American Kids needs to be added here"
2026
The site finally launches. It was worth the wait.
The Founding Members
DMM
Est. 2010Most prolific outliner. Founder.
8 outlines contributed
MJM
Est. 2010Co-founder. Coined "nothing works quite like a Chesney song."
4 outlines contributed
BDM
Est. 2010Proposed creating the website. Duplicate outliner.
1 outline contributed
YD
Est. 2010Original thread member. Silent contributor.
TOD
Est. 2010Original thread member. Suspected Yahoo Answers poster.
Why Chesney?
The thesis is simple: Kenny Chesney's songs are uniquely outlineable. They follow a pattern so consistent that reducing them to hierarchical bullet points doesn't lose any meaning. The beach is still there. The beer is still cold. The sun is still setting.
When the group tried outlining other artists, the format fell apart. Other songs have narratives, metaphors, complexity that resists reduction. Chesney songs are the reduction. They arrive pre-outlined.
This isn't a takedown. It's a celebration of formulaic beauty, wrapped in humor. If anything, the fact that Chesney's songs work so well in this format is a testament to how perfectly calibrated they are for their purpose: making you feel like you're on a beach with a drink in your hand, even when you're sitting in an office reading a bullet-point outline about it.
Current collection: 13 outlines across 6 artists. Chesney songs represent 54% of all outlines. Very listevious.
Browse all outlines →