How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Now, I grew up down an old dirt road in a town you wouldn't know
My pop's picked the place up for fifteen hundred bucks back in 1964
My grandfather was a drinker, back in the day, he put him down
But a war is known to change a man and the whiskey's known to change a man, but
That's not me
I rarely drink from the bottle but I'll smoke a little weed
I still live in the sticks where you wouldn't go
In a town of twelve hundred off an old dirt road
And a country boy is all I'll ever be
Now, its been twelve years since I sold my soul to the devil in L.A.
He said sign your name here on the dotted line and your songs, they all will play
He set up shop on Sunset, he put me up at the Marquee
He said "you want to sell a million records boy, you better listen to me"
He said "change your style, whiten your smile, you can lose a couple of pounds
If you want to live this life, you better lose that wife, do you need your friends around?"
And I said, no, that's not me
Cause the biggest things in life are your friends and family
And I like my jeans and my old t-shirts
And a couple extra pounds never really hurt
'Cause a country boy is all I'll ever be
'Cause Hank taught me just how to stay alive
You'll never catch me out the house without my .9 or .45
I got a big orange tractor and a diesel truck
And my idea of heaven is chasing whitetail bucks
And as a country boy, I know I can survive
Now, two flags fly above my land that really sum up how I feel
One is the colors that fly high and proud, the red, the white, the blue
The other one's got a rattlesnake with a simple statement made
"Don't Tread On Me" is what is says and I'll take that to my grave
Because this is me
I'm proud to be American and strong in my beliefs
And I've said it before but I'll say it again
'Cause I've never needed government to hold my hand
And I've said it before but I'll say it again
'Cause my family's always fought and died to save this land
And a country boy is all I'll ever be
My pop's picked the place up for fifteen hundred bucks back in 1964
My grandfather was a drinker, back in the day, he put him down
But a war is known to change a man and the whiskey's known to change a man, but
That's not me
I rarely drink from the bottle but I'll smoke a little weed
I still live in the sticks where you wouldn't go
In a town of twelve hundred off an old dirt road
And a country boy is all I'll ever be
Now, its been twelve years since I sold my soul to the devil in L.A.
He said sign your name here on the dotted line and your songs, they all will play
He set up shop on Sunset, he put me up at the Marquee
He said "you want to sell a million records boy, you better listen to me"
He said "change your style, whiten your smile, you can lose a couple of pounds
If you want to live this life, you better lose that wife, do you need your friends around?"
And I said, no, that's not me
Cause the biggest things in life are your friends and family
And I like my jeans and my old t-shirts
And a couple extra pounds never really hurt
'Cause a country boy is all I'll ever be
'Cause Hank taught me just how to stay alive
You'll never catch me out the house without my .9 or .45
I got a big orange tractor and a diesel truck
And my idea of heaven is chasing whitetail bucks
And as a country boy, I know I can survive
Now, two flags fly above my land that really sum up how I feel
One is the colors that fly high and proud, the red, the white, the blue
The other one's got a rattlesnake with a simple statement made
"Don't Tread On Me" is what is says and I'll take that to my grave
Because this is me
I'm proud to be American and strong in my beliefs
And I've said it before but I'll say it again
'Cause I've never needed government to hold my hand
And I've said it before but I'll say it again
'Cause my family's always fought and died to save this land
And a country boy is all I'll ever be
Lyrics submitted by MusicFREAK20
Country Boy Lyrics as written by Paul Jay Lewis Donald Gallacher
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Magical
Ed Sheeran
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Blue
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“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
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Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Aaron Lewis is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the post-grunge group Staind. This is the first single from his debut solo album, which he describes as being somewhere between James Taylor and his Staind hit "It's Been Awhile." When we spoke with Lewis in 2011, he told us: "I'm pretty damn proud of 'Country Boy.' Just because it's my story. And no matter how many of those things that are in there are cliché country things, they're true. And that's the difference. I love that damn song. I didn't go to Nashville and pick out from a catalogue of songs, songs that I felt fit the image that I was trying to portray. I wrote that song. I wrote all those songs. I mean, it is so old-school country, it's awesome. And then there's other flavors of it, too - there's still flavors there that are teeter-tottering. I haven't just completely lost myself in the country thing, if that makes any sense."
This song features guest spots by Chris Young, George Jones and Charlie Daniels. "I've got to say that 'Country Boy' is definitely in the stylings of 'Country Boy Can Survive' (by Hank Williams jr.)," he told Billboard Magazine. "I'm not going to try and deny that correlation."
Growing up in rural Vermont, Lewis spent summers with his World War II veteran grandfather hunting and fishing. "Country was the background music to my childhood," said the singer. "My grandfather listened to Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr. and all of the greats. When Staind did our first tour with Kid Rock in 1999, I rode the bus with him on a couple occasions, and we bonded over this music. I haven't been able to let go of it since then. George Jones and Charlie Daniels are two of the genre's legends, and Chris Young represents the new regime," he added regarding this song. "It's definitely a personal, autobiographical song, and I'm very thankful that they all participated."
The video features Jones, Daniels and Young in the studio and draws from Lewis' family archives. "The video really is me. This is probably the most I've ever participated in any video that I've been involved with. I added a lot to the mix to tell the story."
When this debuted at #59 on the Country Songs chart dated February 5, 2011, George Jones became the first artist to appear on the list in each of the last seven decades. He first appeared on the chart with "Why Baby Why," which peaked at #4 the week of Oct. 29, 1955.
The song debuted at #100 on the Hot 100 dated March 12, 2011. It marked Charlie Daniels' first entry on the chart, since "Still In Saigon" peaked at #22 in 1982.
Though Charlie Daniels and Chris Young were in the studio the same time as Lewis, George Jones wasn't well at the time and had to record his vocals on his own later.