Story

Alive is my favorite lyric I've written. It came from listening to too much Bruce Springsteen and growing up in a small town.

Maybe we're the weird ones, but in the town I grew up, we didn't drive out to cornfields and drink beer on tailgates on the weekends. I had friends who were far more "country" than I am who never even heard of that kind of thing happening except for on the radio.
We spent our time driving around, killing time, looking for somewhere to go and talking about leaving town someday.

I did end up leaving town, but I've run into a lot of guys I grew up with who are still living at home, looking for work, still talking about leaving, knowing that they probably never will. Nothing wrong with any of that, but I just wonder what my life would've looked like had I never left.

I bet I would've enjoyed sticking around. But I bet I would've missed some opportunities.
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I wrote this one with a co-writer in Nashville. We had this guitar lick going but the lyrics weren't coming to us. We took a break for a minute and I ran to grab a coffee. While I was filling my cup, the line, "The highway's the only thing leaving this town, everyone settles for settling down" just came to me and we went from there.

The key line in my opinion is "I'll be your hero someday." Don't we all do that? We make promises to ourselves and to others based on somedays. Someday we'll get out of town. Someday we'll be better. Someday we'll chase our dreams. Someday.

I don't want to build my life on somedays. They rarely happen.

Lyrics

Written by: Matt Jordan and Bobby McLamb
Download the song
Verse:
The highway's the only thing leaving this town
Everyone settles for settling down
You're an overnight hero if you make it out
Honey I'll be your hero someday

We park up on the bridge, watch the cars down below
Talk about where they're going and freedom and hope
What's keeping us here are the things we don't know
So we keep watching time slip away

Chorus:
Well the birds in the trees ain't singing this evening
The river and creeks have run dry
It's a settlers town, ain't no room for dreaming
No future we're leaving behind
Leaving's the difference between living and being alive

Verse:
I ain't no Casanova or silver screen star
No smooth-talking James Dean to hijack your heart
Ain't much to my name but this hand me down car
And a full tank of gas we can burn

We can fire up the engine and kick up some dust
We ain't gonna shine till we shake off the rust
Get this town full of small talkers talking about us
Hit the pedal and let the wheels turn

Chorus:
Well the birds in the trees ain't singing this evening
The river and creeks have run dry
It's a settlers town, ain't no room for dreaming
No future we're leaving behind
Leaving's the difference between living and being alive

Bridge:
It's four lanes to a new life
We can find it tonight
Leaving's the difference between living and being alive
Leaving's the difference between living and being alive

​Outro:
You're an overnight hero if you make it out
Honey I'll be your hero someday