As Blake Shelton’s nostalgic new single, “I Lived It,” continues to climb the charts—currently No. 13 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after 10 weeks—the Oklahoma native says part of the song’s allure is its old-school aura.
The new tune, which was penned by Rhett Akins, Ashley Gorley, Ben Hayslip and Ross Copperman, features lyrics like “Them old Duke boys, they’re flattening their heels / Hollywood was fake, wrestling was real / Wouldn’t dream of spending that two-dollar bill / From pushing a lawnmower around / I’d go back there right now.”
Blake, who burst onto the country scene in 2001 with his self-titled debut album, credits country crooners from the 1980s and ’90s like Earl Thomas Conley and John Conlee with influencing his sound.
“You know, you don’t hear songs like that anymore, which is a shame,” says Blake to Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown. “I kind of feel like right now, and even though it may just be a moment in time, I felt like it would be good to get some things out there . . . not a full-on throwback to old-school country music, but maybe some ’90s-sounding stuff on radio, you know? [With “I Lived It”] I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this could be the last chance to have a song like that out there,’ kind of a story-reminiscent song about a lifestyle that doesn’t really exist anymore except in our memories.”
Watch Blake’s video for “I Lived It” below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_nLsG_asQg
photo by Jim Casey
