This is a song pretty close to my heart. It basically tells my life story in three little verses! I'd had the chorus for this song sitting around for a couple years. My producer Burke remembered that tune from me playing a snippet of it once at a Day Of The Outlaw rehearsal in the LA days. He encouraged me to finish it as we were picking songs to record for this album. I used to joke with my old bandmates that I had yet to write a song where the chord progression was exactly the same for the verses and choruses. Then when I sat down to map out the verses, I realized this song was my chance to finally do that!

The style of this song is a basic three chord "outlaw" country type of thing. Since I knew the song would have an archetypal rhythm and song structure, I wanted to subvert the "norm" via the lyrics. Just having a rip roaring honky tonk number titled "Born In California" I thought was pretty unique in its own right. And also stating in the chorus: "I was raised in the county, but the city is where I make my home." Admitting you live in the city in a modern mainstream county song would be heresy! But, I think there's a whole lot of people just like me. People with deep ties to both the city and the county. I was hoping by straying from some stereotypes (but also using some county song stereotypes... rivers, whisky, etc.) I could play with that "city vs. country" idea in the telling of my own personal story. And hopefully I did it in a way that's relatable to both city and country folk (and those of us who walk in between).

Another thing I wanted to subvert in the song was the stereotype of the "tough guy" in a county song. I think a lot of songwriters like me are pretty sensitive people, not particularly prone to violence. So that's how I landed on the bit about, "You won't catch me fighting. My only weapon's a paper and a pen." (I also liked how it referenced back to that old Ice-T song where he states, "My lethal weapon's my mind.")

Ultimately, beyond all pretensions regarding the lyrics, my hope is that it's just a fun song to listen to. Climb in your vehicle and crank it up loud. It's kinda familiar, but just a little bit "off." (As some folks might describe me...)