Country Boy by Aaron Lewis

Album: Town Line (2010)

Charted: 87

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Songfacts®:

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 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.
This is the signature walkout song for Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Chad Mendes. At UFC 189, held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 11, 2015, Lewis performed the song live for Mendes' entrance to his interim title fight with Conor McGregor. News had been building for some time that Mendes' opponent was bringing in Sinéad O'Connor to perform "Foggy Dew" for his own entrance, and Mendes wanted to respond. The two opponents carried a lot of animosity into the bout. Mendes lost the fight by technical knockout in the second round, but won the first round pretty soundly and made a good fight of it to the end.

Comments: 5

Robert Rand from UsaThe music of Stained and Aaron Lewis are both new to me and I'm grateful and humbled by Mr. Lewis' ability to send this 56 year old man back into the excitement of rock and roll at top shelf form and then make me cry tears of joy with his honest, heartfelt and passionate country songs. Mr. Lewis', Sir, it is an honor to experience your talent. Simply mesmerizing. May God Bless you and keep you safe and preforming for many years to come. I cannot wait for you to be in concert near Los Angeles. ! I'll squeeze my electric wheelchair through mosh pits and hillbillies to see you live!
Bringthe350backgm from Missouri Who the comment above mine was the Illuminati trying to cover up the real meaning behind the song?
Bo from Cottonwood CaI love this song, i was born and raised in a small town in northern California called Cottonwood, so this song has a great impact on my life, I'm 29 now and still living in my home town.
Mike from Carmel, InUh, Matt...that would be the Revolutionary War.
Matt from Detroit, MiNo one has mentioned the bigger part of this song...The Illuminati. He is singing about how he sold his soul to the devil in LA and how demonic forced were telling him that he doesn't need his friends or family and that he needs to change to become famous.

"Now its been 12 years since I sold my soul to the devil in LA." Some artists break their conditioning and begin speaking out against the devil and the Illuminati. I am not a fan of rap but Eminem and other rappers speak out against the Illuminati. Aaron is talking about how he sold his soul for fortune and fame.

"He said, 'sign your name here on the dotted line and your songs they all will play."

"You wanna sell a million records boy, you better listen to me."

"he said, 'change your style, white in your smile, you could lose a couple pounds.'"

"And if you want to live this life, you better lose that wife, do you need your friends around?"

So he sold his soul to become rich and famous...like they all do. But now he is speaking out and breaking his Illuminati conditioning.

"No, thats not me." "Cuz the biggest things in life are your friends and family."

"You'll never catch me out the house without my nine or 45." - Aaron Lewis proves in this line that he is pro-gun. Almost like the Motor City Madman Ted Nugent. Our country is founded on protecting yourself and the US government and Illuminati are anti-guns. They want us civilians unarmed.

"My idea of Heaven's chasing white-tailed buck. So you know as a country boy, you know I can survive." Like Ted Nugent, Aaron Lewis is a hunter and can fend for himself. When the upcoming economic collapse happens, he will not go hungry as he is a hunter. Unlike the rest of America that rely on companies to give them their food.

"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 gotta rattlesnake with a simple statement made. Don't Tread on Me is what it says and I'll take that to my grave"

This is a very important line. Aaron Lewis is not like most Americans who fly the Red White and Blue and have no idea what it stands for. Under it is the Gadsen Flag (Rattlesnake with Don't Tread on Me" written on it. This clearly shows that Aaron lewis is true Patriot and knows what the stars and stripes really stand for. Our ancestors fought and died for this country during the civil war. They fought against their tyrannical government and won. They then setup a free country. Its just unfortunate that we have tyrants in out government once again who want to enslave us. Our federal government does not care about the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Our rights are being striped away from us all in the name of fighting "terrorism." But thats a whole other topic. The Gadsen Flag represents state's rights. The states were given powers that the federal government could not take away. But with an uneducated population, the federal government is stripping state's rights away.

"Cuz I've never needed government to hold my hand."
"cuz my family has always fought and died to save this land"

This song clearly shows that Aaron is breaking his conditioning. When he talks about the devil, he follows things up with...thats not me. When he speaks about the US and Gadsen Flags and about being American...he says thats me.

I have always liked Staind. Staind has helped me through a lot with songs like Outside. This makes Aaron Lewis even more awesome. Thank you Aaron for speaking out and telling us what a true American is.

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