The Devil Don't Sleep

Album: The Devil Don't Sleep (2017)
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Songfacts®:

  • Brantley Gilbert stepped away from his hell-raising past after marrying his wife Amber in June of 2015. However he is wary of being tempted back into the same pitfalls.

    Lord knows the devil don't sleep
    He never shuts his eyes
    You never hear him creepin'


    Gilbert told Lisa Konicki on the Nash Country Daily Writer's Room: "The Devil Don't Sleep is really all about just being conscious that the temptations and the traps that I've always fallen into, and the bad decisions that I've always reverted to, the bone headed moments of my life, they're always there."

    "Decisions are always there to make, and The Devil Don't Sleep, for me, is always just being aware that I am an addict," he continued. "I'm a recovering addict, but I'll always be an addict. Those temptations are there."

    "There's a lot of roads that go left. It's about just appreciating the fact that God has blessed me so much in this chapter of my life, and appreciating my marriage and that relationship that is so fulfilling to me," Gilbert continued. "It's my life. She's my best friend. She's the best player on our team. It's just about appreciating those things, but, at the same time, being conscious that the shadows are right around the corner."
  • This is the title track of Brantley Gilbert's fourth studio album. It was written after many of the record's other songs had already been recorded, but became the core of the project. "I didn't have that song and then built a record around it," Gilbert told The Boot. "We wrote a record, we told the story [we wanted to tell]. And I kept thinking, 'Man, this is a real positive record - there's a lot positive going on here!'"
  • Gilbert explained that the song embraces everything he wanted to say about his inner demons. "In my personal life as a man, on a daily basis, where I'm at in my life right now, I have to be vigilant towards myself," the singer said. "I've always been my own worst enemy, so I have to keep my head on a swivel … There's a devil on my shoulder, always. Thank God, God blessed me with a bunch of angels on [the other one] and all around me."

    "It's just making sure that I'm conscious that that's there," Gilbert added. "Whatever your devil is … whatever you're vice is, just know it's there. Acknowledge it so you can beat it."

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