Bronco

Album: Bronco (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • The title track of Canaan Smith's debut album is a tribute to the singer's older brother, Nathaniel, who died at the age of 16 in a car crash. "'Bronco' is a song I wrote in honor of my brother who I lost when I was young. Songs like this are important to me because though fads come and go, stories last forever," Smith explained. "He was my hero and I wanted to put out something in memory of him. I think it symbolizes his wild spirit and I'm really proud of it."
  • Smith told The Boot regarding this cut: "It's why country music means so much to me, because I've heard songs like that before, like [Steve Wariner's] 'Holes In The Floor Of Heaven,' [John Michael Montgomery's] 'Letters From Home.' Songs like that... are the ones that move me the most because they're real-life stories about real-life things - tough times, loss, hurt and pain."
  • The song title references the blue-and-white Ford Bronco that Nathaniel drove, which Smith pictures whenever he thinks of his late brother. The image also inspired the tattoo of a bronco horse inked on the singer's left arm.
  • The song acts as a reminder to Smith of his brother's free spirit, a spirit that often inspires the singer to be a renegade himself. "A wild bronco has that exact mentality," Smith told Radio.com. "They're kind of stubborn and they're ready to run wherever they want to run and see where the road goes, and that's what I want to do with my music, too."

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