Songfacts®:

• This song is a sassy take on a tumultuous relationship on the brink of collapse. Both partners engage in unhealthy habits - drinking, fighting, blaming each other - that exacerbate the situation. Carly Pearce uses the metaphor of a "fault line" running through the middle of the house to represent the ongoing cracks in their union.
• On "Fault Line," Pearce takes us back to a time when country music wasn't afraid to get raw and real about the heartache. Pearce herself cites the legendary Tammy Wynette and George Jones as inspirations, and you can hear their stormy romantic history echoing in the lyrics.
  
  "'Fault Line' is my little ode to the era of country music that made me fall in love with it," shared Pearce. "When I was little, my grandpa bought me album sets from every decade of country music and told me to study it. I fell in love with the early sounds and wrote this song as if I was an artist living in that time. I can't help but hear Tammy and George singing it in my head."
• Pearce had a hand in all stages of creating this portrayal of a relationship on the rocks. She co-wrote it with Jordan Reynolds, Nicolle Galyon, and Shane McAnally. The singer also co-produced it with McAnally and Josh Osborne.
• The song uses traditional country instrumentation with a modern edge. The musicians are:
  
  Aaron Sterling: drums
  Alex Wright: Wurlitzer electric piano
  Craig Young: bass guitar
  Sol Philcox-Littlefield: electric guitar
  Ilya Toshinskiy: acoustic guitar
  Josh Matheny: dobro
  Jenee Fleenor: fiddle