Mess

Album: released as a single (2026)
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Songfacts®:

  • "Mess" finds Jordan Davis leaning into the temptation of getting back together with an ex he knows will hurt him again. Sometimes you miss the chaos almost as much as you miss the person.
  • Davis has seemingly got over his heartbreak. He's stopped drinking, cleared the red from his eyes, and is finally sleeping through the night. Then he hits the real dilemma: he's sleeping too well. The pain has faded, but so has the passion, making all that healthy emotional progress feel, well, boring.

    So he calls up his ex to undo all his hard work:
    Make me undo all my never agains
    Back me up down the hall, lock the door
    Then go ahead, leave me like the bed, make me a mess


    There is something knowingly self-destructive about the plea. Davis knows exactly how this movie ends, but he wants to watch it again anyway.
  • In real life, Davis has been married to Kristen O'Connor since 2017, and they have four children. "Mess" fits right into his broader approach to songwriting, focusing on relatable storytelling and fictional heartbreak over direct autobiography.
  • Davis co-wrote "Mess" alongside his older brother Jacob Davis, Travis Wood, and producer Paul DiGiovanni. The brothers have collaborated on several hits, including "Buy Dirt" and "Take It From Me." Wood's credits with Davis include "I Ain't Sayin'" and "In Case You Missed It," while DiGiovanni, a former guitarist for Boys Like Girls, has produced Davis's music since his 2018 debut album Home State.
  • Released as a single in August 2026, "Mess" continues a recurring theme across Davis's catalog: the messy middle ground between a breakup and true recovery. His 2025 album Learn the Hard Way explores similar terrain. Tracks like "Bar None" deal with drowning out memories of a past love, while "Mess with Missing You" (a duet with Carly Pearce) finds him dodging constant reminders of an ex. On the flip side, "Turn This Truck Around" represents actual emotional progress.

    "Mess" takes that emotional thread and spins the steering wheel in the opposite direction. Davis recognizes his progress, then cheerfully decides to wreck it anyway. The single is an especially close cousin to "Mess With Missing You," sharing both the title word and three members of its writing team: Davis, DiGiovanni, and Wood. Sometimes healing is a steady journey, and sometimes it's something you willingly undo in a hallway.

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