Light Me Up

Album: Southern Gravity (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • Co-penned with Jesse Rice (Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise"), this song represents a unique moment for Kristian Bush. "For me it's a special one, because for the first time in my country music career, I am getting to sing a love song directly to you," he explained to Billboard magazine. "I've spent the better part of 12 years being aware that the songs I wrote were going to be delivered by a woman, and there are certain things I wanted to say as a man that didn't quite fit in that context. 'Light Me Up' is about how I feel when I am loved. A woman's love is a powerful, unforgettable force. It changes you forever. The men out there reading this know what I mean. You can't go back to who you were before. I decided to write a song to celebrate that."

    Bush got married in 1999 and had two children (son Tucker and daughter Camille), but he and his wife divorced in 2011.
  • The song's music video features Bush and his band playing in the historic Ocean Way studio in Nashville while real-life in-love couples are shown on the streets of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Music City.
  • This became a popular wedding song; a good choice for the first dance as the couple sets out on their life's journey. The following year, Bush made a guest appearance on the wedding-dress reality series Say Yes To The Dress and ended up writing a new theme song for the show: "Forever Now (Say Yes)."

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