Walk Tall

Album: Southern Gravity (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • Kristian Bush debuted this song at the Grand Ole Opry. He told the audience it was penned for his adolescent son. "It's not what you do when people are looking that matters; it's what you do when people aren't looking," Bush shared. "I write songs for a lot of different reasons. This one I wrote because my son just turned 12. I'm pretty proud of him, but it's pretty daunting as a parent to think what would you tell your son; what advice would you give him?"
  • Bush wrote the track with his long time co-creator, Jeff Cohen, and Bear and Bo Rinehart from the band Needtobreathe. He told The Boot: "This song is a reminder to trust your heart and try to stay true to what you know is the right thing to do even in the face of something hard. To never give up on your dreams, no matter how tired you are, how much the odds are stacked against you, or how many people tell you it will never happen."

    "We all do our best to make good choices when someone is watching, but when no one is around, what choice will you make? This song is a reminder that in the moonlight, when no one is looking, those actions make you the person that you are."
  • Kristian Bush tried to get Bear and Bo Rinehart to sing on the song as guests, but the timing never worked out. He told The Boot: "When you hear the part at the end, where all the singing happens, that would be Needtobreathe at that point. That's just me with my Needtobreathe beard on at that point."

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