Songfacts®:

• This song is a contemplative look at Lori McKenna's upbringing as she pays tribute to her father. He raised Lori and her five siblings alone after her mom died when she was only six. McKenna has continued to live in her hometown of Stoughton, Massachusetts, so she can keep an eye on her aging dad, rather than making the move to Nashville. It's only now that he's reached the age of 83 that she's penned a song for him.
  
  "I never had a song for my dad," McKenna mused during a Country Music Hall of Fame event, "and I think it was probably because it's sort of too close, you know? Like, he's right there. It's almost easier to write a song for someone that isn't with us anymore."
• McKenna told The Boston Globe she considers "People Get Old" to be "the anchor" of The Tree album, which follows the many ways we're shaped by our families. She added:
  
  "It just seemed fitting to have this be a record about aging and watching your kids go off and watching your parents age. If you had your kids young enough like I did, you have a point in life where your kids are leaving the house at the same time that your parents start showing signs of needing more help."
• The music video for "People Get Old" was directed by John Moessner. It features McKenna flipping through an old photo album and wandering from room to room through Holly Williams' White's Mercantile Room and Board house in Cornersville, Tennessee.