Songfacts®:

• Although this poignant track finds Phillip Phillips pondering lost love, the song isn't about a romantic relationship.
  
  "It's just about me," he told the Songfacts Podcast in 2023. "I was very unhappy and trying to figure out how to be happy. I still try to figure that out every day. Some days are better than others. But that song is me asking to find some happiness for each day to hold on for the next one. Just one more day. What's tomorrow gonna bring? Try not to get too bogged down in sadness and things you have no control over. So it sounds like it's a relationship, but it's maybe just a relationship between me and myself - me and my old crazy mind."
• In the five years between the time he released Drift Back and his previous album, Collateral, the American Idol alum faced many difficult personal issues, including becoming a first-time father and balancing his life as a touring musician and family man. His struggles informed the album and inspired its title. He told Songfacts:
  
  "It's kind of drifting back and taking a step back and reevaluating myself as a husband, father, a son, brother, friend. I've tried to really open my eyes up and learn more about who I am at this stage in my life."
• Phillips explained that the lyric, "Paint me in the corner of your picture," is about being comfortable in his own skin and surrounding himself with people who accept him for who he is, while still being able to recognize his failures and accomplishments.
• The singer-songwriter also had a few friends in mind when he wrote the tune, especially with the line, "Just listen to me for once."
  
  "That's all I need," he said. "It's like you know something, but you know they're just not gonna listen. It's like, 'I promise you, this is gonna help. I promise you, this is gonna make it all better.' But that's what it is. We can only have control over ourselves in some way."