No Stone Unturned

Album: Magnolia (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Randy Houser wrote this song with his brother-in-law, Dallas Davidson. They were celebrating Thanksgiving together in Albany, Georgia and the singer's Australian wife Tatiana was trying to do her first Thanksgiving dinner. She was looking for an ingredient that Houser hadn't heard of so he and Davidson went to the grocery store for her. However the store didn't stock the item. Houser recalled to Taste of Country:

    "I heard Dallas on the phone with her, talking to her and he's like 'Nope, we'll find it. No stone unturned.' And I turned to him and said, 'No turn unstoned.' And that's where the song idea came from."
  • Houser sings on "No Stone Unturned" about his wanderlust atop a marching melody.

    I headed up to Memphis on a train
    Got sidetracked in the Mississippi rain
    Picked up a case of Delta Blues
    Then I washed it down with Tennessee booze


    The singer told Billboard he considers this to be the Magnolia track most closely related to his life. "It's about self-discovery and just the life of a traveling man and I've always been, sort of a seeker in my lifetime," he explained. "I never have really known how to sit still very long."

    He added: "That song covers both that and my need to geographically go check stuff out, look around. That's just about living life and being on the go and that being just who you are."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne CashSongwriter Interviews

Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About Transgenderism

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About TransgenderismSong Writing

A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.

Scott Stapp

Scott StappSongwriter Interviews

The Creed lead singer reveals the "ego and self-fulfillment" he now sees in one of the band's biggest hits.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

The End Of The Rock Era

The End Of The Rock EraSong Writing

There are no more rock stars - the last one died in 1994.

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.