Songfacts®:

• Keith penned this luckless story song with his frequent collaborator Scotty Emerick. He recalled: "Scotty came in with the idea - 'I'll probably be out fishin' when my ship comes in,' and so we just started. Rivers (Rutherford) and Bobby (Pinson) always lean more toward some kind of heavy groove. Unless it's a heavy ballad, it's always groove with those guys. Scotty is the one writer of the bunch who's more settled down, more towards Don Williams. So when he gets a little groove going, you know it's something. I sang the hook a few times, we got the key and we started figuring it out. We decided this ole boy's beat down pretty good, but I still want him to smile a little bit. So there's a little bit of wit there for as bad as it is. The line that ties it together is 'good luck's bound to find me if it comes around again ... but I'll probably be out fishin' when my ship comes in.' Can't ever get a break."