Some country artists try to create new sounds. But then there are artists like Jon Pardi, who stick to the traditional country music sounds that are still a favorite among country music fans. These three Jon Pardi songs were all big hits for him and remind us why we love country music so much.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Dirt On My Boots”
In 2016, Pardi released “Dirt On My Boots”. From his sophomore California Sunrise record, the song is written by Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, and Ashley Gorley.
“Dirt On My Boots” says, “Might have a little dirt on my boots / But I’m taking you uptown tonight / Might have a little mud on my wheels / But they’re gonna shine with you up inside / Gonna hit the club, gonna cut a rug / Burn it up like neon lights / Might have a little dirt on my boots / But we’re gonna dance the dust right off them tonight.”
Pardi didn’t write “Dirt On My Boots”, but it sounds like something he could have written himself.
“I saw my 22-year-old self getting off a tractor,” Pardi says (via Songfacts). “Going to take a shower, and putting his work boots back on, and going and hanging out with a girl and having a good time dancing or something. And I really connected to the lyrics of it. It’s very country lyrics. It has tractors
“Ain’t Always The Cowboy”
Josh Thompson and Brandon Kinney are the writers of “Ain’t Always The Cowboy”. A 2020 single for Pardi, the song appears on his third studio album, Heartache Medication.
“It Ain’t Always The Cowboy” says, “It ain’t always the cowboy / That ain’t got a lot of hang around / Ain’t got no settle down in their boots / Gone’s just what they do / That restless runnin’ / Searchin’ for somethin’ / Leavin’ love in the dust of a midnight Chevrolet / It ain’t always the cowboy that rides away.”
An avid George Strait fan, Pardi loves that the song is a twist on a classic Strait hit.
“‘The Cowboy Rides Away’, it’s George Strait career song,” Pardi tells Billboard. “So you take that and kind of flip it; it takes on a whole different perspective.”
“Last Night Lonely”
On Pardi’s 2022 Mr. Saturday Night album is “Last Night Lonely”. The sweet song is written by Dylan Marlowe, Joe Fox, and Jimi Bell.
A song about the promise of new love, “Last Night Lonely” says, “It could be your last night coming in here / Drinking all by yourself / The last time giving your heart away to someone else / Yeah, we could be some history in the making, girl / Tonight might be your last night lonely.”
Songfacts: Last Night Lonely | Jon Pardi
Dylan Marlowe, Joe Fox, and Jimi Bell penned this honky-tonk heater. They are three emerging artists who cold-emailed Jon Pardi a video of “Last Night Lonely.” Pardi is keen to champion young songwriters. “I love the song,” he told Apple Music. “See, that’s why, when you get videos like that, that’s why you record outside music, because they may get another publishing deal. They may get a record deal. You never know what it’s going to do for them.”
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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