Brad Paisley’s ‘Bucked Off’ Applies What He Learned From George Strait
Brad Paisley says writing "Bucked Off" with two longtime collaborators was a lot of fun because he was able to channel personal nostalgia into something very realistic (for him, at least).
The song is the first taste of an album Paisley says he's working on, but is just four or five songs into. He promises he'll continue to keep one foot planted in the past with the other leading the genre forward. It's that kind of stretching that has made the superstar so dependable and continuously relevant. In a way, it led to this new song.
"I learned how to do this during our golden age, which was the '90s and late '80s," Paisley says. "I was a kid hearing these people on the radio, from George Strait and Garth and guys like that."
It was a time Paisley remembers as having an endless stream of rodeo songs. He started with how Strait ended his career. "To me that's like how you do it," he says. "That's the perfect career — class and grace and I see him just taking that hat off and riding around the Houston Rodeo one time before he goes."
"That's just his graceful exit and who he was and who he is," Paisley adds, "And I'm like 'Yeah, that wouldn't be me. I'm the one who ends up landing in the dirt.'"
Thus was born "Bucked Off," a breakup song with no comparisons.
"This ain’t my first rodeo / Someone’s gonna get hurt / Whenever someone says we need to talk / It feels like there’s a number / Pinned on to the back of my shirt / ‘Cause this is where the cowboy gets bucked off / Yeah, this is where the cowboy gets bucked off," he sings at the chorus.
Chris DuBois and Kelley Lovelace helped Paisley write this song, which he debuted during the 2018 CMA Awards and immediately released to radio. The singer didn't provide a timetable as to when his next studio album might be released. His last studio album, Love & War, arrived in April 2017.
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