Dierks Bentley’s ‘Living’ Is Another Stop-and-Thinker [Listen]
Dierks Bentley's new single "Living" is another intentional lyric from country music's most introspective male vocalist. Don't look now, but the Mountain man hasn't dropped a novelty or party anthem since "Somewhere on a Beach" three years ago.
Instead he's found a way to make you stop and think — something most various distribution platforms seem to program themselves not to do — without sacrificing airplay. If you omit the curious case of "What the Hell Did I Say," Bentley has a streak of five-straight Top 5 hits, including two that celebrate women en masse, one that's a heartfelt lyric to his wife and "Burning Man," which reaffirms his brand as a guy who can speak to the needs and yearnings of older men without sounding too old man-y. The Top 30 "Riser" (arguably the most Dierks Bentley of all recent Dierks Bentley songs) stops this streak, but prior to that you'll find "I Hold On," an all-time thinker.
Bentley clearly wants more than a trifle and accolades that come with No. 1 songs at this point in his life, and the result is a career path that's starting to look more like Eric Church's than Luke Bryan's. "Living" forgives those days when nothing remarkable happens, as long as moments of sublimity are on the horizon. His performance, the arrangement and discussions of song structure serve little purpose. This song is about the message, and his untamed spirit coming together in ways that are unique in 2019. It's also a reminder of the rewards that come with patiently allowing an older artist (Bentley is 43) to build his craft. He's better in 2019 because he's had more time to work at it.
Did You Know?: Dierks Bentley is a big fan of Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo's system.
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Dierks Bentley's "Living" Lyrics:
This mornin' I got up at 6:01 / I walked out and saw the rising sun / And I drank it in like whiskey / I saw a tree I've seen a thousand times / A bird on a branch and I watched it fly away in the wind / And it hit me / It's a beautiful world sometimes I don't see so clear..
Chorus:
Some days you just breathing / Just try to break even / Sometimes your heart's poundin' out of your chest / Sometimes it's just beatin' / Some days you just forget / What all you've been given / Some days you just get back / And some days you're just alive / Some days you're livin' / Some days you're livin’.
I went back in and fired the coffee up / She walked in the kitchen like she always does / In my t-shirt and it killed me / And I kissed her like it was the first time / She laughed and looked at me like I'd lost my mind / I said baby, I love you, can't live without you, I know I don't say it enough.
Some days you're livin’ / Like you never die / Blue's a little bluer up in the sky / You're high's a little high / You feel that fire you've been missing / Some days you're living.
It'a beautiful world sometimes I don't see so clear / Some days you start singin' / And you don't need a reason / Sometimes the world's just right / Your clear eyes ain't even blinkin' / Got a heart full of grateful / For all you've been given / Some days you just get by / Yeah some days you're just alive / Some days you're livin’.