Jordan Davis Tells the Emotional Story of ‘Next Thing You Know’ Lyrics [Exclusive]
If the lyrics to Jordan Davis' "Next Thing You Know" don't make you cry, the endless scroll of social media remixes surely will. Fans have applied his song to their stories, and it's just so beautiful.
"That song progresses from getting married to having kids to having grandkids," Davis tells Taste of Country, "so it's cool for me to see the grandparents react to that song, because they take it totally different than I do."
Those reactions are part of a viral trend on TikTok and Instagram.
Davis and co-writer Greylan James admit they didn't believe the circle-of-life song would ever be released. There's no true chorus, and usually that means a song stays stuck in someone's email inbox forever. Chase McGill and Josh Osborne were the other two writers in the room, and all but James have kids.
"I’m gonna pick on Josh Osborne, man, he was crying in the room that day," James says, though he admits everyone shed tears. “He was a baby that entire write, because I think he was the newest dad."
The seed for the song was planted soon after Davis' son's first birthday, James says. The singer recalls thinking about his 3-year-old daughter and how quickly time was passing by.
"I just went down this whole rabbit hole of like, my daughter is three," he recalls. "They usually leave the house at 18. I've got 15 years with my daughter. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I just started thinking about how fast life goes."
It's the second verse and the chorus that follows that really grabs parents by the heart. Jordan and Kristen Davis have two kids, and she's expecting their third, so Davis knows all about the test on the counter, the funny white hat and the doctor saying, "How you doing there, Dad?"
"The way Jordan delivers it," James says, "it just feels like a realization of like, 'Oh my gosh. I'm a dad now. I'm providing for somebody' ... I get choked up even talking about that line."
"We're trying not to kill anybody in the song," Davis says, referring to Part 3 of the arc. "It feels like it's going there ... and we're trying not to do that."
McGill came up with, "You get to know your wife again" and turned everyone's heads toward him. He'd created the missing piece of a song that has big potential this country music awards season.
"And then Jordan had the line, 'Take 'em to church, teach 'em to fish' ... I think we were just reliving our relationships with our grandparents," Davis adds.
"I wanted to go have a kid after this song."
Find the lyrics for Jordan Davis' "Next Thing You Know" below. The song lives on his Bluebird Days album.
Here Are the Lyrics to Jordan Davis, "Next Thing You Know":
You swear that you’re stayin' single / Next thing you know / You meet a girl at a bar / And next thing you know / You get her laughin' / It’s 2 AM / You're telling your buddies / 3 months in.
That she ain’t movin' in / Next thing you know / There’s a U-Haul trailer / Next thing you know / Your old apartment / Is y’all’s new place / There goes the carpet, but / The deer head stays.
Next thing you know / You’re savin' money like never before, just to / Spend it all at a jewelry store, gettin' down on one knee on her mama’s porch / Just prayin' she don’t say no / Next thing you know / Your best man gives a half-drunk speech and you’re / Sunburnt on a honeymoon beach and your / Left hand’s gettin’ used to that ring / There the next two or three years go / Next thing you know.
You weren’t really tryin' / Next thing you know / There’s a test on the counter / Next thing you know / She’s standin' there cryin' / Noddin' her head yes / You’re half excited / Half scared to death.
'Cause next thing you / You're wearing scrubs and a funny white hat and the / Doctor’s sayin', how you doin' there dad and / Nobody’s ever called you that and you / You take that drive home slow / Next thing you know.
It’s first steps, first dates, first car, it’s / 11:01 wonderin’ where they are / Sayin' that USC’s too far / It’s amazing how fast 17 years go / Next thing you know / Next thing you know.
Next thing you know / You get to know your wife again and you’re / More in love than you’ve ever been with a / Lot of years of remember whens / And still some down the road / 'Cause next thing you know / You got a yard full of your kid’s kids and ya / Take 'em to church, teach 'em to fish, and ya / Tell 'em stories every chance you get / About how fast this life down here can go / Next thing you know / Next thing you know.