Country hitmaker Cody Johnson is giving fans a deeper look into his songwriting process while stepping in as a guest co-host on Backstage Country alongside Elaina Smith. And it turns out, his biggest inspiration is as grounded as it gets.
Cody Johnson Hits
‘The Fall’
Since he’s not the one who wrote “The Fall,” Smith asked CoJo what the moment was when he knew the song was his. “You know lyrically, at first, I was a little apprehensive of this song,” Johnson admitted. “But then I started really applying the song to my life and the mindset that I keep every day.”
The 38-year-old singer also shared how he had the opportunity to speak to different groups of kids as an inspirational speaker. “I realized something in my talks with them is I used to say when people would ask me, ‘What's your greatest fear?’ I would say ‘Failure.’ I turn 39 next month, and I guess, like looking back at my life, my journey, my marriage and my career, my life is just as a human being on this earth. Failure is what makes success.”
He explained, “There's never been a world champion bronc rider or bull rider that hasn't been bucked off. I don't know a single one of my friends that are billionaires that haven't been bankrupt before. It's all about the failures. It's all about the times when you fall flat on your face. It's the getting up over and over again.”
Johnson quoted the lyrics. “So, I mean, ‘The ride was worth the fall’, and when I really started to just engorge myself in that message of this song, and truthfully, now talking to you, I might say this for the first time out loud that song may have been the thing that changed my perspective.”
Cody Johnson - The Fall (Official Music Video)
‘Dirt Cheap’
Smith defined “Dirt Cheap” as a song that redefines people’s understanding of wealth; she asked Johnson when he feels the richest. The answer came quickly to him. “Recently, we set the record at HoustonRodeo at NRG Stadium for the most tickets ever sold," CoJo shared. "So, as you can probably imagine, it was a big night financially. The next day I woke up pretty early. My schedule was kind of jacked up. Me and my wife, my girls, we got on the buggy, and we drove around this ranch that I'm here at now. And we took a bunch of fishing poles and some drinks on ice, and we went pond hopping, and we just went fishing, and I sat there and watched my little girls catch bass and perch. And I looked at my wife and said this is way cooler than HoustonRodeo.”
Cody Johnson - Dirt Cheap (Official Music Video)
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