Justin Moore Keeps It Real: Writing Songs About What He Knows

When Justin Moore talks about his music and lyrics, it never feels like a polished PR answer; rather, it sounds like a songwriter's genuine voice. His songs aren’t just catchy country hits; they came from snippets of his life, his values, and the people around him. He shared the stories behind them during his week-long stint as Elaina Smith’s Backstage Country co-host from March 30 to April 3.

Moore shared that he forgot about writing his latest single, “Time’s Ticking.” He admitted, “I’m gonna be completely honest, I don’t even remember writing the song. We’ve been writing the last number of our albums kind of retreat style, where we go in, and we’ll write 20, 30 songs in a matter of a week or 10 days or whatever, and you just forget about them, you know?”

The singer-songwriter explained how the track resonated with him as a father. “When people tell you about having a baby, they always say that you'll snap your fingers and they’ll be graduating high school. And you're like, ‘That's a long time from now.’ They're exactly right.”

He added, “And so this song is, you know, ‘Hey, slow down. Maybe put your phone down.’ Don't email late at night. You know, you got to go do another show, so you miss a birthday or those kinds of things. But that's the message of the song is pay attention to things that really matter in life.”

Moore revealed that “This is my Dirt” is a special song for him. “It reminds me of my granddad that just passed away a couple of years ago,” he said. “Right around the time he passed away, we wrote this song. We live on the land that I grew up on. I was fortunate enough to buy it from him, and so we lost him.”

He added, “He was a big influence in my life. And it's always special and kind of emotional when we play it live because I'm thinking of different moments that I had with him.”