Sand In My Boots

Album

O₃

Label

Big Loud

Genre

Country

Composer(s)

HardyJosh OsborneAshley Gorley

Entered Chart

Jan 23, 2021

Peak Date

Oct 9, 2021

Released

August 23, 2021

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Big Loud Records

"Sand In My Boots" finds Morgan Wallen heartbroken after a girl he met on vacation doesn't come home with him. Somethin' 'bout the way she kissed me tells me she'd love Eastern Tennessee Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots Wallen thought their affair was the start of a romantic relationship, but it turns out it was just a beach fling. This is the opening track of Dangerous. The first half is more reflective as Wallen takes on failed relationships. The second half finds him singing of the raucous, redneck side of his life. Wallen co-wrote 16 of the 30 tracks. This is one he didn't co-write; it was penned by his close friend Hardy with Ashley Gorley and Josh Osborne. Speaking with Eonline following the album's release, Wallen said this is the track on the record he can't wait play on tour. "It's a unique song for me and very piano heavy," he said. "I'm gonna add a piano moment into my show with it, which I'm super excited about." Speaking on Apple Music Country's Happy Hour Radio, Hardy told Wallen that he'd had the song concept in his phone for a long time. When he went in to write with Ashley Gorley and Josh Osborne, he told them about his "idea about just a summer love kind of thing," which he wanted to call "Sand in My Boots." Wallen noted he loved the demo as soon as he heard it. Hardy replied that Luke Bryan "fell in love with it too," though he had no idea how the "That's My Kind of Night" singer had got to hear the song. He added that "Sand in My Boots" was already a done deal because they all wanted Wallen to have it. "We thought you could make it cool," Hardy explained. "So he missed out, dawg." "Sorry, Luke," Wallen teased at the end. On February 2, 2021, TMZ posted a video of a drunken Wallen uttering a racial slur outside his Nashville home. Most country radio stations quickly pulled his music from the airwaves and for several months they didn't play any of his songs. After Wallen apologized on Good Morning America in July 2021 for his racist remark, "Sand in My Boots" began receiving airplay. Big Loud released the song to country radio on August 23, 2021 as the third single from Dangerous: The Double Album, Wallen's first release since the controversy.

She asked me where I was from
I said "Somewhere you never been to"
Little town outside of Knoxville
Hidden by some dogwood trees
She tried talkin' with my accent
We held hands and waded into
That blue water
She left her flip-flops by my Red Wings on the beach

Yeah, but now I'm dodging potholes in my sunburnt Silverado
Like a heart-broke Desperado, headed right back to my roots
Somethin' bout the way she kissed me tells me she'd love Eastern Tennessee
Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots

I said "Let's go shoot tequila"
So we walked back to that beach bar
She said "Don't cowboy's drink whiskey?" huh
So we drank bottom shelf
She said "Damn, that sky looks perfect"
I said, "Girl you've never seen stars like the ones back home"
And she said "Maybe I should see them for myself"

Yeah but, now I'm dodging potholes in my sunburnt Silverado
Like a heart-broke Desperado, headed right back to my roots
Somethin' bout the way she kissed me tells me she'd love Eastern Tennessee
Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots

I said "Meet me in the mornin'"
And she told me I was crazy
Yeah, but I still thought that maybe she'd show up

Ah, but now I'm dodging potholes in my sunburnt Silverado
Like a heart-broke Desperado, headed right back to my roots
Somethin' bout the way she kissed me tells me she'd love Eastern Tennessee
Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots
Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots