Outskirts

Album

Single

Label

MCA Nashville

Genre

Country

Duration

3:00

Composer(s)

Jerry Allen Flowers;Josh Osborne;Sam Hunt;Shane Mcanally;Zach Crowell

Entered Chart

Mar 23, 2024

Peak Date

Apr 27, 2024

Released

March 10, 2023

This pensive mid-tempo tune, amplified by sorrowful guitar, finds Hunt brooding over a past love. Throughout the song, the Georgia native sings about trying not to dwell on thoughts of his ex. Happily living a busy life in the city, his resolve weakens when he passes the city limits and arrives at the outskirts of town. Back on his old stomping ground, the memories of their time together come rushing back to him. Hunt co-wrote "Outskirts" with Josh Osborne, Jerry Flowers and Zach Crowell. Although married to Hannah Lee Fowler since 2017, the song depicts the country artist pondering what his life might have been like if they'd never wed. Speaking with Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music Country, Hunt said they wrote the song from "a sort of free rambling man, single bachelor, trying to find his way in the world perspective." Hunt needed to adopt a different mindset in the writing process, as the song's sentiments did not reflect his own personal circumstances. "If I'm content and happy and all's going well, I'm not necessarily inspired to grab a guitar and write a song," he said. "So that was tricky for a little while. So I guess what I kind of did was, okay, well what if I had taken this road and I could have easily, I'm pretty independent, I'm good with being on my own. If I didn't feel like I had met the person for me to spend my life with, and that God had a plan for myself and her, I would've easily continued on solo. And so I pretty much wrote ['Outskirts'] from the perspective of the other guy, [like], 'If I had taken that solo road and chosen this other life, what would that be like?'" Hunt co-produced "Outskirts" with Zach Crowell and Chris LaCorte. Their moody production is reminiscent of Hunt's 2014 hit "Break Up In A Small Town." Zach Crowell played the keyboards and sang the backing vocals. Luke Sumner manned the drumkit and Devin Malone played the dobro, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar. Filmed in Portland, Tennessee, the black-and-white video features Hunt performing in a warehouse while glimpses of typical small-town scenes flash by. Director Tim Mattia shot the visual through the eyes of a truck driver passing through town, evoking nostalgia and memories. As Hunt sings about young love, familiar sights like a high school car wash and a baseball team warming up appear. The clip concludes with the truck driver leaving town, symbolizing his journey to the "Outskirts."

There's so much goin' on in this town
To keep me busy, I've been runnin' around
Up and down all these avenues
Doin' everything but thinking 'bout you
As long as I stay on 'em, I'm fine
The city side of those city limit signs
You don't really cross my mind

But soon as I get out here on the outskirts
I wish I was runnin' by your house first
Something 'bout a summer in the South, sure
Shines like gold down these old
Round bail river valley backroads
Way back in the holler where the grass grows
God almighty, baby, we were that close
To ditchin' this town and settlin' down
Out here on the outskirts

If I'd have had a lick of damn sense
I'd be on the greener side of that fence
Little starter house we've finally outgrown
Twelve-hundred feet we're 'bout to add on
Smilin' out there watchin' them
Big ol' yellow buckets 'bout to break ground
While you're shootin' all my baby names down

But soon as I get out here on the outskirts
I wish I was runnin' by your house first
Something 'bout a summer in the South, sure
Shines like gold down these old
Round bail river valley backroads
Way back in the holler where the grass grows
God almighty, baby, we were that close
To ditchin' this town and settlin' down
Out here on the outskirts

I'm over all these Saturday nights
I miss the stars in your eyes

We were gonna give up on the fast life
Have a couple babies, raise 'em up right
Take 'em to the river, get 'em baptized
Back in our day, if I'd have just stayed
I wouldn't be livin' in this condo
Hangin' out with Hailey from Toronto
God almighty, baby, we were that close
To ditchin' uptown, puttin' roots down
Out here on the outskirts