Turn this Truck Around

Album

Learn the Hard Way

Label

MCA Nashville

Genre

Country

Media Type

DD

Composer(s)

Jordan Davis;Devin Dawson;Jake Mitchell;Josh Thompson

Entered Chart

Mar 14, 2026

Peak Date

May 2, 2026

Released

October 27, 2025

Catalog #

MCA

Turn This Truck Around" finds a fresh gear on the classic country heartbreak anthem. It's a raw and honest look at the moment-to-moment battle to keep driving away from a toxic relationship, resisting the overwhelming impulse to turn back and steer right into the emotional mess you just left. The truck is the central metaphor; a powerful symbol of stubborn resolution. While Jordan Davis is physically heading down the highway in the right direction, his mind is swerving all over the road, with every mile marker a reminder and every exit sign a temptation to revisit the relationship. Paul DiGiovanni's pop-rock-infused production adds a sonic bite to the narrative. The deliberate, forward-moving rhythm and jangly, insistent guitars create a palpable sense of urgency, as if the music itself is trying to outrun the past, all while knowing the memory of what's been left behind is gaining fast in the rearview mirror. Jordan Davis wrote the song with Devin Dawson ("All On Me," "God's Country"), Jake Mitchell ("One Beer," "Some Girls") and Josh Thompson ("One Margarita," "Wasted On You"). According to Devin Dawson, it "was one of those days where a good conversation turned into a cool title and then turned into a bad-ass song." The song's inspiration came from a classic bit of childhood parental theater when Dawson's mom drove him and his twin brother Jacob to Six Flags amusement park. "It was like an hour and a half drive, and Jacob and I were probably being little hellions in the back seat," he recalled. As the two boys raised hell somewhere along a Tennessee highway, Mom delivered that time-honored threat all children know too well: "Don't make me turn this car around..." "I was young enough to start acting better," Dawson admitted, "but old enough to know we were still going the same way on the freeway." Swap car for truck, add a few bruised feelings and an open road, and you've got yourself a country song. Davis has been married to Kristen O'Connor since 2017, and they have a young family together. If he's driving away from anything, it's probably a chaotic toddler bedtime routine. But like many good country songs, "Turn This Truck Around" isn't about literal truth; it's about emotional truth. The song is from Learn the Hard Way, which Davis described as a sonic shift. "The overall inspiration for this album really was to do something different... to kind of show influences instead of just talk about them," he said. Songs like "Turn This Truck Around" bear that out, leaning into new textures while still sounding unmistakably like Jordan Davis. Jordan Davis, Devin Dawson, Jake Mitchell, and Josh Thompson wrote "Turn This Truck Around" during a December 7, 2024, session at Nashville's Anthem Entertainment. The idea surfaced after Davis mentioned spending much of his life chauffeuring his kids, while Dawson recalled a childhood road trip with his brother Jacob to the Six Flags theme park in Vallejo, California. Those memories didn't connect to a song idea until Mitchell played a pulsing track he'd been working on built around a simple chord progression. The beat immediately steered the room toward driving themes. Dawson revisited the earlier conversation and shifted the vehicle into place, suggesting the title "Turn This Truck Around." The song came together quickly. "It doesn't feel like we talked about what the idea would be that much," Mitchell told Billboard. "It kind of just came out. And I feel like we didn't put too much story in there. It's more so just about that moment when you're thinking to yourself, 'Don't do it, don't do it. Don't go back.'" The track serves as an emotional counterpoint to Davis' 2023 hit "Tucson Too Late," in which he races toward a relationship. In "Turn This Truck Around," he's driving the other way, trying to end something before he talks himself out of it. Davis debuted the song live on April 5, 2025, at the Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The crowd reacted as if it were already a hit, making it clear to Davis that the song should be released as a single. MCA Nashville sent it to country radio on October 13. "The hero in this song. I love the fact that he's not 100% sure that he's the hero," Davis said. "Eventually, her memory is going to catch up to you, no matter how far you drive."

This time, I said it and I meant it
These boots ain't tappin' those brakes
And I'll stop for gas, but that's the only thing
That'll get me off this interstate

And I'll run it clear to California
If that's what I gotta do
To get me straight to gettin' over
What I'm over running to, girl, just as long as you

Don't make me turn this truck around
Don't make me make this Chevy burn back to your house
'Cause nowhere's where it gets me
I'm keepin' this pedal foot heavy, and I'm finally gettin' somewhere now
Girl, long as your memory
Don't make me turn this truck around

I ain't lettin' no love song
Remind me how lovin' you feels
'Cause I'll be right back to all wrong
If it gets me spinnin' this wheel, and I will

Don't make me turn this truck around
Don't make me make this Chevy burn back to your house
'Cause nowhere's where it gets me
I'm keepin' this pedal foot heavy, and I'm finally gettin' somewhere now
Girl, long as your memory
Don't make me turn this truck around
Don't make me turn this truck around

Don't send no, "Hey, we need to talk," don't say, "I'm kinda missin' you"
Don't want no memory lane walk, just stay right there in my rear view
And if you get to thinkin' 'bout me, don't even think about it, baby
Don't make me, don't make me turn this truck around
Turn this truck around

Don't make me turn this truck around
Don't make me make this Chevy burn back to your house
'Cause nowhere's where it gets me
I'm keepin' this pedal foot heavy, and I'm finally gettin' somewhere now
Girl, long as your memory
Don't make me turn this truck around
Don't make me turn this truck around
Don't make me turn this truck around