Jimmie Allen‘s new single “Down Home” is the song that’s going to raise his booking fee. The pop-friendly country cut is a headliner-status tribute that’s three kinds of infectious without any chance of growing old. It’s personal and accessible, two words that frame every songwriter’s bullseye.
The natural tendency after an artist suffers great loss is to smother a project with tears and candor. Sometimes that kind of emotional purge works, but frequently it yields high burn, which is to say country music listeners grow tired of hearing about it. As humans, we’re self-centered, so for a song to last it needs to speak to universal loss. Allen and his writing team (Cameron Bedell, Rian Ball and Tate Howell) work an easy melody with familiar yet meaningful imagery. Their play on the phrase “down home” is especially smart, but it’s the scene that finds someone looking down from above that touches the heart.
Lyrically, emotionally and melodically (“Down Home” comes with a great hook), this song sticks to you like a Southern supper. While Allen’s two previous albums (Mercury Lane and Bettie James) have included powerful songwriter cuts, his chosen singles have only touched on his rare ability to express himself in song. This song (from Tulip Lane, due out June 24) does it best. It’s likely to sell more concert tickets than any of his previous No. 1s.
Did You Know?: Jimmie Allen wrote “Down Home” about his late father, James “Big Jim” Allen. He died in September 2019.
Listen to Jimmie Allen “Down Home”
Jimmie Allen, “Down Home Lyrics”:
I’ll bet you’re up there, making’ new friends / I’m pretty sure you’re lovin’ every minute / If there’s a golden pond full of fish / I bet you already caught everything in it / I bet you’re making everybody laugh with your jokes / I know you’re holding nothing but the best kinda hope / Shining a light up there with a big ol’ smile / And meanwhile.
Chorus:
Down home / Oh, you know mama’s still cooking / Them down home grits / I promise I’m working / With this guitar ’bout as hard as I can / I met a girl, bought a house, put a nice little payment / Down home / Is still there where my heart is / This down home kid / Is just how you left him / I still hate that you’re gone, I wish you were here / But I hope I’m making you proud / ‘Cause I know you’re up there looking down home.
There ain’t a day down here that goes by / That I don’t climb up in my F-150 / On a backroad bumping Charley Pride / Yeah, every song keeps you right here with me / I got a daughter now I really wish you’d have met / Yeah, she’s walking now, but I know you see every step / I wear the number fifteen every chance I get / So when you’re looking through the clouds daddy / You can bet.
Repeat Chorus
Daddy, don’t you worry / Oh no, ’cause everything, everything, everything’s good down home.
Repeat Chorus
Down home, down home, yeah / We still miss you, we still miss you / We miss you down home.
attachment-down home cover art