Photo: Robby Klein
Tim McGraw pondered his favorite lyrics in his new radio single, “Standing Room Only,” but he realized that there wasn’t a simple answer to that question. The country music giant reflected on the lyrics to “Standing Room Only” in a reel he shared on Instagram on Wednesday (March 15).
“My favorite lyrics in that song — all of them are great,” McGraw said. “I love every line in the song. There’s not a wasted syllable in that song, but I love, ‘now and then on nights like this I catch a thunderbolt,’ because it reminds me of playing live. (It reminds me of) those nights where everything’s perfect, and the crowd’s into it, and the sound sounds great, and the band’s playing great and you’re singing great. Everything just sort of comes alive. Those are the nights that keep you going for the next night. You could do two or three nights where it doesn’t feel that way, and then you live for that one night where its like the stars all align, and that’s what that line means to me.
“The other line that I like is ‘mama’s front porch when I’m lost and lonely,’” McGraw continued. “I mean, that’s something that everybody can relate to. It’s always something that brings you back around to who you are.”
McGraw previously said, per his record label, that he’s “sort of a song nut,” and listens to new songs from songwriters — including paying attention to the lyrics — every day. The first time he heard “Standing Room Only,” McGraw said “the lyrics hit me right away. I mean, it’s just so well written. There’s not a wasted line anywhere in this song.”
“I love the perspective of ‘Standing Room Only’ and what it meant,” McGraw added, going on to reference one of his early 2000s smash-hit anthems. “And it’s more about life affirmation, just like ‘Live Like You Were Dying.’ It wasn’t about dying, it was about living. And to me, this song, it’s about going out and living life to the fullest, you know, and trying to be the best person you can be.”
“Standing Room Only” released on March 10, following a few teasers on the country artist’s social media channels. Listen to it again here: