Drivin' Around Song

Album: Declaration of Independence (2012)
Charted: 106
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Songfacts®:

  • The country rapper Colt Ford is known for writing honest songs about life in the South. This song about driving around in a small town on a Saturday night fits the bill, but Ford didn't write it; the song was penned by the Nashville mainstays Craig Wiseman, Chris Tompkins and Rodney Clawson.

    "Anything that I've cut that I haven't written, I think that most people would never know that I didn't write it," Ford said in our 2015 interview. "To me that's probably the best example."
  • Jason Aldean sings the chorus on this track. Ford and another Georgia-bred songwriter, Brantley Gilbert, co-wrote "Dirt Road Anthem," which was a huge hit for Aldean in 2011.
  • The drivin' around on this song takes place in a "Jack and Diane town." This is a reference to the John Mellencamp song, which paints a picture of a young couple in a small town enjoying their youth in the rural setting. That song has a wide-reaching appeal, as it describes a pastoral life in many American communities.
  • The video stars Danica Patrick was Ford's love interest. In the clip, their vehicle breaks down, so Danica steals the keys to the mechanic's ATV and the couple go for a joyride (she drives, of course). The mechanic is played by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Patrick's boyfriend and fellow NASCAR driver.

    The clip was shot in Mooresville, North Carolina, where Ford and Patrick do their drivin' around. Patrick had more than her share of media exposure by this point, but Stenhouse, not so much. "It was the first time I had ever done anything like that," he told Billboard. "You could tell it was a little nerve-racking."

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