Songfacts®:

• "Footprints on the Moon" is an inspirational guitar-driven anthem about believing you can do anything you want to. Gabby Barrett asks listeners to keep persevering until they accomplish their dreams, noting that astronauts walking on the moon is a good example of achieving seemingly impossible goals.
• Barrett wrote the track with Zach Kale and Jon Nite, the same team that penned "I Hope." The American Idol season 16 finalist told The Boot she penned it as a message of encouragement for listeners after being mocked as a youngster by her classmates for her musical ambitions. "I wish I had a song like that to listen to through high school and when I was going through the grind," she said. "So, anybody that's a fan of me, I wanted to give them some type of encouragement in shooting for the stars, 'cause if somebody can walk on the moon, then you are able to accomplish large things as well if you put your mind to it and work hard."
• Jon Nite came up with the song title, but Barrett's experiences of being told she's too young to get married fueled the songwriting session (the singer was 19 when she tied the knot with fellow Idol contestant Cade Foehner). "People always had their opinions of, 'Oh, you're too young,' because it's become a stereotype, for some reason, for people to get married later in their 20s," she told Taste of Country. "Which I have no idea why, because my aunts and uncles, they got married at like 13 and 14 and they're still together 60 years later."
• Warner Music Nashville released the song as the third single from Barrett's debut album, Goldmine. Its lyrics draw on Barrett's innate determination to keep pushing until she achieves her dreams. "I've always tried from a very young age to be positive," she told Billboard. "I thought it was fitting - this being an album that's completely about me, as much as I can get in it in 13 songs - that I put an encouraging song on there for people out there that may be going through the same things I did."
• Zach Kale also co-produced the track with Ross Copperman. The musicians are:
  
  Electric Guitar: Zach Kale
  Guitar: Dan Fernandez, Jonny Fung & Cade Foehner
  Banjo: Jonny Fung
  Bass: Dan Fernandez
  Drums: Nir Z & Jacob Arnold
  Percussion: Caleb Gilbreath
  Keyboards: Zach Kale and Alex Wright
  Backing Vocals: Zach Kale and Rozes
  
  Philadelphia singer Rozes is best known for her collaborations with EDM acts such as Chainsmokers ("Roses") and Galantis ("Girls on Boys").