Songfacts®:

• This is a track from Catching A Tiger, the debut album by Illinois born folk rock artist Lissie Maurus, who records under the name of Lissie. The title of the LP, which is a line from this song reflects how the singer-songwriter has gone about realizing her goals on her own terms.
• After moving to Ojai, California, Lissie was visited by Band of Horses bassist Bill Reynolds, who produced her debut EP Why You Runnin. This song was one of the first fruits of their sessions. She explained to Spinner: "We just started to work on songs and he played the four chords of 'Bully' over and over again. In five minutes I had all the words written. It was almost like that song was me talking to a younger version of myself saying, 'These are the guidelines for like living a good life, realizing all the people that love you and that everything's going to be fine. Reach for things but don't push them away because you reached too hard.'
  
  It's about trying to force these things that are difficult and being hard on yourself, you can't do it," she adds. "As an overall title, I thought it was good because trying to get your hands around something slippery. It conjures up an image in someone's head and they can apply it to whatever their tiger is."