Up

Album: Born Here, Live Here, Die Here (2021)
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Songfacts®:

  • Here, Luke Bryan uses the word "Up" to create a variety of images related to country life. He extolls the virtues of hard work.

    Up
    Early in the mornin' wakin' that sun
    Up
    Fillin' that coffee, crankin' that tractor


    Unwinding with some favorite hobbies and sports, after a week of hard labor.

    Up
    On a Sunday pond bank tearin' that crank bait
    Up
    Livin' for a Friday, runnin' that scoreboard
    Up


    The simple rural lifestyle that a country boy enjoys.

    What a way to grow
    Up
    Rollin' 'round town in a hand me down old pickup
    Pullin' in the driveway pickin' that pretty thang
    Up

  • In the chorus, Bryan highlights faith and living an upright life.

    Up
    In the sky, there's a guy
    Lookin' down on us
    Lookin' up
    Our whole life, raised up right


    Bryan took the title of his 2022 Raised Up Right Tour from the lyric.
  • Luke Bryan recorded the song for Born Here Live Here Die Here (Deluxe Edition). He released it as a single on October 11, 2021.
  • Luke Bryan played no role in the song's creation. The three writers are:

    Jeremy Bussey (Chase Rice's "Everybody We Know Does," Ashley McBryde's "Girl Goin' Nowhere").

    Taylor Phillips (Luke Combs' "Hurricane," Kane Brown's "Homesick").

    Toby Keith's go-to writing partner, Bobby Pinson. His other credits include Sugarland's "All I Want to Do," Jake Owen's "Homemade," and Jason Aldean's "Rearview Town."
  • The musicians who played on the song are:

    Acoustic Guitar: Ilya Toshinskiy
    Electric Guitar: Adam Shoenfeld and Rob McNelley
    Bass: Mark Hill
    Drums: Evan Hutchings
    Keyboards: Charlie Judge
    Backing Vocals: Perry Coleman
  • Luke Bryan fell in love with the song because of its rural imagery that paints a picture of a farmer's life: "Waking up early in the morning when you hear that Devil's dust, praying it rains down on the Devil's dust, then rows come popping up," he told The Boot. "That's just a beautiful image, and that really tells a story of a farmer's life."

    The Georgia native is proud to release this song because of his rural roots. "Sometimes I get a little - I get thrown under the bus for maybe not putting the countriest of country songs out," Bryan said. "But certainly, on this song, if anybody listens to this song and tries to call it "not country," I think they just officially lost their mind!"
  • Luke Bryan played double duty at the 2021 CMA Awards. As well as hosting the event for the first time, he treated the crowd to an intimate performance of this song. He ended the show with his 2011 hit "I Don't Want This Night To End." Many of the crowd in the Bridgestone Arena agreed with the song's sentiment as they grooved to his performance.
  • The Shaun Silva-directed video is set in a barn where Bryan is watching old home-movie footage from his own life. In the same barn at a different time, a small-town gathering takes place where the crowd is watching film footage, scenes of weddings, homecomings, and football games.

    Silva captured Luke viewing his film for the first time, so his reactions are authentic. His footage includes shots of his father, his late brother Chris, and the singer hunting with his two sons, and holding his kids for the very first time. "When I saw the footage of my boys with both their grandfathers and then the close-up clip of my brother basically looking at me it was so overwhelming," said Bryan. "I could not be prouder, not only of the message of this song, but also how this video turned out."

    Silva has worked with Bryan multiple times in the past, including on videos for "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)," "I Don't Want This Night To End," and "Crash My Party."

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