Six Feet Apart

Album: What You See Ain't Always What You Get (2020)
Charted: 58
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Luke Combs' diary entry for April 14, 2020 included a reminder that he had a scheduled Zoom songwriting call with hitmakers Brent Cobb and Rob Snyder. The day before, the three exchanged text messages and Combs queried whether the coronavirus home isolation they were all enduring was a suitable topic for their session. "I think I just asked them out of the blue, 'Hey, do we write a song about this thing? Or is that too cheesy?'" he recalled to The Tennessean. It turned out Cobb and Snyder were both wondering the same thing, and they pitched him the title "Six Feet Apart."

    The next day, Combs logged into Zoom and the trio penned a song that captures what fans and artists across the world are feeling: stuck in their homes and missing family, friends and doing the things they love.
  • Combs reflects somberly during the song on all the small things he used to take for granted before COVID-19 social distancing.

    I miss my mom, I miss my dad
    I miss the road, I miss my band
    Giving hugs and shaking hands


    However, he adds the shutdown won't last forever.

    There'll be life after dark
    Some day when we aren't six feet apart
  • Combs dropped an acoustic version on fans during a livestream concert the day after he wrote the song. The country star spent all day trying to remember the words and chords, but it worked well, and "Six Feet Apart" quickly became one of YouTube's top-trending videos.
  • Combs released the official studio version of "Six Feet Apart" on May 1, 2020, making him the first major country artist to write and record a coronavirus-inspired song during the pandemic. The social distancing-friendly recording session involved no more than 10 people.

    "Everyone was wearing masks and in separate rooms from each other," Combs said. "I never even went in the same room as the band that was playing on it. There were probably seven or eight people there, tops, including the band, myself, the engineer and his assistant. That was really it. They wiped everything down, and all the doors had been kept open so nobody had to grab the doorknobs."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

John Kay of Steppenwolf

John Kay of SteppenwolfSongwriter Interviews

Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Sugarland

SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Meet the "sassy basket" with the biggest voice in country music.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."