Creek Don't Rise

Album: not on an album (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Dating is a tricky business when you're a Southern boy who's strapped for cash. Country singer Payton Smith finds himself in this situation in this humorous tune, which has him planning a night-time fishing adventure with his date. In order for the romantic rendezvous to occur, lots of things that could go wrong need to go right - his truck needs to work and that hole better still be in the barbed-wire fence. But he especially hopes the "creek don't rise."
  • Written by Smith and Nashville songwriter Casey Beathard ("No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems"), this was inspired by a real date-gone-wrong. "This girl and I were having coffee and we went to get back in my truck and the battery had died. So it turned into an hour of trying to figure out how to charge my truck battery," Smith recalled in a 2021 Songfacts interview. "I told my co-writer Casey Beathard about it the next day, and he started singing the first line of the chorus."
  • Smith got bitten by the country-music bug at 5 years old after he watched Keith Urban perform on the CMA Awards, a moment that indirectly inspired this tune. He told MusicRow magazine: "I had this toy guitar at the time and I must have spent the next two weeks just torturing my guitar trying to do what he did. It affected me just seeing how much energy he puts into a song. When I started writing I wanted to write with that live energy approach to a song, so that's how we approached this song."
  • Smith's released his debut EP in 2019, featuring the lead single "Like I Knew You Would."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star RidersSongwriter Interviews

Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.

Mike Love of The Beach Boys

Mike Love of The Beach BoysSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors Examined

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors ExaminedSong Writing

Doors expert Jim Cherry, author of The Doors Examined, talks about some of their defining songs and exposes some Jim Morrison myths.

The 10 Bands Most Like Spinal Tap

The 10 Bands Most Like Spinal TapSong Writing

Based on criteria like girlfriend tension, stage mishaps and drummer turnover, these are the 10 bands most like Spinal Tap.