We Were Rich

Album: Blue Roses (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • During this nostalgic tune, Runaway June recall their time growing up when life was so much simpler.

    Once a year we'd drive out to the nearest KOA
    And we'd light a fire
    Stare at the stars
    And play flashlight tag with the people in the tent there next to ours


    The trio recall how despite not having much money they still enjoyed themselves, so they thought themselves to be rich.
  • Nashville songwriters Ross Copperman, Nicolle Galyon and Ashley Gorley penned the tune. Runaway June's Naomi Cooke recalled to The Boot when they heard the demo it immediately felt like their childhood homes. "When that song got played, it was towards the end of the day, and there was a line that came in," she recalled. "I have 10 brothers and sisters - I'm from a big, big family - and we were really poor growing up. We only had one bathroom. And there's a line that says, 'One bathroom sink. We all took turns.'"

    Cooke added that she started crying and with tears pouring from her eyes said they've got to record the song. The other two band members agreed.
  • Runaway June dropped an updated version of "We Were Rich" on June 29, 2020 as the third single from Blue Roses. The release includes new band member Natalie Stovall, who replaced Hannah Mulholland the previous month.
  • Natalie Stovell is also a fiddle player and she put her instrumental skills to good use on the updated version. "To me, I could hear fiddle on it the second that I heard the song. So it didn't feel forced," she told Taste of Couutry. "And I knew it didn't need much, but I wanted to add that texture... and the crazy thing was, there was room for it."
  • The song's music video opens with a shot of Natalie Stovall's childhood home in Columbia, Tennessee. It is followed by clips of small-town life, such as two children running through a sprinkler or a little league game emphasizing the idea that wealth doesn't necessarily mean lots of cash.

    "The first time I saw our music video I just started sobbing like a baby!" Stovall recalled. "It opens on the house I grew up in, features my parents and sweeps through intensely nostalgic moments, people and places from my childhood and hometown."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.