‘Pave All Them Red Dirt Roads’ by Riley Green and Brooks & Dunn - Lyrics & Meaning
By Maxim Mower
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Explore the lyrics and meaning of Riley Green’s 2026 collaboration with Brooks & Dunn, ‘Pave All Them Red Dirt Roads’, taken from Green's fourth studio album, That’s Just Me.
- Song Pave All Them Red Dirt Roads
- Lyrics“Used to be a fenced-in pasture
Where grandpa used to drive a tractor
Where there used to be Johnson grass
... - Artist(s)Riley Green, Brooks & Dunn
- Album That's Just Me
- Released September 18, 2026
- Label Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment
- Songwriter(s)Riley Green, Dallas Davidson
- Producer(s) Dann Huff
The Background:
On Riley Green's fourth studio album, That's Just Me, he teams up with an array of his musical idols, including Randy Owen from Alabama, Brooks & Dunn and even - posthumously - Toby Keith. On ‘Pave All Them Red Dirt Roads’, Green pays homage to Brooks & Dunn, with the duo appearing at the end of the song to sing a snippet of the iconic track that inspired it in the first place, ‘Red Dirt Road’.
The Sound:
‘Pave All Them Red Dirt Roads’ is a fine example of how Green can capture the listener's attention, despite keeping both his vocal delivery and the instrumental understated.
Even so there are no frills here, there's a captivating sincerity as Green reflects on how his favourite childhood spots have been paved over in the name of progress. Given the themes of this song, it feels apt that the composition is kept stripped-back.
The Meaning:
As Green drives past some of the formative places in his home-town in Alabama, he shakes his head at seeing many of his go-to childhood places have been paved over. It leaves him wondering where he would've learned about God and Jesus in a church pew, gone on his first date with his girlfriend or split a six-pack with his father, if it wasn't for those red dirt roads that are now disappearing.
It serves as a spiritual sibling to Brooks & Dunn's 2003 single, ‘Red Dirt Road’, where they sing about all the key experiences they had on those old dirt tracks when growing up.
Brooks & Dunn's appearance at the end of this song makes the message all the more moving, with the country legends singing their classic song with a slight tone of sadness, as they echo Green's laments about how there are fewer of these roads nowadays.
For the full lyrics to Riley Green and Brooks & Dunn's 'Pave All Them Red Dirt Roads', see below:
“Used to be a fenced-in pasture
Where grandpa used to drive a tractor
Where there used to be Johnson grass
Their steady pouring out concrete
I can barely picture that ole bass pond
They filled up and put a neighborhood on
They’re taking miles off of memory lane
And I can’t help but think
-
Where would me and Daddy split that six pack
The first beer I’d love to have back
Where I took that curve too fast
Put that Ford in that creek
Where would I have even found that church pew
That helped me walk a line in work boots
Where that small town, green-eyed girl, climbed up in that bench seat
And where the hell is a good ole boy gonna go
When they pave all them red dirt roads
-
The Dairy Queen was me and Daddy’s dove field
Sure was a whole lotta time and birds killed
Boy, I wish I could go on back and feel that 12-gauge kick again
I heard they’re ‘bout to build brand new quick sack
Where that ole beat up red hay barn sat
Boy, I wish I could close the gate
Where all that asphalt ends
-
Where would me and daddy split that six pack
That’s the first beer I’d love to get back
Where I took that curve too fast
Put that Ford in that creek
Where I finally found that church pew
Where I walked a line in work boots
That love of my life, green-eyed girl, she climbed up in that bench seat
And where the hell is the good ole boy gonna go
When they pave all them red dirt roads
-
If they pave all them red dirt roads
-
Driving towards that setting sun
What might turn out to be the last one
I roll my window down
and turn up a little Brooks & Dunn
-
It’s where I drank my first beer
Where I found Jesus
Where I wrecked my first car
And tore it all to pieces
Found the path to Heaven
Is full of sinners and believers
Learned that happiness on earth
Ain’t just for high achievers
Where I learned is what I’ve come to know
Lord, I hope they never pave those red dirt roads
Pave all them red dirt roads
They never pave those red dirt roads”
