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Everything you need to know about this fiery 2025 collaboration.
- Song ‘Smoke’
- Lyrics“She's mad, she's leaving
She's had enough of me
Blah blah blah
She's hot, she's steaming
She's packing up and she's
Gone gone gone... - Artist(s)Jamey Johnson, Riley Green
- Released October 31, 2025
- Label Big Gassed Records LLC under exclusive license to Warner Music Nashville
- Songwriter(s)Erik Dylan, Jamey Johnson, Riley Green
- Producer(s) Kyle Lehning, Jim “Moose” Brown
The Background:
Jamey Johnson doesn’t hurry. His songs linger like smoke through an open window, deliberate and thick with memory. But now the veteran country artist breaks his quiet streak with ‘Smoke,’ a new single featuring fellow Alabamian Riley Green. The two announced the release a few days prior with a black-and-white image of a battered truck spinning through a cloud of dust, the kind of scene Johnson has been writing about his whole career.
Their pairing feels like an inevitability rather than a surprise. Back in 2022, Green joined Johnson on the What a View tour for a raw rendition of ‘I Don’t Smoke,’ a deep cut from The Dollar, the song that first put Johnson’s gravitas on full display. Green, in turn, has long paid his respects by covering beloved favorite ‘In Color,’ Johnson’s timeless ode to living life in the moment.
The new single ‘Smoke,’ feels right at home in Johnson’s catalog, as he has spent years tracing the thin line between ruin and redemption. Whether this single signals a larger body of work remains to be seen, but one thing’s certain: when Jamey Johnson lights a fire, folks tend to gather ‘round.
The Sound:
The stripped-back, guitar-led opening lets Johnson’s snarl of a voice take center stage, before the husky, rock-leaning production takes over as the couldn’t-give-a-damn chorus roars to life. Green, one of the industry’s best duet partners of the moment, adds his honey-coated vocals in just the right places, bringing warmth and insight to Johnson’s grit-fueled bellow, before stepping forward on the second verse.
The contrast between their voices becomes a subtle dialogue, like the angel and devil within each of us. Johnson’s delivery carries confident authority, while Green’s measured precision hints at quiet, heartstring-tugging regret.
It is a traditional yet forward-thinking lament for love gone wrong, and it would bring a much-needed touch of variety to the current Country Radio landscape.
The Meaning:
“She's mad, she's leaving
She's had enough of me
Blah blah blah
She's hot, she's steaming
She's packing up and she's
Gone gone gone
Was that white cloud from her tailpipes
Or them Firestones kicking up dust
Felt like a good time
To kick back and fire one up”
From the start, Johnson sets quite the fiery scene. His lover is leaving in true country fashion, kicking up dust as she drives off down a long dirt road. Johnson is left sitting on a porch watching the action unfold with only his thoughts about the recent exchange. Instead of letting his racing mind get the best of him, he decides to “fire one up” and let his thoughts fade like her memory.
“Couldn't see which way she went
Or which way I went wrong
Couldn't see why she left so early
Or why she stayed so long
There was something burning my eyes
Turning my head to stone
I bet it would've hurt to watch her go
Good thing I can't see through all this smoke”
Though he can’t seem to fully shake his internal assessment of the situation. He’s questioning where she’s going, his fault in the matter and an overall debrief of their relationship. He’s mildly concerned but mostly unbothered as he drifts into a new state of consciousness. It appears he’s almost mentally preparing for the questions that will arise from his friends and loved ones about the end of their relationship.
“This band, they keep playing
These goodbye songs
Like la la la
This fog, this haze
Got me turning my give a damn
On and off
Right now she ain't far away
From that Alabama line
And I'm just one puff away
From a brand new state of mind”
Here, Green takes over in playful form, slyly downplaying the “goodbye songs” that helped make him a star. Rather than sinking into despair over a lost love, he embraces the misty detachment of “this haze.” With a nod to both artists’ Alabamian roots, Green knows time has drifted and she’s putting miles between them. The thought doesn’t trouble him; he has accepted their fate and his new lease on life with easy conviction.
What has Jamey Johnson said about ‘Smoke’?
In an official statement, Johnson reflects, “It was Riley’s idea. He called me and we booked some time to get together with Erik Dylan. We sat down and scribbled it out over the course of about an hour...It has an interesting sound to it, with one part going down while the other part is going up. I like the whole concept of this guy not being too upset about whatever she is mad at. That smoke probably has a lot to do with it”.
He expands, “It was just a blast getting to write with Riley and Erik and a great song to get to record with Kyle and Moose at the helm”, before explaining how their shared alma mater, Jacksonville State, helped bond them early on, “There’s a natural connection with us there. I was immediately impressed with his writing and singing”.
Johnson jokes about a light-hearted exchange on the golf course that's been making the rounds online, “One of my favorite things about Riley is his sense of humor, and he can take it as much as he dishes it out, so that’s why we are always hurling comments at each other. Recently, when one of the videos caught some traction, I felt bad about it. You don’t hear him giving me crap. You just hear me messing with him and it’s not a good look, so I had to call and apologize for that!”
Johnson concludes, “I am usually the guy that is pretty safe to write with because for 14 years I didn’t put anything out. Nobody had any indication that I would be running to the studio. Unfortunately for Riley, I had a studio session booked the next week, so we definitely grabbed ‘Smoke’ and went to work on it. I probably owe Riley a song!”
Green echoes Johnson's enthusiasm about ‘Smoke’, “Writing this song with Jamey was a lot of fun,” Green shares. “After spending time on the road together earlier this year, it just felt natural to get in the studio and make some country music together”.
For the full lyrics so far to Jamey Johnson and Riley Green's ‘Smoke’, see below:
“She's mad, she's leaving
She's had enough of me
Blah blah blah
She's hot, she's steaming
She's packing up and she's
Gone gone gone
Was that white cloud from her tailpipes
Or them Firestones kicking up dust
Felt like a good time
To kick back and fire one up
-
Couldn't see which way she went
Or which way I went wrong
Couldn't see why she left so early
Or why she stayed so long
There was something burning my eyes
Turning my head to stone
I bet it would've hurt to watch her go
Good thing I can't see through all this smoke
-
This band, they keep playing
These goodbye songs
Like la la la
This fog, this haze
Got me turning my give a damn
On and off
Right now she ain't far away
From that Alabama line
And I'm just one puff away
From a brand new state of mind
-
I couldn't see which way she went
Or which way I went wrong
I couldn't see why she left so early
Or why she stayed so long
There was something burning my eyes
And turning my head to stone
I bet it woulda hurt to watch her go
Well it's a good thing I can't see through all this smoke
-
There was something burning my eyes
Turning my head to stone
I bet it would've hurt to watch her go
It's a good thing I can't see through all this smoke”
For more on Jamey Johnson, see below:
