'10-90' by Muscadine Bloodline – Lyrics & Meaning

Muscadine Bloodline have been unleashing a torrent of new music lately. Many of the fresh tunes, set to appear on their forthcoming album The Coastal Plain, echo the Alabama-bred duo's trademark style of down-home goodness, but one track in particular stands out among the group's latest offerings: '10-90.'

As it amasses even greater streaming numbers by the day, the duo's emotive ballad has continued to deeply affect fans with its striking message of unconditional love.

Soft but earnest, '10-90' is all strings and whispered rhythms. It didn't need to be much more than that. The song's subdued arrangement, which plays steadily throughout, occasionally punctuated by purposeful strums and pillowy beats, provides the perfect foil for such a powerful sentiment to unfold.

When the river's raging
I'll be the levy
I'll be the steady hand that's holding on to you
I'll be the view
Your change of scenery
Let me be your way out when your walls are closing in so darlin'

Love is difficult, times get hard and sometimes an equally yoked relationship is not always possible. With '10-90', Muscadine Bloodline are reminding listeners that partnerships can't give 50-50 all the time; there are times when it has to be 10-90, and that's okay.

Part of love is knowing that when 10 per cent is all you can give, someone will be there to take up the other 90.

Gimme you on your worst day and I'll give you my best
When you only got 10 I'll be the 90 that's left
So go on and run me ragged long as your loving don't stray
Don't worry 'bout, meeting me in the middle
When I'm already running your way

The chorus imparts that as long as one party is giving their best when times get tough – putting in the work to pick up the slack – in the end, no one has fallen short in the relationship.

In partnerships, there is often a push and pull, a give and take, and there are times when that feels unequal. This song is saying it's not always necessary – or even realistic – to expect two people to meet in the middle, especially if one is willing to go the extra mile that the other can't.

Bring on the bad, the sad and the sometimes ugly, the duo sing: "I'll take anything and everything that ya have."

So gimme you on your worst day and I'll give you my best
When you only got 10 I'll be the 90 that's left
So go on and run me ragged long as your loving don't stray
Don't worry 'bout meeting me in the middle
When I'm already running your way

Don't worry 'bout meeting me in the middle

When the river's raging
I'll be the levy
I'll be the steady hand that's holding on to you
I'll be the view
Your change of scenery
Let me be your way out when your walls are closing in so darlin'

Gimme you on your worst day and I'll give you my best
When you only got 10 I'll be the 90 that's left
So go on and run me ragged long as your loving don't stray
Don't worry 'bout, meeting me in the middle
When I'm already running your way

I'll be the answer
To what you're praying
When you're pinned down in the foxhole
Right beside you when
The enemy surrounds

So gimme you on your worst day and I'll give you my best
When you only got 10 I'll be the 90 that's left
So go on and run me ragged long as your loving don't stray
Don't worry 'bout meeting me in the middle
When I'm already running your way

Gimme me bad, gimme me ugly
Gimme me sad, pour it on me
I'll take anything and everything that ya have

So gimme you on your worst day and I'll give you my best
When you only got 10 I'll be the 90 that's left
So go on and run me ragged long as your loving don't stray
Don't worry 'bout meeting me in the middle
When I'm already running your way

Don't worry 'bout meeting me in the middle

--

For more on Muscadine Bloodline, see below: