'Austin' by Dasha - Lyrics and Meaning

Hailing from San Luis Obispo, California and based in Nashville, Tennessee, Dasha has solidified herself as a force to be reckoned with within modern country music. With the release of her debut country album titled What Happens Now? on February 16, she simultaneously launched her viral song 'Austin' into the limelight.

Since the official release of 'Austin' on November 17 – coming months before the release of What Happens Now? on the whole – the tune has taken over TikTok, with over 300k videos attached to the sound. Aside from the song becoming a smash hit due to its badass lyrics and oh-so catchy tune, Dasha also kickstarted a TikTok trend utilizing 'Austin', showing off a line dance that coincides with the track in a video captioned “In case you need a new line dance for the honky”.

In the months following the release of 'Austin', Dasha has shared a series of tutorials to teach others the line dance that coincides with the tune – amassing over 400k followers as a result – and social media sensations like Jake Shane, Jenna Davis, Elliana Walmsley and more have taken part.

'Austin', was made for do-si-doing on the dancefloor of your nearest dive bar, and the overall sound of the song exemplifies this intention perfectly.

With fans drawing quite a few similarities between Dasha’s 'Austin' and Beyoncé’s 'TEXAS HOLD ‘EM', both songs have a honky tonk feel, serving as a flamboyant, accessible take on country music that can appeal to a wide range of individuals, regardless of whether or not they are fans of the genre.

With a quick beat, 'Austin' will have you stomping, clapping and two-stepping over its haunting lyrics.

[Verse 1]

We had a plan, move out of this town, baby

West to the sand, it's all we talked about lately

I'd pack the car, bring your guitar and Jane for smokin’

First thing at dawn, you'd cue the songs and we'd get goin’

But you weren't home, waited on the porch for ya

Sat there alone, all throughout the morn 'til I

Got a hunch down in my gut and snuck around the back

Empty cans and I'll be damned, your shit was never packed

A chilling story is told throughout the entirety of 'Austin', detailing the narrator’s plan to leave Austin, Texas with seemingly her significant other, however, he is a no-show when the moment finally arrives.

The first few lines of the song detail this plan, sharing that the pair were going to move “west to the sand” – which we later find out is Los Angeles, California – packing the car with their belongings, as well as some marajuana and a guitar to enjoy the almost 24-hour road trip.

The second half of verse one sees a shift in the narrator’s overall attitude, going from excited to leave Austin to being confused, frustrated and eventually angry as he fails to show up the morning that they had planned to move away. Waiting on the porch all morning for his arrival, the narrator eventually decided to investigate where her partner was, finding a great deal of empty beer cans, as well as empty suitcases.

With the lyric “your shit was never packed”, it is confirmed that he was not planning on leaving Austin for Los Angeles that fateful day, resulting in an oh-so angry Dasha that is exemplified in the boot-scootin’ chorus of the smash hit.

[Chorus]

Did your boots stop workin'?

Did your truck break down? (Truck break down)

Did you burn through money?

Did your ex find out? (Ex find out)

Where there's a will, then there's a way

And I'm damn sure you lost it

Didn't even say goodbye

Just wish I knew what caused it

Was the whiskey flowin'?

Were you in a fight? (In a fight)

Did the nerves come get you?

What's your alibi? (Alibi)

I made my way back to LA

And that's where you'll be forgotten

In forty years you'll still be here

Drunk, washed up in Austin

The chorus of 'Austin' – which is repeated twice – consists of a series of questions, with the narrator wondering why her significant other was a no-show when they were about to leave Austin and head to Los Angeles together: “Did your boots stop workin'? / Did your truck break down? (Truck break down) / Did you burn through money? / Did your ex find out?”

To follow, the narrator is seen struggling with the fact that her partner did not come to even say goodbye – and the fact that she will never know the reason for his disappearance – followed by even more questions: “Was the whiskey flowin'? / Were you in a fight? (In a fight) / Did the nerves come get you? / What's your alibi? (Alibi)”

Concluding the chorus, the narrator seems to have come to terms with the fact that her significant other is a loser, for lack of a better term, admitting that she made it to Los Angeles by herself to chase bigger and better things, however, her partner will still be “drunk [and] washed up in Austin” in 40 years.

[Verse 2]

A hell of bluff you had me believin'

How many months did you plan on leavin’?

What happened? Bad habits?

Did you go back? Go batshit?

I loved you, how tragic oh-oh

Verse two consists of even more questions, with the narrator wondering whether or not her significant other had ever planned on leaving for Los Angeles with her, or if he had always planned on ghosting her at the last minute. Admitting that she loved him – deeming the sentiment to be tragic, in hindsight – Dasha then repeats the same chorus for the second time.

In an interview with Country Swag in November, Dasha shared how exactly 'Austin' came to be, deeming it to be one of her favorite songs that she has written in her career thus far.

She continued, “The story behind writing the song is really cool. We were all writing this song called ‘Play Dumb'. It was like this cheating song about knowing someone’s cheating on you, but playing dumb, so you can hold on a little bit longer, and I didn’t relate to the song, so I was having trouble writing it".

"We were trying to get the chorus, and I was like ‘We need to country-fy this'", she continued. "Adam started playing the chords for ‘Austin’ exactly how you hear them, and I was like ‘That’s good’, even though it wasn’t in the same key or the same chords. I started freestyling over it, and I started the chorus for ‘Austin’ exactly how you hear it”.

The California native concluded passionately, “We started creating this whole story about this guy who kind of screws you over and you leave him at this bar, and I love how angry it is… It crawls under your skin, because it’s not that you’re mad mad, it’s like you’re hurt mad, and I feel like that emotion really comes through in that song. We wrote it in an hour, which is crazy fast for a song”.

Having such positive things to say about 'Austin' before it had even achieved any social media stardom, Dasha then took to sound.xyz – a social media platform for artists and their fans – months later to gush about the song’s success.

“‘Austin’ has officially gone ultra viral, to the tune of millions of people learning how to line dance. We hit number 1 on Spotify's Viral Top 50 and landed the cover of Pop Rising... wtf. I originally minted this song for We <3 The Art and it's turned into something so much bigger,” she wrote. “It's one of the first country songs I wrote for my album. I knew this song was going to be pivotal in my career right when we wrote it. We hired a choreographer to make a two-step dance to help bring my dream alive and have every honky tonk in America dancing to ‘Austin’ on a Friday night”.

She then proceeded by thanking her supporters thus far: “Thank you to all my early collectors. This world is very new to me but I'm excited to be a part of it. Things are going to get really crazy this year and I'm stoked that all of you get to share in that journey with me!”

[Verse 1]

We had a plan, move out of this town, baby

West to the sand, it's all we talked about lately

I'd pack the car, bring your guitar and Jane for smokin’

First thing at dawn, you'd cue the songs and we'd get goin’

But you weren't home, waited on the porch for ya

Sat there alone, all throughout the morn 'til I

Got a hunch down in my gut and snuck around the back

Empty cans and I'll be damned, your shit was never packed

[Chorus]

Did your boots stop workin'?

Did your truck break down? (Truck break down)

Did you burn through money?

Did your ex find out? (Ex find out)

Where there's a will, then there's a way

And I'm damn sure you lost it

Didn't even say goodbye

Just wish I knew what caused it

Was the whiskey flowin'?

Were you in a fight? (In a fight)

Did the nerves come get you?

What's your alibi? (Alibi)

I made my way back to LA

And that's where you'll be forgotten

In forty years you'll still be here

Drunk, washed up in Austin

[Verse 2]

A hell of bluff you had me believin'

How many months did you plan on leavin’?

What happened? Bad habits?

Did you go back? Go batshit?

I loved you, how tragic oh-oh

[Chorus]

Did your boots stop workin'?

Did your truck break down? (Truck break down)

Did you burn through money?

Did your ex find out? (Ex find out)

Where there's a will, then there's a way

And I'm damn sure you lost it

Didn't even say goodbye

Just wish I knew what caused it

Was the whiskey flowin'?

Were you in a fight? (In a fight)

Did the nerves come get you?

What's your alibi? (Alibi)

I made my way back to LA

And that's where you'll be forgotten

In forty years you'll still be here

Drunk, washed up in Austin

[Refrain]

Did your truck break down?

Did your ex find out?