'Backseat Driver' by Kane Brown – Lyrics & Meaning

Kane Brown is preparing to take fans on The High Road, the country star slating the follow-up to his 2022 effort, Different Man, for the new year.

The forthcoming project will feature previously released tracks, like the raucous 'Fiddle in the Band', the anthemic 'I Can Feel It', the hit Marshmello collaboration, 'Miles On It'. Now, he can add the endearing 'Backseat Driver' to that list.

Released this Friday (Oct. 11), 'Backseat Driver' offers a touching take on fatherhood and finds the artist gifting one more darling ode to his young family.

Born from a distant beat and a layering of strings, 'Backseat Driver' is the gentlest song The High Road has offered up thus far. The quiet country ode is simple, led by a delicate twang. There isn't much exciting about the acoustic number, but instead, there is beauty in the mundanity of the family-friendly tune.

"7:30 in the morning in a Mickey D's drive thru
Two muffins, one coffee and a little bitty orange juice
I saw a man with a sign on the corner
I rolled my window down, handed him a dollar
That's when I heard her ask
'Hey, Daddy, who was that?'
And before I could answer back
She said..."

'Backseat Driver' is a simple slice-of-life song, one that finds the artist learning a little bit about life from his daughter while on a simple morning drive.

The song begins with a snapshot of a McDonald's drive thru, ordering breakfast and then giving a man in need some money.

The little girl in the backseat is fascinated with the world around her, captivated by what's unfolding just outside the car window. She curious about all of it, even the simplest things, asking her dad questions like, "Did you just see that dog run by? / Do squirrels have houses in the trees? / Why'd God put stingers on honeybees?"

To be filled with that kind of wonder, to be unfazed by the less pretty sides of reality, it is all enviable. Brown sings, "'It's crazy all the things she sees on the side of the road / Out of that window beside her / I wish I could be more like her / My little dangling feet, pretty in pink, backseat driver."

"Later on that day, on the highway back home
I saw a lady in a black Mercedes yelling at her phone
She flew by me with her finger in the air
And I had to act like I didn't care
And that's when I heard her ask
'Daddy, why was she so mad?'
Before I could answer back
She said..."

As the day carries on, that same little girl witnesses a bought of road rage from a passing vehicle, but still, she's too concerned with the world unfurling around her, entranced by its simple magic, to be bothered.

She continues to wonder aloud about the dog, the squirrels, the bumblebees, while simply enjoying the ride.

Later in the song, Brown ponders these little moments with his daughter, knowing he'll look back on them someday and miss the moments when life was made all the more magical through the eyes of a child.

He sings, "One day, I'll look back and I'll miss when / My whole world wasn't over that dash / It was back there buckled in..."

Saying, "Daddy, look, there's a plane in the sky
Are we there yet? Did you just see that dog run by?
Do squirrels have houses in the trees?
Why would God put a stinger on a honeybee?"
It's crazy all the things she sees on the side of the road
Out of that window beside her
I wish I could be more like her
My little dangling feet, pretty in pink, backseat driver
Hmm, my backseat driver...

7:30 in the morning in a Mickey D's drive thru
Two muffins, one coffee and a little bitty orange juice
I saw a man with a sign on the corner
I rolled my window down, handed him a dollar
That's when I heard her ask
"Hey, Daddy, who was that?"
And before I could answer back
She said

"Daddy, look, there's a plane in the sky
Are we there yet? Did you just see that dog run by?
Do squirrels have houses in the trees?
Why'd God put stingers on honeybees?"
It's crazy all the things she sees on the side of the road
Out of that window beside her
I wish I could be more like her
My little dangling feet, pretty in pink, backseat driver

Later on that day, on the highway back home
I saw a lady in a black Mercedes yelling at her phone
She flew by me with her finger in the air
And I had to act like I didn't care
And that's when I heard her ask
"Daddy, why was she so mad?"
Before I could answer back
She said

"Daddy, can you please turn up the radio?
Hey, what are you pushing with your feet that makes us go?
Do squirrels have houses in the trees?
Why'd God put stingers on honeybees?"
It's crazy all the things she sees on the side of the road
Out of that window beside her
I wish I could be more like her
My little dangling feet, pretty in pink, backseat driver

One day, I'll look back and I'll miss when
My whole world wasn't over that dash
It was back there buckled in

Saying, "Daddy, look, there's a plane in the sky
Are we there yet? Did you just see that dog run by?
Do squirrels have houses in the trees?
Why would God put a stinger on a honeybee?"
It's crazy all the things she sees on the side of the road
Out of that window beside her
I wish I could be more like her
My little dangling feet, pretty in pink, backseat driver
Hmm, my backseat driver

7:30 in the morning in a Mickey D's drive thru
Two muffins, one coffee and a little bitty orange juice

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