‘Blink Twice’ by Shaboozey & Myles Smith - Lyrics & Meaning

While spending some time across The Pond in Europe as part of his expansive Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going tour, Shaboozey started teasing a brand new track, ‘Blink Twice’.

It marked our first taste of music from the Virginia trailblazer since November's ‘Good News’, with ‘Blink Twice’ following in a similarly rousing, folk-leaning vein to that bittersweet ode.

We first started hearing snippets of ‘Blink Twice’ in March, and thankfully - unlike some of his fellow country artists - Shaboozey didn't keep us waiting too long before announcing the release date. In early April, Shaboozey not only confirmed ‘Blink Twice’ would be dropping on April 11th, but also revealed it was actually a duet. ‘Blink Twice’ appears on Shaboozey's deluxe version of Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going, which also includes duets with Jelly Roll and Sierra Ferrell.

‘Blink Twice’ is a blockbuster collaboration between Shaboozey and his good friend, Myles Smith, with the British prodigy's trademark, uplifting style matching the ambience of the new track perfectly. It's not the first time Smith has dabbled in the world of country music, as he teamed up with Lainey Wilson back in February for a reimagined version of his 2024 smash hit, ’Nice to Meet You’. Shaboozey and Myles Smith joined forces on-stage during the latter's April 7th show in Los Angeles, with the duo delivering the enchanting live debut of ‘Blink Twice’.

Sonically, ‘Blink Twice’ is cut from the same cloth as ‘Good News’, with Shaboozey seemingly veering away from the brooding, stormy Outlaw Country and Hip-Hop that pervaded Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going, and much of his earlier material.

On ‘Blink Twice’, Shaboozey embraces a folkier atmosphere, with the ‘Anabelle’ singer-songwriter wrapping his charismatic vocals around a soaring, galvanising hook. Myles Smith's verse feels more drawn-in compared to Shaboozey's, but nonetheless still carries the latter's underlying angst and overall sense of feeling jaded, with their respective deliveries complementing one another seamlessly.

Although the subject matter is heavy, with the protagonists lamenting how lost they feel, the chorus is filled with hope and optimism for brighter days ahead, with the stampeding drum-pattern and bright guitar riff accentuating the jubilation of the hook.

“Living on the edge and finding out it's kind of dull

Realise I am somebody that I don't know at all

Oh God, would you tell me why I'm worn down to the bone?

Even though I've only seen half the world, I'm coming home”

The curtain opens on a protagonist who appears to have been travelling for a long stretch of time, with Shaboozey seemingly stepping back into the shoes of the restless outlaw from his previous records. However, instead of toasting life on the road, Shaboozey bemoans how numbed he's become to a wild life lived “on the edge”.

There's a witty piece of wordplay nestled in here, as he transitions from describing his life as being spent “on the edge” to depicting it as “dull”, much in the same way to how a sharp knife's edge becomes dull and ineffective after it's been overused.

He proceeds to confess that he feels as though he no longer knows himself, before consolidating the feel of the opening line by describing how “worn down to the bone” he is.

It's apt that ’Blink Twice’ was first teased while Shaboozey was in Europe, as it makes the lyric, “Even though I've only seen half the world, I'm coming home” feel all the more poignant.

“Hanging onto hope

I'm losing grip of time and space

My mind is running circles over something I can't change

I've loved, I've tried

No-one told me when in Rome

Am I feeling all the feelings?

Or am I just going numb?”

The second half of Shaboozey's verse extends the melancholy of the first, with the protagonist outlining how he can't stop his mind running away from him, as he agonises over past decisions that he can't change now. We get another European reference here, as he uses the classic phrase, ”When in Rome...”, before posing a pertinent question: “Am I feeling all the feelings? Or am I just going numb?”

It's a powerful couple of lines, as many listeners who have struggled with their mental health will be able to relate to the sensation that, when feeling overwhelmed by your anxiety or depression, you can sometimes wonder whether you're feeling too many emotions at the same time, or whether you've grown numb to it all.

During the uptempo hook, Shaboozey seemingly decides it's the former, and he determines to embrace his dizzying array of emotions, overcome his worries and seize the moment.

“Oh me, oh my, would you look in my eyes?

We laugh, we cry just to feel alive

Oo-oh, no time for living a lie

Oo-oh, time flies, so don't blink twice (time flies, so don't blink twice)”

Shaboozey continues the imagery related to experiencing a spectrum of emotions, with the Hot 100 chart-topper observing how, often, all we want is to feel something, regardless of whether we're laughing or crying. He concludes by instructing listeners to make the most of the present moment, as they won't find peace by “living a lie”.

The positivity that pervades the latter half of the chorus is almost jarring, given how despondent Shaboozey's verse is, with the hook serving as a welcome dose of encouragement, as the protagonist reminds fans just how quickly that hourglass of sand empties.

“I've tried everything I thought that I may need

I've been trying to catch my breath since I was 17

I've hurt, I've cried, had way too much to drink

But I won't let my life drown in that old kitchen sink”

When Myles Smith takes the helm, he looks wistfully back at his childhood, implying that he's felt rushed and plagued by overthinking since his teen years. The protagonist admits that he's spent a lot of time hurting, as well as attempting to take the edge off by drinking - which links back to Shaboozey's references to feeling “numb”. The “kitchen sink” lyric is a little less clear, but it seems to suggest that the lead character no longer wants to pour his life down the drain, in the way that he perhaps used to empty his bottles of alcohol when he was drinking heavily.

During a discussion with Rebecca Judd for Apple Music Country in April 2025, Shaboozey explained how Myles Smith ended up featuring on ‘Blink Twice’, “It was awesome. He's across the sea, so I appreciate him for one saying yes to the collaboration. We've been talking about making a song, so I feel like the song was very Myles Smith coded. It has such an upbeat energy with a huge chorus”.

The ‘Last Of My Kind’ crooner went on to toast Myles Smith, “So I felt like it made sense because of when I met him, he was just such a huge supporter and he was just talking about how he feels like so many people in UK, I mean especially black kids in UK, are picking up the guitar because of the music that me and him are making”.

Shaboozey heartwarmingly concluded by gushing about his duet partner, “I just loved how respectful and how much admiration he had for me, and then vice versa to him. Anytime I see somebody that I respect, I literally lose my mind. It just made all the sense. Honestly, his music seems so familiar too, and it seems like it's so good that you would've thought he'd been making music or he'd been huge forever because the song is just so big. So yeah, I play his song at every show”.

“Living on the edge and finding out it's kind of dull

Realise I am somebody that I don't know at all

Oh God, would you tell me why I'm worn down to the bone?

Even though I've only seen half the world, I'm coming home

Hanging onto hope

I'm losing grip of time and space

My mind is running circles over something I can't change

I've loved, I've tried

No-one told me when in Rome

Am I feeling all the feelings?

Or am I just going numb?

-

Oh me, oh my, would you look in my eyes?

We laugh, we cry just to feel alive

Oo-oh, no time for living a lie

Oo-oh, time flies, so don't blink twice (time flies, so don't blink twice)

-

I've tried everything I thought that I may need

I've been trying to catch my breath since I was 17

I've hurt, I've cried, had way too much to drink

But I won't let my life drown in that old kitchen sink

-

Oh me, oh my, would you look in my eyes?

We laugh, we cry just to feel alive

Oo-oh, no time for living a lie

Oo-oh, time flies, so don't blink twice (time flies, so don't blink twice)

-

Oo-oh, oo-oh

Time flies so don't blink twice

Oo-oh, oo-oh

-

Oh me, oh my, would you look in my eyes?

We laugh or cry just to feel alive

Oo-oh, no time for living a lie

Oo-oh, time flies, so don't blink twice

Oo-oh, oo-oh, time flies, so don't blink twice

Oo-oh, oo-oh, time flies, so don't blink twice”

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