‘Devil I've Been’ by Post Malone & ERNEST - Lyrics & Meaning

ERNEST has been at the heart of the creative process for Post Malone's debut country album, F-1Trillion, so it felt natural for there to be a collaboration between the two.

With ERNEST having co-written an array of tracks on the record, it makes sense that he chose ‘Devil I've Been’ as the one to provide vocals for. Both ERN and Posty having spoken openly about their wild-spirited past, and how they're better men now.

If you decidedly to only read the lyrics to ‘Devil I've Been’ without hearing the song itself, you might presume this was a heavy, introspective ballad, with Post Malone and ERNEST offering up verses about their regrets and mistakes. In reality, it plays like a cheerful, feel-good Jimmy Buffett-esque track with a twinkling, playful instrumental. Posty's signature, quivering rasp combines enchantingly with ERNEST's smoother, honeyed drawl, making this a chummy ode to redemption.

“She tried to hide her wings under that Double RL

Well, she might be an angel, that's what I'm tellin' myself

And she knows I'm a demon, she heard ‘bout all my songs

Saint Hank up on the wall, that man done seen it all”

Similarly to ‘Right About You’, on ‘Devil I've Been’, Post Malone seems to credit his fiancée - known by fans as ‘Jamie’, although her identity has been kept under wraps by Posty - as inspiring him to change his ways. He wonders whether she's hiding any angel wings under her fashionable, Western-themed attire by ’Double RL’ - which seemingly stands for clothing designers, Mr Ralph and Ms Ricky Lauren.

Post Malone contrasts her heavenly and ‘pure’ character with his comparatively devilish behaviour, with the bearded crooner describing how the beloved Hank Williams Jr. poster on his wall has witnessed countless romantic encounters in his bedroom over the years. Charmingly, Posty's idol, Hank, appears on F-1Trillion on ’Finer Things’.

“Thank God there's still salvation

For a guy like me who still needs savin'”

Post Malone expresses his gratitude to God that salvation, in the Christian sense, is offered for those who have struggled with wayward journeys, underlining he “still needs savin’”. The theme of finding redemption is pivotal to F-1Trillion as a whole.

“So I hung my horns on the wall soon as she walked in

Been in here gettin’ half gone with all my hell-bound friends

Yeah, I'm about tired of livin' this life of a sin

Girl, I'm one hell of a night, yeah, but I ain't the devil I've been”

Throughout ‘Devil I've Been’, there are frequent pieces of juxtaposition between the previous hell-bound traits of Posty and ERNEST and the angelic nature of their respective partners.

They outline how they metaphorically hung their devil horns up once they met their lovers, with both of them deciding to shift their course away from their “life of sin”. They light-heartedly tease that, romantically speaking, they can still provide “one hell of a night”, but they're now much more ‘heaven-oriented’ on a day-to-day basis.

“Ooh, I've been around the world twice, one foot from six feet deep

I've got some burns from a flame I thought could never get me

Yeah and what do you know, she fell right through the roof

Of the bar where I'm at, came and pulled up the stool”

ERNEST steps in here, to viscerally convey how he's travelled the world thanks to his music career, but this 100mph lifestyle and his unruly, dangerous tendencies led to him getting just “one foot” away from being buried six feet deep in the ground.

He evocatively portrays how he received some ‘burns’ from an old flame, due to the pain of a past relationship, suggesting he's partly blaming this for his past antics.

“Oh, I ain't the flame I used to be

Yeah, it's funny how a cage can make a man feel so free, ooh”

Post Malone and ERNEST trade lyrics as they close out ‘Devil I've Been’ with another Devil-themed image of them not being as closely aligned with the ‘burning flames’ of hell anymore. Posty movingly croons that his fiancée has made him feel free. Although lyrically, ‘Devil I've Been’ can come across as being quite self-reproaching and harsh, the tone remains refreshingly light and hopeful throughout.

Post Malone and ERNEST haven't delved into the creation of ’Devil I've Been’ at length just yet, but Post Malone has repeatedly toasted how warmly the country music community has embraced him. Posty would go to Losers in Nashville with his producer, Charlie Handsome, and ERNEST, as he ventured into the Music City scene, with Charlie and ERN helping him meet fellow artists and songwriters.

As Post Malone passionately explained to Anthony Mason on CBS, “Everyone [in Nashville] was so accepting and kind”. When Mason provided the potential explanation that this is a testament to Post Malone's good-natured character, Posty responded with an endearing dismissal, “I disagree. I think it's a testament to them”.

“She tried to hide her wings under that Double RL

Well, she might be an angel, that's what I'm tellin' myself

And she knows I'm a demon, she heard ‘bout all my songs

Saint Hank up on the wall, that man done seen it all

-

Thank God there's still salvation

For a guy like me who still needs savin'

-

So I hung my horns on the wall soon as she walked in

Been in here gettin’ half gone with all my hell-bound friends

Yeah, I'm about tired of livin' this life of a sin

Girl, I'm one hell of a night, yeah, but I ain't the devil I've been

-

(Ain't the dеvil, ain't the devil, ain't the dеvil)

Ain't the devil I've been

(Ain't the devil, ain't the devil, ain't the devil)

-

Ooh, I've been around the world twice, one foot from six feet deep

I've got some burns from a flame I thought could never get me

Yeah and what do you know, she fell right through the roof

Of the bar where I'm at, came and pulled up the stool

-

Thank God there's still salvation

For a guy like me who still needs savin'

-

So I hung my horns on the wall soon as she walked in

Been in here gettin’ half gone with all my hell-bound friends

Yeah, I'm about tired of livin' this life of a sin

Girl, I'm one hell of a night, yeah, but I ain't the devil I've been

-

(Ain't the devil, ain't the devil, ain't the devil)

Ooh, the devil I've been

(Ain't the devil, ain't the devil, ain't the devil)

-

Oh, I ain't the flame I used to be

Yeah, it's funny how a cage can make a man feel so free, ooh

-

So I hung my horns on the wall soon as she walked in

Been in here gettin’ half gone with all my hell-bound friends (hell-bound friends)

Yeah, I'm about tired of livin' this life of a sin

Girl, I'm one hell of a night, yeah, but I ain't the devil I've been

-

(Ain't the devil, ain't the devil, ain't the devil)

Ooh, ain't the devil I've been

(Ain't the devil, ain't the devil, ain't the devil)

Ooh, ain't the devil I've been

(Ain't the devil, ain't the devil, ain't the devil)

Ooh, ain't the devil I've been

(Ain't the devil, ain't the devil, ain't the devil)

I ain't the devil I've been”

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