‘I'm Gonna Love You’ by Cody Johnson & Carrie Underwood - Lyrics & Meaning

This one has been a long time coming, with Cody Johnson first revealing he had a Carrie Underwood duet up his sleeve back in March 2023. However, when his next studio album, Leather, arrived later that year, fans were surprised and somewhat disappointed to see that Carrie's name was not featured on the tracklist.

It was then confirmed that Leather would be a double-album, and - thankfully - Cody Johnson's long-awaited Carrie Underwood duet, ‘I'm Gonna Love You’, was finally released as the lead single on September 27th, 2024. The duo treated fans to an atmospheric, evocative music video for ‘I'm Gonna Love You’ in tandem with its arrival. CoJo's full Leather Deluxe project is set to drop on November 1st.

‘I'm Gonna Love You’ takes on the format of a classic country duet, with Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood deciding to keep the composition stripped-back and intimate throughout.

Cody's charismatic baritone combines seamlessly with Carrie's sinuous, commanding delivery, with their vocals gliding across a piano-driven instrumental. The production is sparse, with a brief but striking electric guitar solo towards the end of the track the only deviation from the steady, undulating flow of ‘I'm Gonna Love You’, seemingly symbolising the stability of the love they sing about.

“Stars are gonna light up the midnight sky
The sun's gonna burn on the fourth of July
Tides are gonna turn with the pull of the moon
And I'm gonna love you”

‘I'm Gonna Love You’ finds Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood trading verses about all the inevitabilities of life, such as the stars coming out to shine in the night sky and the sun radiating summer warmth on the 4th of July holiday. CoJo takes the helm for the first verse, concluding with one truth that he is more certain about than any other - the fact that he's going to love his partner forever.

“Birds are flyin' south when the winter comes
Snow's gonna fall, and rivers gonna run
April's gonna rain, and flowers gonna bloom
And I'm gonna love you”

Carrie Underwood's verse follows a similar pattern, with the ’Before He Cheats’ hitmaker reeling off another flurry of natural imagery, including portrayals of birds making their annual migration south as the weather turns colder. She reflects on how we can always depend on the yearly April showers and the blossoming of beautiful flowers. Carrie stresses that her partner can rely just as trustingly on her love.

“So good that it almost hurts
Steady and true as a Bible verse
My heart skips just thinkin' of you
The warmth in bed, oh, baby, we can't lose”

Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood have both released a number of songs about their faith, with Carrie even sharing a full Gospel album, My Savior, in 2021. During the hook for ‘I'm Gonna Love You’, CoJo and Carrie liken their consistent, unwavering support for one another and the truth of their love to that of a Bible verse.

“Earth's gonna shake every now and then
Some runaway roads are gonna dead end
And on those days when the world feels cruel
I'm gonna love you”

Here, Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood accept that there will be obstacles and challenges ahead, but even “when the world feels cruel”, they'll always be there for one another.

“Time's gonna put a few lines on our face
We can cover it up, but hair's gonna grey
Life's gonna fly and be gone too soon
And I'm gonna love you
Baby, I'm gonna love you”

They look a little further ahead as the song draws to its close, admitting that they won't be able to defy aging. But even when their bodies falter, their love for one another will never die out - they endearingly declare that ‘I'm gonna love you’ until the end of time.

In a clip filmed on the set of the ‘I'm Gonna Love You’ music video, Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood explained how the duet arose. Carrie revealed, “So I think the first time we met was at an awards show, and there's always so much going on at those things and everybody's just coming and going. But I remember leaving that night, just saying, ‘I really like that guy, and I hope I watch him do great things’”.

Cody echoed Carrie's sentiments, heartwarmingly toasting her influence on his career, “Well, I feel the same way. You know, we're around the same age, but I always grew up listening to your music going, ‘I wonder what it would be like to be in that position’. They say don't meet your heroes, because you might get disappointed, and I was not disappointed. It's really a breathe of fresh air to meet someone that fame hasn't affected and that has really stayed grounded - and when I told my kids, my little girls, that I met Carrie Underwood, they forgot all about Cody Johnson...!”

(Cody Johnson, Carrie Underwood, Both)

“Stars are gonna light up the midnight sky
The sun's gonna burn on the fourth of July
Tides are gonna turn with the pull of the moon
And I'm gonna love you

-

Birds are flyin' south when the winter comes
Snow's gonna fall, and rivers gonna run
April's gonna rain, and flowers gonna bloom
And I'm gonna love you

-

So good that it almost hurts
Steady and true as a Bible verse
My heart skips just thinkin' of you
The warmth in bed, oh, baby, we can't lose

-

Earth's gonna shake every now and then
Some runaway roads are gonna dead end
And on those days when the world feels cruel
I'm gonna love you

-

Ooh

-

So good that it almost hurts
Steady and truе as a Bible verse
My hеart skips just thinkin' of you
The warmth in bed, oh, baby, we can't lose

-

Time's gonna put a few lines on our face
We can cover it up, but hair's gonna grey
Life's gonna fly and be gone too soon
And I'm gonna love you
Baby, I'm gonna love you”

For more on Cody Johnson, see below: