'Last One To Know' by Gavin Adcock – Lyrics & Meaning

When Gavin Adcock released 'Last One To Know' this past June, the down-and-out anthem arrived as more than just one more single release from the rowdy new star.

The song would act as a signal of big things to come, ushering in the news of Adcock's new studio album, Own Worst Enemy.

The album, which arrived on Aug. 15, is a 24-track collection of all that Adcock has become and all that he has learned on his meteoric rise to country stardom.

"Over the last 4 years I’ve spent my life writing, traveling, and trying to find time to breathe," the artist shared of the release in a post on social media. "It doesn’t always add up on paper like it would seem, but through the happiness, hard times and self destruction I’ve found the best part of my job is letting out music for my fans. I can’t thank y’all enough for sticking with me for this long. I’m the furthest thing from perfect and I don’t ever plan to be."

Here, we're diving into the song that first christened the new album earlier this summer.

'Last One To Know' comes together as one cool country groove. Steadily paced and slinkily arranged, the song, with its sashaying beat and distant steel, has a distinct swagger, something the artist has deftly mastered. From beginning to end, the tune is led by an all-around enticing air as Adcock croons of wild nights and fast times too good to remember.

"My buddy called and said, 'I lost a couple screws'
Been tryna tighten them up, but they keep coming loose
Yeah, it's a wonder that I didn't see the light
For a lawman didn't tackle me, or read me my rights"

Whenever Gavin Adcock goes out, you can expect trouble will be following in his wake. And it seems like, in 'Last One To Know', trouble has found him once again.

Throughout the song, he sings of lawmen, loose screws, "Wild-ass women, hard-ass living," all the things that seem to haunt him in the fresh light of a new day. That's exactly where this song finds him: caught deep in the clarity of the morning after a raucous night out.

While he doesn't quite know what happened, he surmises that he and his friends were up to no good, singing "Guess me and my buddy Jim put on a hell of a show / They woke me up this morning, I was the last one to know."

"Took me a break from burning up the road
Tried to do some reacquainting with a girl I used to know
Yeah, she went and found another coat to ride
Put me on a late-night whiskey bar stool spiral dive"

In the next verse, listeners get an idea of how the night started – with a woman that wanted nothing to do with him – and understand better just what sent him "on a late-night whiskey bar stool spiral dive."

What followed, we are not privy to, but whatever it was led to no good. Thank goodness the artist is self-aware, though, knowing full well that most of his troubles are self-induced.

"Yes, I should know by now
That's how it goes when I go out"

My buddy called and said, "I lost a couple screws
Been tryna tighten them up, but they keep coming loose"
Yeah, it's a wonder that I didn't see the light
For a lawman didn't tackle me, read me my rights

Wild-ass women, hard-ass living
Did it to myself, near over and over
Guess me and my buddy Jim put on a hell of a show
They woke me up this morning, I was the last one to know

Took me a break from burning up the road
Tried to do some reacquainting with a girl I used to know
Yeah, she went and found another coat to ride
Put me on a late-night whiskey bar stool spiral dive

Wild-ass women, hard-ass living
Did it to myself, near over and over
Guess me and my buddy Jim put on a hell of a show
They woke me up this morning, I was the last one to know

Yes, I should know by now
That's how it goes when I go out

Wild-ass women, hard-ass living
Did it to myself, near over and over
Guess me and my buddy Jim put on a hell of a show
They woke me up this morning, I was the last one to know

Yes, I should know by now
That's how it goes when I go out
That's how it goes when I go out

--

For more on Gavin Adcock, see below: