'Leaving Carolina' by Ty Myers - Lyrics & Meaning

Rising country star Ty Myers started teasing new song ‘Leaving Carolina’ on social media back on 16 June, posting a video of him and an acoustic, passionately belting out the lyrics to the track. Nestled between clips of live performances from his opening gigs for country legends like Willie Nelson and Wade Bowen, as well as his first headline sold-out tour, Myers has been giving his fans glimpses of ‘Leaving Carolina’ and building hype for the song over the last month.

On 1 July, he posted a clip of him singing the new song with the caption “Been too long since I’ve shared new music with y’all,” following that with a clip of him singing the new track live at a stop on his headline tour. On 8 July, the new single was confirmed with a post of the vintage inspired album art to Myers’ social media, announcing the release was set for just 2 days later.

The new song follows his momentous debut album ‘The Select’, released at the beginning of 2025 - with over half a billion streams worldwide, there’s no doubt that Myers is making a name for himself. This new track is certainly another gem in his expanding collection.

Raising immediate comparisons to the country-leaning ‘Born & Raised’ and ‘Paradise Valley’-era of guitar legend John Mayer, the new song from Myers is rooted in country but has a bluesy feel, as it kicks off with guitar and some steadily moving percussion. As his impressive vocals enter the mix, the story of a fiery romance starts.

As a talented guitarist as well as songwriter and singer, Myer’s slick guitar skills shine across the track and add an infinitely cool vibe to the song as the ‘Am I leaving Carolina, or is Carolina leaving me?’ hook ties the track together.

As the momentous new song builds, the additional vocals to the chorus bring a distinctly Southern feel to the song, leading to an epic storm of Sunday morning church service choral harmonies. Myers’ Texas roots still run strong through his music, with the grittiness of southern country music finding its way into both the sound and his stand out vocals.

“When I crossed that line
I was feeling bold
Ornery and tired
Beating up that road”

Setting the scene of the Mayer-inspired track, Myers is singing about a guy that seems to be pretty used to hitting the road.

For a young songwriter, a word like ‘ornery’, meaning “bad-tempered and difficult to deal with”, is a surprising choice - immediately it feels like it could be a reference to the classic Waylon Jennings album ‘Lonesome, On’ry and Mean’.

Maybe the young country artist is finding some inspiration in the words of the classic artists too?

“You caught my eye it was no surprise
It was your plan I suppose
Sayin 'I just wanna love you slow'"

As this troubadour character is on the move this time, it seems he might have met someone who might be able to stop him in his tracks, at least for a little while.

As she says “I just wanna love you slow”, maybe she’s hoping that our protagonist will be stopping for a bit too, taking a break from his never-ending journey.

“We had our fun
And there was plenty to be had
Now the day’s begun
To make it the past”

There’s no knowing how long this has lasted, a fling or a long relationship, but evidently it was a good time for both of our characters. However, maybe we’ve reached the close of this love story, as a new day might be signalling the end of a relationship too.

Time can change everything, and sometimes it’s all just day by day - this time though, it could be one day too many for this country couple.

“Before I turn right on 46th Avenue
In the rearview I look behind
Not a tear was in her eye”

At this point in the song, we’re seeing our protagonist leave the relationship behind and he is once again hitting the road. I

n a moment of classic country storytelling, he’s looking in his rearview mirror and watching the space grow behind him, leaving both memories and a girl in the past. In a turn of events, though, maybe this girl isn’t as hurt as our country boy is, either that or she’s holding in those tough emotions.

“So tell me am I leaving Carolina
Am I leaving Carolina
Or is Carolina leaving me?”

Reaching the hook of the song, we know that Carolina is where he’s leaving - but, it could be that he’s given us the name of this dreamy girl too - is she also a Carolina?

Either way, there’s a place and a person that he’ll be leaving in the past, and it’s been a difficult decision to make.

“Now I’m traveling down
This highway alone
There’s no need to fear
Lord knows I’ve been here before
But never with a girl as pretty as you
Watching me go
Lord knows it chills me down to the soul”

We’re back to that classic country trope of a rambling man, telling the tale of that always-on-the-move lifestyle. He knows that’s the way he’s lived so far, but perhaps this heartbreak is hitting him a little bit harder than anytime before. Maybe he doesn’t want to be travelling solo anymore, even when he’s telling himself “Lord knows I’ve been here before.”

This pain might be cutting him a bit deeper than expected. It’s difficult to know how the girl he’s leaving behind is feeling, but one thing’s for certain, our main character is hurt, reflective and sees no choice but to return to the life he knows.

“I've got your number in my phone
I could turn around and call you up but I already know
Carolina’s leaving me”

Letting go of a person is one of life’s most difficult tasks, especially when you’re not sure it’s the decision you want to make - but as he drives away, perhaps the increasing distance is coming with increasing certainty. Whether or not it’s the way he wanted things to end, Carolina is the one that knows what she wants, and he might just have to accept that.

So far, Myers has remained pretty quiet on the release, maybe leaving the song to speak for itself. Other than his posts to socials that built up anticipation for the drop of ‘Leaving Carolina’, we haven’t heard any personal details about the track from the young country star.

A clip posted just before the release, captioned “#songofthesummer” suggests that he has high hopes for this one though, and with an ever growing list of live performances lined up, hopefully ‘Leaving Carolina’ will be getting the attention it deserves on stage too.

Myers really does seem to be leaning into the vintage country-blues style recently, with his sound and fashion steadily pushing him in an assured direction - his fans are certainly supportive of it, as his socials are inundated with comments of “this song and outfit is everything!” and “John Mayer 2.0”.

When I crossed that line
I was feeling bold
Ornery and tired
Beating up that road

You caught my eye it was no surprise
It was your plan I suppose
Sayin “I just wanna love you slow”

We had our fun
And there was plenty to be had
Now the day’s begun
To make it the past

Before I turn right on 46th Avenue
In the rearview I look behind
Not a tear was in her eye

So tell me am I leaving Carolina
Am I leaving Carolina
Or is Carolina leaving me?

Now I’m traveling down
This highway alone
There’s no need to fear
Lord knows I’ve been here before

But never with a girl as pretty as you
Watching me go
Lord knows it chills me down to the soul

So tell me am I leaving Carolina
Tell me am I leaving Carolina
Or is Carolina leaving me?

I've got your number in my phone
I could turn around and call you up but I already know

I’m not leaving Carolina
No I'm not leaving Carolina
No I'm not leaving Carolina
No I'm not leaving Carolina
No, Carolina’s leaving me

Carolina’s leaving me

--

For more on Ty Myers, see below: