‘Looking Back On This’ by Riley Green – Lyrics & Meaning

After a blowout year in 2023, the stage was set to see what Riley Green had up his sleeve in 2024. Almost a year to the day of the release of his lauded Ain't My Last Rodeo record, his newest project, Don't Mind If I Do, shares its release day with its creators birthday.

Tallying 18 tracks from one of the buzziest artists in country music, the Alabama native offers a mix of tunes we've already heard and newly minted hits-in-the-making that all celebrate Green's southern way of life and his pride in the power of country music, as well as a sensual moment or two along the way.

Towards the tail end of Don't Mind If I Do, we find an anthem celebrating young love as Green reminisces on days gone by with who we can only assume has become his life partner.

As with the bulk of the record, 'Looking Back On This' finds celebrated producer Dann Huff behind the soundboard, accompanied by Michael Knox, Scott Borchetta and Jimmy Harnen. Elsewhere, the song serves as another rare outside cut from Green, who secured the song from the team of Randy Montana, Justin Wilson & singer-songwriter Jameson Rodgers.

Taking on the same nostalgic, 2000s country sound that permeates throughout so much of Don't Mind If I Do, 'Looking Back On This' opens with a bright pairing of an electric guitar and a cheery mandolin, setting the stage for the journey that lies ahead for the next three and a half minutes.

It's all wonderfully paced as it all builds towards the first chorus, the full band eventually slamming together with great effect as Green's storytelling ability is front and center.

"I just took a left on Main right by the Church of Christ
Nervous boy with a racing heart now I’m pullin’ in your drive
You’re walkin’ out in your favorite dress
I’m looking forward to looking back on this

Nothin’ to do nowhere to be and everywhere to go
Crossing over Mill Creek Bridge taking every mile slow
Chasing more than a red sunset
And I’m looking forward to looking back on this"

We find our protagonist on his way to pick up a girl for their first date. Making a left on Main Street and cruising by the local church, he tried to describe just how nervous he is for the evening, but it's all overshadowed by the girl walking out gorgeous as can be in her favorite dress.

The pair don't really have any plans for the night, yet everything's on the table. Not in a hurry and enjoying every minute, the boy utters the song's effective hook that he's "looking forward to looking back on this" moment in their relationship since he knows it'll likely be an important one.

"I’m looking through the windshield at the white lines tryin’ to keep it on the road
I’m starin’ at your long hair, your green eyes, slidin’ over to me close
You’re looking at me like you wanna lean in for a kiss
It’s looking like we’re ‘bout to make a memory that we won’t forget
And I’m looking forward to looking back on this"

Though the word "looking" is used five times in the chorus and becomes a little bit overkill by the end, the chorus paints a fitting picture of a young couple's first date.

As the boy desperately tries to keep his eyes on the road, he can't help but be distracted by the girl's natural beauty, smitten with her green eyes as she finds her way closer to him.

Readying to have their first kiss, everything stops as the boy realizes that they're about to make a special memory that will last a lifetime. Before it even happens, he explains that he's anticipating the joy he'll have remembering this night.

"You just took my phone and played 'Old Time Rock & Roll'
Sayin’ that you wanna dance, girl I know where to go
There’s an open field where the river bends
And I’m looking forward to looking back on this"

Snapping back into the moment as the pair of young lovers make their way through town with nowhere really to go, the girl puts on some classic Bob Seger tunes and tells the young lad that she's in the mood to dance.

Surrounded by open fields and with no one to impress, he pulls over and takes her by the hand as he adds another moment to their vault of memories.

"I’m looking through the windshield at the white lines tryin’ to keep it on the road
I’m starin’ at your long hair, your green eyes, slidin’ over to me close
You’re looking at me like you wanna lean in for a kiss
It’s looking like we’re ‘bout to make a memory that we won’t forget
And I’m looking forward to looking back on this"

During his UK album listening party, which took place the night before the arrival of Don't Mind If I Do, Riley Green shed some light on how ‘Looking Back On This’ came to be, “I had this kind of dating life in school where you were having to borrow your dad's keys to pick the girl up, and when you get older, those feelings aren't what dating is like anymore as an adult. Looking back on those memories and maybe thinking about somebody that you're with now is a cool thing and what country music is all about - finding a way to bring emotions and memories”.

“I just took a left on Main right by the Church of Christ
Nervous boy with a racing heart now I’m pullin’ in your drive
You’re walkin’ out in your favorite dress
I’m looking forward to looking back on this

Nothin’ to do nowhere to be and everywhere to go
Crossing over Mill Creek Bridge taking every mile slow
Chasing more than a red sunset
And I’m looking forward to looking back on this

I’m looking through the windshield at the white lines tryin’ to keep it on the road
I’m starin’ at your long hair, your green eyes, slidin’ over to me close
You’re looking at me like you wanna lean in for a kiss
It’s looking like we’re ‘bout to make a memory that we won’t forget
And I’m looking forward to looking back on this

You just took my phone and played “Old Time Rock & Roll”
Sayin’ that you wanna dance, girl I know where to go
There’s an open field where the river bends
And I’m looking forward to looking back on this

I’m looking through the windshield at the white lines tryin’ to keep it on the road
I’m starin’ at your long hair, your green eyes, slidin’ over to me close
You’re looking at me like you wanna lean in for a kiss
It’s looking like we’re ‘bout to make a memory that we won’t forget
And I’m looking forward to looking back on this

Looking back on the sparks that are already flyin’
Back on this feelin’ ‘cause baby I’m dyin’
To get there and get to lovin’ on you
Is all I wanna do, so

I’m looking through the windshield at the white lines tryin’ to keep it on the road
I’m starin’ at your long hair, your green eyes, slidin’ over to me close
You’re looking at me like you wanna lean in for a kiss
It’s looking like we’re ‘bout to make a memory that we won’t forget
And I’m looking forward to looking back on this
Looking back on this”

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