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Old Dominion - ‘Making Good Time’
Songwriters: Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Bad Tursi, Ross Copperman & Ross Ellis
Official Release Date: February 7th, 2025
Album: TBC
The Background:
Serving as the seven-time ACM Group of the Year victor's first single of 2025, ‘Making Good Time’ is expected to usher in a brand new chapter for Old Dominion, following their much-loved Odies But Goodies compilation album, which dropped in 2024.
Thematically, ‘Making Good Time’ finds Old Dominion striking a familiar balance between nostalgia and jubilation, with the protagonist wistfully looking back at a long-extinguished romance from his youth, and choosing to celebrate the blessing that it happened, rather than lamenting the fact that the relationship didn't last.
The Sound:
Old Dominion know their way around an earworm, and ‘Making Good Time’ is a prime example of this. It's a feel-good, uptempo offering that pivots around an anthemic, soaring hook and a quick-fire lyrical flurry in the mould of ‘I Was On a Boat That Day’ and ‘Never Be Sorry’. The subdued, bass-driven instrumental that underpins the first portion of the chorus builds the anticipation, before Old Dominion let the melody loose with the electric guitar-fuelled latter half of the infectious hook.
It feels like a departure from the comparatively drawn-in, laid-back ambience that pervaded Old Dominion's previous two records, Memory Lane and Time, Tequila and Therapy.
The Meaning:
“Yeah, it seems like yesterday
I could barely hear your name over the band playing
Leaning on my Chevrolet
Your hair in braids, holding my hands saying
I don't normally do this
But there's something ‘bout you and the vibe and the music
It was love it or lose it
Yeah, I wanted you so damn bad, it was stupid”
The protagonist paints a rose-tinted picture of young love, recalling how he met an old flame during a concert. He creates a sense of urgency, describing that it felt as though it was “love it or lose it”, with the couple deciding to pursue their passion.
“We were 17, we were making moves
Burning gasoline, I was on fire for you”
He reveals the young lovers were just 17 at the time, before accentuating the desire they both felt through the metaphor of “burning gasoline”, admitting he was “on fire” for her.
“When you're drinking too much
Do you think about us
Do you redrive every mile
Just trying to get out of this slow down town
‘Cause it never really was our style
Never gonna give up
Never gonna let dust settle down on a dashboard night
Maybe we were going all the way
Maybe we were going nowhere, either way
You were by my side
And we were making good time”
He then brings us back to the present-day, with the narrator wondering if the girl he felt that spark with ever thinks about their romance, even though it disappeared into the rearview many years ago. Then, we get the playful titular piece of wordplay, as he outlines how they didn't know where they were heading, but they were “making good time” - both in the sense of going fast, and having a ‘good time’.
“I got the same black ink as you
But this old tattoo has got some fade in it
But I bet that clover field
Still got the lucky that we laid in it
There was no mistaking
Whatever it was that we thought we were chasing
Not a drop was wasted
Is it just me or can you still taste it”
Here, the protagonist implies it was more than just a one-night fling or a fleeting relationship, with both the boy and the girl in the story getting matching tattoos to demonstrate their dedication to one another. He recalls a passionate encounter in a clover field, before hinting that he longs to return to that simpler, innocent time.
What have Old Dominion said about ‘Making Good Time’?
In an official statement, Trevor Rosen shared how the kernel of the idea for ‘Making Good Time’ originated, “This is a title I had about how some things don't work out, but looking back on the memories you made can still be a source of positivity”.
Matthew Ramsey elucidated on the meaning behind the warm-hearted track, “It's a song about your past and relationships that maybe don't work out, but you look back at them fondly”.
For the full lyrics to Old Dominion's ‘Making Good Time’, see below:
“Yeah, it seems like yesterday
I could barely hear your name over the band playing
Leaning on my Chevrolet
Your hair in braids, holding my hands saying
I don't normally do this
But there's something ‘bout you and the vibe and the music
It was love it or lose it
Yeah, I wanted you so damn bad, it was stupid
-
We were 17, we were making moves
Burning gasoline, I was on fire for you
-
When you're drinking too much
Do you think about us
Do you redrive every mile
Just trying to get out of this slow down town
‘Cause it never really was our style
Never gonna give up
Never gonna let dust settle down on a dashboard night
Maybe we were going all the way
Maybe we were going nowhere, either way
You were by my side
And we were making good time
-
I got the same black ink as you
But this old tattoo has got some fade in it
But I bet that clover field
Still got the lucky that we laid in it
There was no mistaking
Whatever it was that we thought we were chasing
Not a drop was wasted
Is it just me or can you still taste it
-
We were 17, we were making moves
Burning gasoline, I was on fire for you
-
When you're drinking too much
Do you think about us
Do you redrive every mile
Just trying to get out of this slow down town
‘Cause it never really was our style
Never gonna give up
Never gonna let dust settle down on a dashboard night
Maybe we were going all the way
Maybe we were going nowhere, either way
You were by my side
And we were making good time
-
When you're drinking too much
Do you think about us
Do you redrive every mile
Just trying to get out of this slow down town
‘Cause it never really was our style
Never gonna give up
Never gonna let dust settle down on a dashboard night
Maybe we were going all the way
Maybe we were going nowhere, either way
You were by my side
And we were making good time
-
You were by my side
And we were making good time”
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