This mid-tempo track opens up deep cuts and powerful emotions that nearly everyone has experienced at one point in their life – and that’s one of the hallmarks of a great song. If the listener can relate, they connect in a whole new way to both a musician and their music.
With Trace Adkins, audiences everywhere have always found a strong connection and relatable tone to almost every single one of his songs and his new hit, “If Only You Were Lonely” is a testament to that.
Often, songs are penned with a particular vocalist in mind, or are selected by the artist themselves. In this case, it was Adkins’ own band leader who wrote this honest and raw new country track.
As Adkins reveals in his behind-the-song video, he first heard of ‘Lonely’ when John, his band leader, approached him one day.
“It’s a song that my band leader, John Coleman, brought to me – a song that he wrote,” Adkins explained. “He wanted to play it for me and he said ‘I just want you to tell me what you think about this song’.”
“We were in Kentucky somewhere doing a show and he came on the bus and played it for me. He said ‘What do you think about it?’, I said ‘I think I need to put it on this record!'”
With a smile washing across his face, Adkins lights up about how much he enjoys the song, saying “it’s one of my favorite songs on this record” and explained how proud and happy he was that Coleman got a song cut on the record.
“If Only You Were Lonely” is a song that uncovers deep wounds experienced by the narrator, expressing all the amazing things he could do with his former lover “if only she were lonely”.
Finding out that the person you’ve loved is now with someone else is a painful moment, but Adkins pulls no punches with this heart-wrenching feeling and really travels through the thoughts of looking back on times lost with a perfect match.
The lyrics are a powerful metaphor that channel the loss and frustration into a smooth and soulful song that expresses the longing, missing, and acceptance of a former love moving on.
Check out the behind-the-song video below along with Adkins’ official lyric video for “If Only You Were Lonely” and if you haven’t picked up you copy of his new album, Something’s Going On, you can snag one here!