This one’s been a long time coming…
Parker McCollum released his longtime fan-favorite “Speed” today, from his forthcoming fourth studio album Never Enough.
It’s easily been one of my favorites personally, and I was actually hoping he’d include it on his 2021 third studio album Gold Chain Cowboy, but I digress…
The lyrics certainly focus a universally relatable concept about being young, wanting nothing more than to live your life at 100 miles an hour, and go as fast as you can all the time.
A coming-of-age song that reminds me a lot of his other fan-favorite “Young Man’s Blues,” it even has shades of Alabama’s #1 hit “I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why).
Parker uses the speed of a car to symbolize the rush of power that speed, both literally and metaphorically, can give you.
Yet ultimately, he gets advice from his dad telling him that it will get old and eventually, you have to slow down and focus on other things:
“Hammer down, never stickin’ around, head harder than a tree
Foot on the gas, never lookin’ back and always ready to leave
I remember shakin’ my head when my old man told me
“Boy, one of these days, you won’t always be hung up on speed”
Honestly, from these four previously released songs in “Stoned,” “Handle On You,” “I Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” and “Speed” today, this stands to be Parker’s strongest project so far, and I’m really looking forward to hearing every song he included on the record.
Never Enough will be out everywhere on May 12th.
“Speed”
And Parker let us in on some on a rather unique aspect of this record yesterday, saying one of the songs contains the word “beer,” which is the first time he’s ever used that word in a song.
He added that it’s not actually a “beer drinking song,” but that’s one of the buzziest buzz words of all-time in country music, especially mainstream Nashville country, so I have to hand it to him…
That’s pretty damn impressive, actually.
This album is produced by his fellow Texan, the great Jon Randall, and Parker most recently released his major label debut album Gold Chain Cowboy in 2021.
Parker is also gearing up to hit the road on his own headlining tour, in addition to opening a few shows for Eric Church on his The Outsiders Revival Tour, so I’m excited to get to hear all the new material live on the road.
“Handle On You”
