When Cole Swindell released the third single, “Flatliner,” off his 2017 gold-selling sophomore album You Should Be Here, which he co-wrote with Jaron Boyer and Matt Bronleewe, he was on a chart steak. That is, since 2013’s “Chillin’ It,” Cole Swindell’s radio singles topped either of the two leading country airplay charts. He already had six at that point, and he was looking to make it seven. And it wasn’t just all him. Swindell had the help of Dierks Bentley to boost it up.
Unfortunately, the song broke the streak as it only peaked at the runner-up position on the Country Airplay. But as Joseph Hudak of Rolling Stone called it, it was still a big accomplishment considering it employed the “laziest clichés of contemporary country music.”
Meaning Behind the Song
Cole Swindell penned the song with Boyer and Brownleewe four years before he officially released it. At the time, he was a songwriter of the artists and he didn’t even debut yet. But he had the wildest dream for Bentley to record it. So, he actually sent him the song, but he didn’t get the response. The singer worked on the song again, and a few years later, he texted Bentley about it. This time, he received a reply.
Bentley loved it so much that he even said yes to singing it with Swindell for his second album.
For You
The song’s plot was straightforward: There’s a girl who was so hot she almost got a country boy flatlining. And so, they sing, “I’m talkin’ breaker breaker one-niner. She’s a flatliner, oh she’s a flatliner.” But what really sold it to the crowd was its uptempo, rocker party beat – just like Hank Williams’ “Hey Good Lookin’,” Mickey Gilley’s “Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time,” and Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” to name a few.
But they didn’t just record it, they also performed it together during Bentley’s 2017 What the Hell World Tour. According to Swindell, “To know a song I wrote with him in mind, he’s singing it with me, and we perform it with his band every night, that’s the ‘only in Nashville’ stuff right there.” He also added that it was pretty cool to sing his seventh single with one of his biggest influences.
Go ahead and party till you drop dead with Cole Swindell’s “Flatline.” Check it out below.
