Country singer Collin Raye has built his multi-platinum career with his great storytelling, singing different stories and bringing the song’s characters to life. One of those was his 1994 track “Man of My Word,” written by Gary Burr and Allen Shamblin and produced by John Hobbs, Ed Seay, and Paul Worley.
The song, which was the third single off his album Extremes, earned Raye a Top 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. While it was a charting hit, it’s underrated in his discography, especially with number-ones like “Love Me” in 1992 and “My Kind of Girl” in 1995. Nevertheless, to every fan of his, it remains one of the best Collin Raye songs and will always deserve a listen.
Meaning Behind the Song
Collin Raye’s “Man of My Word” is every man’s promise to his woman.
The song opened with the bold declaration, “I’m a man of my word, I mean what I say / My pledge is my bond, that’s just my way.” He then went on to sing about how he still holds on to that even when the person he had made a promise to is long gone and even when it feels a little too long. He had sworn to love her, and nothing could change that — even when people would tell him that he was free to find someone new.
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That is because he had already lost his heart because he gave his to hers. And he vowed, “I said my love would last for all time / And no one would take your place.”
But he also admitted that his choice to do so had cost him dearly, as it felt that the words he had said to her — and probably the last sound she had ever heard — were prison without her. He wished that just once, he had told her a lie.
Despite the conflict inside his heart, he knew deep down that he was, is, and forever will be a man of his word. And he will love her until the grave.
Check out Collin Raye’s “Man of My Word” in the video below.
