“When I grew up and started traveling around the country, I began seeing certain truths in people’s struggles and pains, and I realized that the America that was given to me wasn’t what I’d been told it was,” Culwell reflects. “The patriotism that my father passed down didn’t have anywhere to land because that America simply didn’t exist. I’m a father myself now, and I think part of the inspiration for these songs was to try and give my children the tools to love this country for what it is and what it can be, to provide them with an accurate picture of where they are and what it means to love and hope and have empathy.”
Love and hope and empathy have long been touchstones of Culwell’s writing, a style that NPR raved “wring grace from plain and often dark details, expressing the realities of class and region in ways that many other writers barely touch.” ‘Flatlands’ was a stark meditation on the forgotten emptiness of the Texas panhandle, and its sparse arrangements and profound lyrics drew plaudits from around the world. Rolling Stone said that Culwell has “a voice as big as the Texas horizon,” while Guitar World praised the album as “masterfully crafted and artfully delivered,” and Country Weekly called it “both deeply personal and universal in its depiction of struggle.” In the UK, Mojo gushed that Culwell “shapes his characters with dirt, blood, [and] spiritual foreboding,” and The Mail On Sunday proclaimed that the album “heralds a gritty, poetic new American voice.” The music earned Culwell dates with Patty Griffin, Hayes Carll, Ashley Monroe, Billy Joe Shaver, and Amy Speace among others, and racked up more than a million streams on Spotify.
You can’t feed a family on good reviews alone, though, and as Culwell’s brood grew, he had a choice to make about the kind of father and husband he wanted to be.
“I see a lot of guys in this business forego relationships and families, and my wife and I decided we weren’t going to do that,” says Culwell. “I’ve been married almost fourteen years and I’m committed to home life, but it takes sacrifice and balance.”
Culwell put touring on a temporary hold to be there for his kids, and in order to help pay the bills, he took on a series of increasingly odd jobs: roofing salesman, landscaper, tree cutter, pedal tavern driver. Each took its toll, and while ferrying drunk bachelorettes around Nashville on an alcohol-fueled megabike was perhaps the most harrowing, it was the tree-cutting job that nearly killed him.
“I was out working by myself when I made a poor cut on a fallen tree and it started rolling at me,” he remembers. “I ripped my shoulder out of my socket and came within an inch of cutting my face in two that day.”
Around the same time, Culwell’s friends Ethan Ballinger (Lee Ann Womack, Aubrie Sellers) and Megan McCormick (Jenny Lewis, Conor Oberst) approached him about getting back into the studio. It was nothing serious, they assured him, just a few songs for fun, but he quickly realized they had grand designs on producing a full length LP for him. Culwell had been reluctant to commit to making another album, but he soon found himself deeply invested in the project and grateful that he’d been tricked into it. They worked off-hours at Zac Brown’s Southern Ground studio, recording a few songs here and a few songs there whenever Ballinger and McCormick’s touring schedules allowed. With half the album completed over the course of nearly a year, Culwell added producer and longtime collaborator Neilson Hubbard (Glen Phillips, Apache Relay) to the team, and the remaining songs were finished in a short burst of concentrated writing and recording at Hubbard’s studio.
“I knew that last batch of songs was going to be an intense sprint, and the team and environment evolved perfectly to let the album flex into full form,” says Culwell. “Having Ethan, Meghan, and Neilson all producing together in a small studio like that was the perfect setup for capturing the chaos and the intimacy of the music. Imagine having Brett Favre, Drew Brees, and Peyton Manning all calling the shots at once, but with the humility to defer to each other most of the time. It was weird and tense and glorious.”
The album opens with the dreamy “Can You Hear Me,” a reverb-soaked rocker that calls to mind the swirling soundscapes of The War on Drugs mixed with the anthemic drive of Bruce Springsteen. The album’s sound is a major leap from the stripped-down weariness of ‘Flatlands,’ but Culwell pulls it off with ease, drawing on a cast of characters who are alternately motivated by hopeful promise and bitter resentment. On the relentless, fuzzed-out “Dig A Hole,” he channels the anger and helplessness that run rampant in parts of the country looking for someone, anyone, to lash out at for their struggles, while the wistful title track presents a narrator tenaciously holding on to a past he (may or may not) be better off scrapping, and the deceptively charming “Dog’s Ass” draws on the dark memories of a family who’s livelihood was tightly hitched to the price of oil."
“My grandpa, my uncle, my dad, and his cousin all started a trucking company together in the ’80s, and they made good money working in the regional oilfield,” says Culwell. “The bulk of their money was made with a large oil company that was using my family’s little business to write off huge sums on their taxes, and when oil crashed, my folks were stuck holding the bag. They had to find a way to pay for their 18-wheelers, so they took to over-the-road driving, and my grandpa ended up having a stroke and getting into a head-on collision. There’s no chance I’ll ever believe that stroke wasn’t brought on by the greed and corruption of those oilmen.”
Despite its fascination with the dark underbelly of the American Dream, there remains an unshakable sense of promise on the album, an eternal spring of optimism that believes in better days to come. Songs like the gentle “Moon Hangs Down” and “Tie A Pillow To My Tree” began life as improvised lullabies for Culwell’s daughters, and it’s no surprise they hold the most beauty and wisdom of any tracks on the record.
“I’d write a single line one night, a few more a week later, and so on, until eventually we were singing the songs whole,” he explains. “Singing those tunes with my family is easily my greatest success in music. I hope those songs will still be useful to my girls someday when they’re old ladies and I’m gone. That’s all I’m after.”
In that sense, Culwell’s already achieved everything he could hope for with ‘The Last American.’ He’s crafted a collection that’s built to last, one that’s sturdy enough to weather the storms of today, and one that’s certain to be there for the brighter tomorrows still to come.
I Think I'll Be Their God
Ryan Culwell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's my children that I love
I′ma make my son out of dirt
I'ma walk with him when he grows up
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Well, I think I'll be a husband
It′s my woman that I love
I′ma lay her ass down in the dirt
And I'll wait around nine more months
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Well, I think I′ll be a farmer
It's the good earth that I love
I′ma plant my seed right here in the dirt
Dig anything that grows up
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Well, I think I'll be a preacher
It′s the good book that I love
I'ma preach my altar call to the dirt
Save anybody who comes up
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Well, I think I'll be an oilman
It′s the money that I love
I′ma dig right down in the dirt
Stand clear and watch money come up
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Well, I think I'll be a soldier
It′s a country that I love
I'ma set my sights right over that dirt
Kill anybody who comes up
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
I think I′ll be a killer
It's the killing that I love
I′ll hide my bodies in the dirt
I pray to God that nothing comes up
Pray to God that nothing comes up
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Well, I think I'll be their God
It's my children that I love
The lyrics to Ryan Culwell's song "I Think I'll Be Their God" are powerful and thought-provoking. The repeated refrain, "Well, I think I'll be their God," is a bold statement that hints at the idea that humans have the power to create and destroy life, much like a god. The first verse, "It's my children that I love, I'ma make my son out of dirt, I'ma walk with him when he grows up," could be interpreted as a reference to the Biblical story of Adam, who was created from the dust of the earth by God. The lines suggest that the singer is taking on the role of God, creating life and nurturing it.
The following verses touch on different aspects of life, and how the singer could potentially take on the role of God in each scenario. The line "I'ma lay her ass down in the dirt, and I'll wait around nine more months" suggests a reference to childbirth, where again the singer is creating life. In the verse about being a farmer, the emphasis is on growing and nurturing crops, while the verse about being a preacher suggests spreading the word of God to those who come forward. The final two verses, "I think I'll be an oilman" and "I think I'll be a soldier," touch on aspects of life that involve destruction and death, with the final verse about being a killer, ending on a dark and chilling note.
Overall, these lyrics explore the power dynamics at play in life, and how different roles come with varying levels of responsibility and control. The repetition of the line "Well, I think I'll be their God" throughout the song drives home the idea that we have the power to shape the world around us.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I think I'll be their God
I believe that I have the power to control and shape the lives of others, as if I were their deity.
It's my children that I love
I feel strong affection towards those that I consider to be my offspring or creations.
I'ma make my son out of dirt
I plan to create a son from the very substance of the earth itself.
I'ma walk with him when he grows up
I will accompany my son on his journey through life as he matures and becomes an adult.
Well, I think I'll be a husband
I intend to take on the role of a spouse and partner to another person.
It's my woman that I love
I have a deep and intense affection towards the woman in my life.
I'ma lay her ass down in the dirt
I will engage in sexual activities with her in a way that might be considered crude or vulgar.
And I'll wait around nine more months
After our physical intimacies, I anticipate that she will become pregnant and we will have a child together.
Well, I think I'll be a farmer
I see myself becoming a cultivator of the land, tending to crops and the produce of the earth.
It's the good earth that I love
I have a deep reverence and appreciation for the richness and fertility of the soil.
I'ma plant my seed right here in the dirt
I will sow my seeds into the earth, hoping to reap a bountiful harvest in the future.
Dig anything that grows up
I will actively work to harvest whatever crops and plants emerge from the soil.
Well, I think I'll be a preacher
I feel drawn to the spiritual realm and believe that I have a message to share with others.
It's the good book that I love
I have a deep reverence and appreciation for the teachings contained within religious texts.
I'ma preach my altar call to the dirt
I plan to deliver a sermon or message to anyone who will listen, even if it seems as if I'm speaking to the earth itself.
Save anybody who comes up
I believe that my message has the power to help and heal those who may be struggling or lost.
Well, I think I'll be an oilman
I feel a strong desire to extract and exploit the natural resources of the earth for my own gain.
It's the money that I love
I am primarily motivated by the potential financial rewards that come from accessing and controlling oil reserves.
I'ma dig right down in the dirt
I will use heavy machinery and drilling equipment to penetrate the earth's surface and access oil reserves buried deep within.
Stand clear and watch money come up
I anticipate that by exploiting these resources, I will enjoy significant personal financial gain without having to do much work myself.
Well, I think I'll be a soldier
I am drawn to the military or armed forces and see myself becoming a weapon of war.
It's a country that I love
I feel a deep loyalty and allegiance towards my nation and will fight to defend it at all costs.
I'ma set my sights right over that dirt
I will aim my weapon at the targets that I have been assigned to neutralize, regardless of who or what they may be.
Kill anybody who comes up
I am willing to take the lives of others in order to achieve my objectives and protect my nation from perceived threats.
I think I'll be a killer
I have an intense attraction to violence and brutality, finding pleasure in the act of taking life.
It's the killing that I love
I am primarily motivated by a desire to cause harm and inflict pain upon others.
I'll hide my bodies in the dirt
I will attempt to conceal the evidence of my crimes by burying the bodies of my victims underground.
I pray to God that nothing comes up
I hope and wish that my crimes will go unnoticed and that I will never be held accountable for my actions.
Writer(s): Ryan Culwell
Contributed by Evelyn A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.