In a time of synthetics and plastics, folks appreciate the real thing. Musi… Read Full Bio ↴In a time of synthetics and plastics, folks appreciate the real thing. Musically, we look for songs that reach beyond our eardrums, touching our hearts. Cody Johnson's unique blend of country and rock does just that.

Many Texan music fans met Cody Johnson’s honest style through the radio singles from his "Six Strings, One Dream" album: "Nobody to Blame" (#6 on the Texas music charts in 2009); #1"Pray for Rain" (2009 - 2010); and "Texas Kind of Way" (#6, late 2010 – 2011).

At first he opened for other artists, but Cody has also taken the Texas dance-halls by storm. Increasingly, the Cody Johnson Band is the attraction, and an honest-to-goodness one.

Cody’s childhood, though, was different from his rowdy onstage personality. Growing up, home was Sebastopol, a speck on the East Texas piney woods map, the perfect setting for that country boy to roam the woods, hunt, and fish. Home-schooling and family times around the piano provided the kind of life the kind many folks envy. Even Cody's music training started when dad Carl taught him the chords to “I’ll Fly Away,” a southern gospel favorite.

Starting public school as a freshman, Cody expanded beyond playing the guitar and drums at church. When his AG science teacher overheard Cody playing an original song, he convinced Cody to form a band with other FFA (Future Farmers of America) members. A few months later, Cody's band placed runner-up in the highly-competitive Texas State FFA talent contest.

Cody left the contest realizing he was in love for life: in love with the music, the crowd, and the energy of performing onstage. Beginning in small honky-tonks and bars, he tried different musical styles. Discarding many, today Cody's shows still keep a Garth Brooks-level of energy and a Ronnie Van Zant-outlaw dedication to individual style. Like the late Chris LeDoux's musical beginnings, “CoJo” sold his acoustic CDs from the back of his truck during three years of bull-riding. Cody still shows up today as the true cowboy he is.

After graduation, Johnson worked for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville. There, supervising prison inmates, Cody confides, "I developed an even greater appreciation for family and friends. Seeing how easy it was to go to prison set me on the 'straight and narrow.'"

Also in Huntsville, Cody met Nathan Reedy, who became his new drummer. With Carl Johnson playing bass, the trio began traveling as the Cody Johnson Band. Their first CD, "Black & White Label," provided funding for travel and radio promotion—and the assurance that the music dream was real.

Along the way, several popular artists have shared their friendship, fans, and wisdom with Cody. Some gave business advice and warned him of issues musicians face on the road. The common thread is that other professionals respect Cody as a performer, songwriter, and individual. In turn, Cody Johnson earns that respect, giving as much effort to an audience of 30 or 30,000. As he states, “I like the crowd to sing along, yell, or whatever makes them feel part of the show. I love big crowds because of the energy and showmanship I can exhibit. I love acoustic shows because of the intimacy and how candid they are. Acoustic shows are like sittin’ around the living room pickin' and grinnin'."

Winning the Texas’ Regional Music Awards as “New Male Vocalist of the Year 2011” caused Cody to choose whether leave the security of state employment to chase his dreams. He followed his own advice to "Always pray for direction, and know that no matter what... the good Lord has a plan."

The answer to that prayer came when Cody's wife Brandi gave her “thumbs-up.” As Cody puts it, "When the woman I love—and plan to spend the rest of my life with—told me that she 'stands by her man' and believes in me 100%, I believed even more confidently that I could live my dream. Though I've had lots of people believe, contribute, push and pull me along, no one's efforts affected my decision emotionally the way Brandi's faith in me did."

Cody indeed left his "day job" for the more-than-full-time music career. But, that’s where the story really begins.
Expanding his boundaries beyond Texas, he flew to Nashville to record a new CD with Nashville studio musicians hand-picked by his "big brother," Nashville-based fellow Texan, Trent Willmon, producer of the new album, A Different Day (released October 31, 2011).
Though new to Nashville recording ways, Johnson’s musical confidence showed in the Music City recording studio. Together, he and the studio musicians tweaked songs to obtain the exact intended effect. Listening to the Music City veterans, Cody adopted suggestions when they felt right, and would "hang tough" when he felt the music differently.

According to CoJo, "I don't want to be labeled as 'Texas' or 'Nashville.' I am me: Texas, outlaw, cowboy, country, and a God-fearing man using the gift He gave me."

- Billie Willmon Jenkin

Bottle It Up
Cody Johnson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Well I always heard tale of a little bitty still in the backwoods
Where old Hillbilly Bill made corn and sugar taste real good
So me and my buds finally got the nerve up,
Took a little chug-a-lug from a big brown jug
Sweet and so smooth, it took me to the moon
I said Billy brother what we ought to do is.

Bottle it up, load it in the back of my truck

Yeah, I bet you we take it into town and
Pass it all around and folks will never get enough
I said bottle it up, ain't no lying it's some mighty mighty powerful stuff
Sell it by the keg, sell it by the case
make a couple million bucks, bottle it up

Early seventeen, growing I was green as the grass was
And I hadn't ever seen nothing that was pretty as she was
She was leading me around like a love-sick hound
when she came slipping out of that pink prom gown
Lordy I was leaving, dancing on the ceiling
I wish that I could take that feeling and.

Bottle it up, load it in the back of my truck
Yeah, I bet you we take it into town and
Pass it all around and folks will never get enough
I said bottle it up, ain't no lying it's some mighty mighty powerful stuff
Sell it by the keg, sell it by the case
make a couple million bucks, bottle it up

Well first time buzz, first time hook,
first time foot on the throttle rush
Bottle it up, go on and bottle it up

Yeah, bottle it up, load it in the back of my truck
Cause man I bet you we take it into town and
Pass it all around and folks will never get enough
I said bottle it up, good God almighty it's some mighty mighty powerful stuff

We could sell it by the keg, sell it by the case
make a couple million bucks, bottle it up

Overall Meaning

In "Bottle It Up," Cody Johnson sings about the temptation of moonshine and the romantic feelings of young love. In the first verse, Johnson and his friends set out to try some of the local moonshine and are impressed with its smoothness and potency. They decide that they should bottle it up and take it into town to sell. The second verse then shifts to a young relationship. Johnson met a girl he was deeply in love with, and he wishes he could bottle up the feeling of being with her. The song ends with a call to bottle up that first-time rush and live life to the fullest.

Line by Line Meaning

Well I always heard tale of a little bitty still in the backwoods
I have always heard rumors about a small, homemade alcohol distillery in the rural area.

Where old Hillbilly Bill made corn and sugar taste real good
There was a legend about a man named Hillbilly Bill who produced outstanding alcohol from corn and sugar.

So me and my buds finally got the nerve up,
My friends and I finally got the courage to try this homemade alcohol.

Took a little chug-a-lug from a big brown jug
We tasted the alcohol that Bill had produced from a large brown jug.

Sweet and so smooth, it took me to the moon
The alcohol had a pleasant taste and easy to drink, and it made me feel extremely intoxicated.

I said Billy brother what we ought to do is.
I suggested to Bill that we should market and sell his homemade alcohol.

Bottle it up, load it in the back of my truck
We should put the alcohol in bottles and transport them using my truck.

Yeah, I bet you we take it into town and
We should bring the product to the city and sell it there.

Pass it all around and folks will never get enough
We should promote and distribute the alcohol in the city and people will become addicted to it.

I said bottle it up, ain't no lying it's some mighty mighty powerful stuff
I emphasized that the alcohol was strong and potent, and it would yield great sales.

Sell it by the keg, sell it by the case
We should sell the alcohol in bulk, in large containers.

make a couple million bucks, bottle it up
We should create a business from this and earn millions by producing and selling this homemade alcohol.

Early seventeen, growing I was green as the grass was
When I was seventeen, I was inexperienced and naive.

And I hadn't ever seen nothing that was pretty as she was
I had never seen anyone as beautiful as the girl I was with.

She was leading me around like a love-sick hound
The girl I was with was controlling our relationship and I was infatuated with her.

when she came slipping out of that pink prom gown
One evening, when she changed out of her prom dress, I was mesmerized by how beautiful she looked.

Lordy I was leaving, dancing on the ceiling
I felt incredibly happy and elated, almost as if I was floating in the air.

I wish that I could take that feeling and.
I wish that I could bottle up that sensation and keep it forever.

Bottle it up, load it in the back of my truck
I should have bottled up that moment and store it in my truck.

Yeah, I bet you we take it into town and
I could have shared that feeling with everyone in the city.

Pass it all around and folks will never get enough
People would be so fascinated with that sensation and it would have become a popular product.

I said bottle it up, ain't no lying it's some mighty mighty powerful stuff
I asserted again that if we could bottle up that feeling, it would be a valuable and powerful product.

Sell it by the keg, sell it by the case
We should sell that bottled feeling in large amounts.

make a couple million bucks, bottle it up
We could earn a fortune by selling that bottled sensation.

Well first time buzz, first time hook, first time foot on the throttle rush
The first time I drank, the first time I fell in love, and the first time I drove fast gave me similar intoxicating sensations.

Bottle it up, go on and bottle it up
Those experiences were so overwhelming that they should have been bottled up.

Yeah, bottle it up, load it in the back of my truck
We could have bottled up all those exciting and thrilling moments and transported them in my truck.

Cause man I bet you we take it into town and
Imagining that we could share those sensations with others in the city would have been very profitable.

Pass it all around and folks will never get enough
People would have become addicted to that feeling and would have wanted more of it.

I said bottle it up, good God almighty it's some mighty mighty powerful stuff
People will be amazed by the intensity of those emotions, and it would be a very powerful product.

We could sell it by the keg, sell it by the case make a couple million bucks, bottle it up
We could have sold all those experiences in bulk and earned a fortune by bottling them up.

Contributed by Carson B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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