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
Finally Free
Cody Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I sang everything I felt on my guitar and I don't know why it was so damn hard just to sing to you but tonight i'm gonna sing to you.
So raise the flag i'm finally free, I found everything I need to get back to me.
And I found everything I've always only heard.
I've been lookin for love and I think I finally found her.
I watched the fireworks exploding inside your eyes and I couldn't help myself I was hypnotized and I knew I wanted you oh tonight I wanna want you.
So raise the flag i'm finally free, I found everything I need to get back to me.
And I found everything I've always only heard.
I've been lookin for love and I think I finally found her.
So raise the flag i'm finally free, I found everything I need to get back to me.
And I found everything I've always only heard.
I've been lookin for love, I've been lookin' for love and I think I finally found her.
In Cody Johnson's song "Finally Free," the singer recounts a memory of a Fourth of July spent with a special someone. The singer struggled to express his feelings to this person, singing everything he felt on his guitar. Despite the difficulty, the singer knew he wanted to be with this person and eventually found himself wanting to hold them. The fireworks mirroring in the person's eyes mesmerized the singer, and they danced under the stars before ending up on the hood of the singer's car.
The chorus of the song, "So raise the flag I'm finally free, I found everything I need to get back to me," seems to suggest that the singer had been lost in some way but that he had finally found himself through this experience. The repetition of the line, "I've been looking for love and I think I finally found her," further emphasizes the importance of this moment and the significance of the connection between the singer and the other person.
Overall, "Finally Free" is a song about finding oneself through love and expressing those feelings despite the difficulty that may come with vulnerability.
Line by Line Meaning
It was the fourth of July and my heart sang I remember now everything that I tried to say like "I love you" something like "I love you".
I recall the moment when my heart was overflowing with emotions on Independence Day, and I tried to express my love for you through words and music, although I struggled to do so.
I sang everything I felt on my guitar and I don't know why it was so damn hard just to sing to you but tonight i'm gonna sing to you.
I poured my heart out through my music, and I couldn't understand why it was so difficult to convey my feelings to you through my songs, but today I will give it my all to sing my love for you.
So raise the flag i'm finally free, I found everything I need to get back to me.
I feel liberated and free now that I have found everything I needed to find myself once more.
And I found everything i've always only heard.
I have discovered all of the things that I have only ever heard of before.
I've been lookin for love and I think I finally found her.
I have been searching for love, and I believe that I have finally found my true love.
I watched the fireworks exploding inside your eyes and I couldn't help myself I was hypnotized and I knew I wanted you oh tonight I wanna want you.
As I looked into your eyes, I was mesmerized by the fireworks that seemed to explode within them, and I knew then that I wanted you, and tonight, I still want you just as much.
Oh we danced all night underneath the stars and we wound up there on the hood of my car and I help oh tonight I wanna hold you.
We spent the entire night dancing under the stars and ended up lying on the car hood, and now I just want to hold you close to me.
I've been lookin for love, i've been lookin' for love and I think I finally found her.
I have been on a quest for true love, and I am certain that I have finally found the person who completes me and makes me feel loved.
Contributed by Adalyn Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.