His parents are William Keith Swindell and Betty Carol Rainey. His father died unexpectedly on September 2, 2013, at 65. He grew up in Bronwood, Georgia, and has two brothers and a stepbrother.
Swindell attended Terrell Academy in Dawson, Georgia. Swindell attended Georgia Southern University, where he majored in marketing. He met Luke Bryan, who attended the same university some years earlier and was also a fellow Sigma Chi member, at the fraternity house when Bryan came back to Statesboro to do a show. They kept in touch, and after Swindell left college in 2007 and moved to Nashville, he sold merchandise for Bryan for three years, and wrote songs on the road.
In 2010, Swindell signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
Cole Swindell wrote Craig Campbell's "Outta My Head"; Luke Bryan's "Just a Sip", "Beer in the Headlights", "Roller Coaster", "Out Like That", "I'm Hungover", "In Love with the Girl", "Love in a College Town", "Shore Thing", "Shake the Sand" and "The Sand I Brought to the Beach"; Thomas Rhett's "Get Me Some of That"; and Scotty McCreery's "Water Tower Town" and "Carolina Eyes". He also co-wrote Florida Georgia Line's "This Is How We Roll" with Bryan, who was featured on the song. Chris Young also had a song on his A.M. album co-written by Swindell, "Nothin' but the Cooler Left".
2013–15: Cole Swindell
In 2013, after his independently released debut single "Chillin' It" was played heavily by satellite radio channel "The Highway" on SiriusXM, the song began to climb the charts, Swindell signed a record deal with Warner Music Nashville. The song was produced by Jody Stevens, who is the son of Luke Bryan's producer, Jeff Stevens, and was formerly one-half of the duo Fast Ryde. The recording of "Chillin' It" was a demo consisting of Swindell's vocals and Stevens performing all instrumentation, and it was sent to radio before it had been mastered.
Swindell released his self-titled debut album on February 18, 2014. Luke Bryan's guitarist, Michael Carter, produced the rest of the album. Along with Lee Brice, Swindell opened Luke Bryan's 2014 That's My Kind of Night Tour. The tour dates began in mid-January and ran into early March. "Chillin' It" became a top 5 hit on Country Airplay and #1 single on Hot Country Songs. The album's second single is "Hope You Get Lonely Tonight", which Swindell co-wrote with both members of Florida Georgia Line. The album's third single, "Ain't Worth the Whiskey" released to country radio on November 3, 2014. It reached #1 on the Country Airplay chart in April 2015. The album's fourth single, "Let Me See Ya Girl", was released to country radio on April 20, 2015. It reached #2 on the Country Airplay chart in November 2015.
On November 17, 2014, Swindell released a five-song digital EP titled The Down Home Sessions. The EP release coincides with his headlining tour of the same name.
Swindell won the ACM New Artist of the Year Award in April 2015.
2015–18: You Should Be Here
The album's first single, "You Should Be Here" was released to country radio on December 14, 2015. It was written with Ashley Gorley. It reached at #1 on the Country Airplay & Hot Country Songs in April 2016. The album's second single, "Middle of a Memory" released to country radio on May 2, 2016. It reached at #1 on the Country Airplay in November 2016. The album's third single, "Flatliner" (featuring Dierks Bentley) released to country radio on January 23, 2017. It reached #2 on the Country Airplay in August 2017. The album's fourth single, "Stay Downtown" released to country radio on September 5, 2017. “You Should Be Here”, “Middle Of A Memory”, and "Flatliner" all hit #1 on Mediabase country radio singles chart.
Swindell also released a music video for the song which featured a video of him telling his father he received a record contract and subsequent montages of Cole and his brothers grieving outside of the family home and at their father's grave. The video also shows images of Swindell's rising popularity while clearly conveying that he wanted to be able to see his father and share this fame experience with him.
2018–present: All of It
Swindell released "Break Up in the End", the lead single from his third album, on February 23, 2018. The new album, All of It, was released on August 17, 2018. After the album became available for pre-order in July 2018, Swindell released the #1 track "Love You Too Late" as a promotional single. "Love You Too Late" was announced as the album's official second single, being released to radio on November 19, 2018.
The lead single from Swindell's fourth studio album, "Single Saturday Night", was released on May 22, 2020. It was followed by "Never Say Never", a duet with Lainey Wilson, on November 19, 2021. Swindell released his fourth album Stereotype on April 8, 2022. Swindell followed the album up with its third single, "She Had Me at Heads Carolina", a remake of Jo Dee Messina's 1996 single "Heads Carolina, Tails California". Cole's remake revises the storyline to tell of an encounter with a woman singing a Karaoke version of Jo Dee's hit. This single has gone on to become the biggest single of Swindell's career so far, having spent four weeks at #1 on the Country Airplay chart, as well as becoming his first Top 20 single on the Billboard Hot 100.
BOOMERANG
Cole Swindell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Last night we were on fire
Now I'm laying here wishing it is what it was
And thinking love is a liar
The way you dance in and out of my hands
Ain't nothing I can do but hold you when I can
You're like a boomerang
Aw, baby why, why you like a boomerang
Flying out of my arms off into the dark
Then you back again, like a damn boomerang
Every time I wonder where you are now
I get to looking out the window
Knowing you know right where I can be found
And how to keep me from letting go
It's hard to get you out of my head
With your every now and then, crashing in my bed
Like a boomerang
You like leading me on then you leave me alone
Aw, baby why, why you like a boomerang
Flying out of my arms off into the dark
Then you back again, like a damn boomerang
You're like a boomerang
You're cold, you're hot, you here then you not
Here you come now
Like a boomerang
I can't lock the door cause I can't wait for more
Give me some more
Boomerang
You like leading me on then you leave me alone
Aw, baby why, why you like a boomerang
Flying out of my arms off into the dark
Then you're back again, like a damn boomerang
Yeah you're way to good at this game
Aw there you go, but I know you'll be back, you little boomerang
Here you come again
The lyrics to Cole Swindell's song Boomerang explore the frustration and confusion of being in an on-again, off-again relationship. The singer is struggling with his feelings for his partner, who he describes as a "boomerang," constantly leaving and then returning to his life. He admits that he can't resist her, despite knowing that she will inevitably leave him again. He sings about how she "dances in and out of [his] hands" and how he can only hold her "when [he] can."
The chorus of the song repeats the sentiment that this person is like a "boomerang," flying out of his arms and into the dark, only to come back again. He compares her to a game, saying that she is "way too good at this game," and acknowledges that he knows she will come back even as he wishes for her to stay.
Overall, the song explores the cyclical nature of toxic relationships, where one partner constantly leaves and returns, leaving the other person confused and hurt. The singer is unable to break free from this cycle, and instead finds himself being drawn back again and again to this person who he knows will only hurt him in the end.
Line by Line Meaning
Girl you got my days and my mind mixed up
You've made me confused and preoccupied with thoughts of you all the time.
Last night we were on fire
We had an intense and passionate time together.
Now I'm laying here wishing it is what it was
I'm regretting that our time together can't last forever.
And thinking love is a liar
I'm wondering if love is actually truthful or deceptive.
The way you dance in and out of my hands
You move in and out of my life without any control from me.
Ain't nothing I can do but hold you when I can
All I can do is cherish the moments when we're together.
You're like a boomerang
You keep coming back to me, even though you always fly away again.
You like leading me on then you leave me alone
You give me signs of hope, then disappear without explanation.
Aw, baby why, why you like a boomerang
I can't understand why you keep coming back and then leaving again.
Flying out of my arms off into the dark
You escape my grasp and go off into the unknown.
Then you back again, like a damn boomerang
But you never stay away for long; you always come back to me eventually.
Every time I wonder where you are now
I can't help but think about where you might be at this moment.
I get to looking out the window
I become fixated on searching for any sign of you outside.
Knowing you know right where I can be found
I'm aware that you have information about my whereabouts.
And how to keep me from letting go
You have a way of making me unable to move on from you.
It's hard to get you out of my head
I struggle to stop thinking about you and our time together.
With your every now and then, crashing in my bed
Even though you're not always around, you still have an impact on my intimate moments.
You're cold, you're hot, you here then you not
Your behavior is unpredictable and constantly changing.
Here you come now
You're back in my life again.
I can't lock the door cause I can't wait for more
I'm unable to stop you from coming back because I still desire your presence.
Give me some more
I want to continue our relationship despite the repeating pattern of you leaving.
Yeah you're way to good at this game
You have a mastery over this cycle of leaving and coming back.
Aw there you go, but I know you'll be back, you little boomerang
Even though you're leaving again, I'm confident you'll come back to me soon.
Here you come again
And sure enough, you're back in my life once more.
Contributed by London S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.