Like Gold Chain Cowboy, it pairs Parker with producer Jon Randall (Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley), a fellow Texan who understands exactly what fuels Parker’s artistry: authenticity, vulnerability, and a little bit of defiance. Never Enough bristles with honesty and attitude and is shot through with equal parts rock guitar and country songwriting.
“What I do best is write songs from a very real place and sing country music, but also be very ‘me’ and not try to sound like someone else,” Parker says. “We definitely did that on this record and every one of the 15 songs sounds different.”
Compare album opener “Hurricane” and the confessional ballad “Have Your Heart Again” to hear his point. “Hurricane,” a song about a strong-willed girl who blows through your life and leaves it in tatters, is a driving rock anthem with a guitar riff that calls to mind the theme from Friends (“I’m sure some people will hate on that, but I don’t give a shit,” Parker laughs. “I thought it was cool”). “Have Your Heart Again,” meanwhile, is a simple vocal-and-piano arrangement with Parker hitting a stunning falsetto note. The songs are each irresistible and unique, rich in lyrical imagery, and unlike anything you’ll hear coming out of Nashville today.
Credit that to Parker, as sturdy as a live oak, for knowing exactly who he is.
“This town can eat you alive, the music business can eat you alive, with artists trying to remain relevant and have hit songs. That’s something I never cared about when I’m writing or making a record,” he says. “I’m never thinking about singles. I’m trying to just write songs that can potentially stand the test of time. That’s the sole purpose of writing songs for me.”
Even Never Enough tracks that have since become gold-certified hits weren’t written with radio in mind. To Parker, “Handle on You” was just a drinking song with clever lyricism (“I tell myself that I should quit/but I don’t listen to drunks”) and a late-Eighties country sound as smooth as Tennessee whiskey or, perhaps, a Shiner Bock.
“That song is a nod to some of the great records I grew up with,” says Parker, who counts George Strait, Willie Nelson, and cult hero Chris Knight as chief inspirations. “A lot of radio songs nowadays are kind of bubble-gummy. I don’t have any problem with pop-country, but I’d like to hear a little more classic country too. My team kept saying ‘Handle on You’ was a radio song and I said, ‘If y’all put that on the radio, then hell yeah.’”
A mostly solitary songwriter prior to his entrée into Nashville, Parker has now written with some of country music’s finest. Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, and Liz Rose (a.k.a. The Love Junkies), David Lee Murphy, Brett James, and Ashley Gorley all contribute to Never Enough, along with Parker’s Texas peers Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, and Ryan Beaver.
“That’s been the biggest change since coming to Nashville: having access to some of the best songwriters in the world and sitting in a room with them to write,” Parker says. “The way these songwriters care and write, it’s from a place that I think I do as well. It’s made me look at songwriting differently.”
The proof is in Parker’s chart history. He scored his first-ever No. 1 country hit with 2020’s “Pretty Heart,” his debut single. “To Be Loved by You” followed suit, also hitting No. 1. Now, he’s staring down a career-making single in “Burn It Down,” a moody, smoldering break-up song that equates a busted relationship to a house reduced to just ashes and smoke.
Written with the Love Junkies, “Burn It Down” was born during a writing session at Parker’s home, where he spontaneously started singing the words “burn it down” over and over again. “Some days are like that, where the melody and the idea for the song is so good and everybody is on the same page,” he says. “If you’re talking about moving the needle in my career, ‘Burn It Down’ is probably going to be the song.”
Parker lives for the type of spontaneous creation that happened that day. He’ll often challenge himself to write a song without changing a single word. He did that with “Too Tight This Time.” With a pretty acoustic guitar lick, a Dobro guest shot by Jerry Douglas, and a heavy dose of humility and introspection in Parker’s vocal performance, “Too Tight This Time” is Parker’s favorite track on Never Enough.
“I said, ‘Let’s pour this thing out and whatever it is in 15 minutes, that’s what it’s going to be forever.’ I love to write songs like that and live with the end result. This one was easy to do because the melody was so good,” he says. “The line ‘There must be something broken inside this lonely man’ just hits so hard.”
For all his quiet strength and rough-hewn masculinity, Parker isn’t afraid to bare his soul. But, ironically, one of the most personal songs on Never Enough is the only song he didn’t write: “Things I Never Told You,” penned by Monty Criswell, Lynn Hutton, and Taylor Phillips, parallels Parker’s relationship with his mother. “When I moved away from home/I didn’t realize how much I’d miss ya,” he sings. “A phone call don’t take the place/of your smilin’ face cooking in that kitchen.”
“Those lines were all in there. People send me songs all the time and I never really hear any that I’m blown away by,” he says. Currently getting ready for a massive summer tour, including stadium dates with Morgan Wallen, Parker debuted “Things I Never Told You” for his mother during rehearsals. “We were in this massive amphitheater and my mom came the last day and I sang it for her. It was pretty cool.”
To Parker, the gesture was a way to show he cared. Never Enough then is a testament to how much he cares about country music.
“Sometimes I wish I didn’t care so much because everything would be easier. Hopefully one day people will look back at what I’ve done in country music and think it was honest and good for the genre,” Parker says. “This album may be called Never Enough, but if they see that what I did was real, that’ll be enough for me.”
Silhouette
Parker McCollum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I cant rest my eyes as all
And ill be leavin by the morning
Ya ever seen Chicago in the fall
Mama told me I was nothing
That who I was aint who I am
And livin free out here gets lonely
Cause who I was aint who I am
I swore id do the best I can
Cause who I was aint who I am
I swore id do the best I can
A young man angry with a heartache
Will steal and cheat and lie to live
And gasoline out on this highway
Burin bridges of revenge
Cause who I was aint who I am
I swore id do the best I can
White lines keep to make my troubles on through the night
White lines baby all I ever see when you're cryin
My blinds are drawn
Greenville aint too far from Austin
A day by foot a night by train
And ill leave roses for my baby
Wrapped inside a wedding ring
Cause who I was aint who I am
I swore id do the best I can
Cause who I was aint who I am
I swore id do the best I can
In Parker McCollum's song Silhouette, the lyrics speak of heartbreak, loss, and a search for redemption. In this song, the singer is haunted by the silhouette of a former lover who still plagues his nightmares. He's desperate for release from her memory and heads out on a journey of self-discovery - "livin' free out here gets lonely, swore I'd do the best I can, 'cause who I was ain't who I am." He seems to be on a road to redemption but one that is not without its challenges. He reflects on his troubled past - "a young man, angry with a heartache, will steal and cheat and lie to live."
The lyrics indicate that he is on a path of forgiveness and self-preservation. He wants to leave a life he knows as destructive behind him, and head toward unknown possibilities. The chorus of the song, "White lines keep to make my troubles on through the night, white lines baby all I ever see when you're cryin', my blinds are drawn," speaks of the loneliness he feels and the temptation to resort to old habits brought on by the isolation he experiences.
Overall, Silhouette is a song about a man's path to redemption after a period of personal growth and transformation. It speaks to the idea that we cannot always control the circumstances that shape our lives, but we can choose to move in a more positive direction, leaving behind our past mistakes and taking a chance on a better future.
Line by Line Meaning
Your silhouette its in my nightmare
Your image is etched in my mind and I can't shake it off even in my dreams
And I cant rest my eyes as all
I can't sleep because your memory is haunting me
And ill be leavin by the morning
I'll be gone in the morning, away from this pain
Ya ever seen Chicago in the fall
Just like the changing leaves of fall in Chicago, I'm moving on to a different phase in my life
Mama told me I was nothing
As a child, my mother belittled me and made me feel insignificant
That who I was aint who I am
I refuse to let my past define me, and I am striving to become a better person
And livin free out here gets lonely
Though I am trying to be free and independent, it's a lonely and difficult journey
Swore id do the best I can
I promised to try my hardest to overcome my difficulties and become a better version of myself
A young man angry with a heartache
As a young man dealing with heartbreak, I am prone to making mistakes that I might regret later
Will steal and cheat and lie to live
To survive, I might resort to theft, deceit and lies
And gasoline out on this highway
I'm driving away from my problems, leaving behind a trail of destruction
Burin bridges of revenge
I might burn the bridges with people who have wronged me, as a way of getting even with them
White lines keep to make my troubles on through the night
The white lines on the road keep me company as I drive through the night, struggling with my inner demons
White lines baby all I ever see when you're cryin
When I see you crying, all I can think of is the white lines of the road, symbolizing my escapism
My blinds are drawn
I'm closing myself off from the world and shutting out the light, as my pain and guilt overwhelm me
Greenville aint too far from Austin
Moving from Greenville to Austin isn't that much of a distance when compared to the journey I am making within myself
A day by foot a night by train
It might take a day on foot or a night on a train to travel this physical distance, but my emotional journey is much longer
And ill leave roses for my baby
I plan to leave something beautiful for my loved one, as a gesture of my love and my sorrow
Wrapped inside a wedding ring
I'll give them a wedding ring along with the roses, symbolizing the commitment I wish I could make and the regret for not being able to make it
Cause who I was aint who I am
I am not defined by my past mistakes or regrets, and I am striving to be a better person
I swore id do the best I can
I made a promise to myself to always try my hardest and never give up on my journey of self-improvement
Contributed by Lauren L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@thefansreaction3993
That note he hits towards the end of the song where he drops down a note each time with the harmonica is unreal. Straight gets the goose bumps on me. One of the most unique and satisfying sounds I've ever heard or listened to
@thefansreaction3993
4:05 -- it hits like magic. Everyone needs to hear that sound
@manuelvviesca7670
He's a young man with an old soul.
@Calvary21
Me be like
@joannamcguire4103
Love the harmonica in this! Great song and awesome vocals 🧡
@tentse3521
Just listened to like six of his songs for the first time and they're all amazing.
@hoodstore918
Same
@edub1170
He’s super talented welcome aboard
@stevenchurney2416
Epiphany. Where da hayull we bin? Rite dere whicha. Fur real
@william1053
He really is dope tho