Garth Brooks' song of a few teenagers' weekend thrill in a pickup truck, "Ain't Goin' Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)" was the lead single off of his 1993 album In Pieces and remains a party-starter for one of country music's most electrifying live shows.
Brooks wrote the song with Kent Blazy and Kim Williams just two weeks before it hit the radio. Blazy chatted with Bart Herbison of Nashville Songwriter's Association in 2018 and recalled the story behind the fast and furious tune.
Blazy told Herbison, "It's really interesting. A lot of times when Garth comes in, he has an idea on how he wants something to be on a record. He came in and there was no pressure. He said, 'I want to write the first single off the new record, and I want them to be shotgun lyrics.' I kind of figured he was thinking Chuck Berry... and so he just kind of threw out this idea, telling the whole story."
Blazy proceeded to explain that as Brooks told the story, Williams kept a notebook chocked full of lyrics. Once everything was said and done, they took his notebook and got the song the way they wanted it. "We just started laughing, writing... and we worked all day 'til we were sunburned," Blazy recalled.
They finished the song and Brooks made a work tape of it in Blazy's home studio.
"I got this little drum machine going, and Kim and Garth were standing behind me, and I heard one of them say, 'Oh, my God!' I turned around, and there were termites... which isn't good when you have a letter that says there's no termites in your home," Blazy said. "Kim Williams, who had a great sense of humor, he said, 'Man, when Garth and I wrote 'Papa Loved Mama,' there were cockroaches all over my apartment. And it was a No. 1 song! So this is going to be too!'"
"Ain't Goin' Down ('Til The Sun Comes Up)" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of Sept. 18, 1993. The song fell to No. 2 when Tracy Byrd's "Holdin' Heaven" hit to No. 1. But, on the chart week of Oct. 2, "Ain't Goin' Down" returned to No. 1.
"Ain't Goin' Down ('Til The Sun Comes Up)" deserves a spot next to "Friends in Low Places," "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)," "The Thunder Rolls," "Standing Outside the Fire," "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "Callin' Baton Rouge" and on the ultimate playlist of Brooks' '90s hits.
The song also appears on compilations The Hits, The Limited Series, The Ultimate Hits, Double Live and Triple Live.
This story was first published on May 1, 2021.
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'Ain't Goin' Down' Lyrics:
Six o'clock on Friday evening
Momma doesn't know she's leaving
'Til she hears the screen door slamming
Rubber squealin' gears a jamming
Local country station just a blaring on the radio
Pick him up at seven and they're headin' to the rodeo
Momma's on the front porch screamin' out her warning
Girl, you better get your redhead
Back in bed before the morning
Nine o'clock the show is ending
But the fun is just beginning
She knows he's anticipating
But she's gonna keep him waiting
Grab a bite to eat
And then they're heading to the honkey tonk
But loud crowds and line dancing
Just ain't what they really want
Drive out to the boondocks and park down by the creek
And where it's George Strait 'til real late
And dancing cheek to cheek
Ain't going down 'til the sun comes up
Ain't givin' in 'til they get enough
Going 'round the world in a pickup truck
Ain't goin' down 'til the sun comes up
Ten 'til twelve is wine and dancing
Midnight starts the hard romancing
One o'clock that truck is rocking
Two is coming, still no stopping
Break to check the clock at three
They're right on where they want to be
Four o'clock get up and going
Five o'clock that rooster's crowing
Ain't going down 'til the sun comes up
Ain't givin' in 'til they get enough
Going 'round the world in a pickup truck
Ain't goin' down 'til the sun comes up
Six o'clock on Saturday
Her folks don't know he's on his way
The stalls are clean, the horses fed
They say she's grounded 'til she's dead
Well here he comes around the bend
Slowing down, she's jumping in
Hey mom, you're daughter's gone
And there they go again
Ain't going down 'til the sun comes up
Ain't givin' in 'til they get enough
Going 'round the world in a pickup truck
Ain't goin' down 'til the sun comes up
