If you haven't figured it out, we are huge stans of Lori McKenna here at Wide Open Country. Her new album, The Tree, is an unrelenting showcase of McKenna's devastating songwriting. In her latest single, "The Lot Behind St. Mary's," the singer-songwriter reflects on first love and the paths that lead us away from each other. It's a common trope in country music: small-town frustration and big-time dreaming, but sometimes those dreams actually do come true. McKenna dives deep into that wound, yearning for a time when choices seemed simple even. McKenna and producer Dave Cobb give the song a minimal, Americana bent that builds intimacy between McKenna and the listener.
McKenna is no stranger to powerful songwriting: she's penned hits like Little Big Town's "Girl Crush" and "Humble and Kind." Like her previous album The Bird and The Rifle, The Tree was produced by Dave Cobb at Nashville's historic RCA Studio A. The release date is July 20 courtesy of CN Records via Thirty Tigers.
'The Lot Behind St. Mary's' Lyrics
We wanted to know when we'd be free
What life looked like on the other side of that sanctuary
Believin' somehow we'd make them proud
Knowin' the sins they made and figuring we could stay on common ground
Cigarette smoke in an August sky
Drinkin' the beers you convinced your older brother to buy
We hadn't make any of our mistakes
Our world was in the cradle but innocence was in the grave
And I know we can't go back in time
But every now and then you look at me and I know you wonder why
We can't get back to when September was our only adversary
In the lot behind St. Mary's
Well I thought I'd be all you'd need
But your heart was in the dark and mine was in the weeds
I'm sure the dreamer who built the first trapeze
Fell in love with someone who grew to resent the goddamn thing
And I know we can't go back in time
But every now and then you look at me as if to wonder why
We can't get back to the love we made before our teenage dreams were buried
In the lot behind St. Mary's
St. Mary's
The Tree Track Listing
1. "A Mother Never Rests" (McKenna, Barry Dean)
2. "The Fixer" (McKenna)
3. "People Get Old" (McKenna)
4. "Young and Angry Again" (McKenna, Barry Dean, Luke Laird)
5. "The Tree" (McKenna, Natalie Hemby, Aaron Raitiere)
6. "You Won't Even Know I'm Gone" (McKenna)
7. "Happy People" (McKenna, Hailey Whitters)
8. "You Can't Break a Woman" (McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose)
9. "The Lot Behind St. Mary's" (McKenna)
10. The Way Back Home" (McKenna, Luke Laird)
11. "Like Patsy Would" (McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose)
