Story Behind the Song: Blake Shelton, ‘Come Back as a Country Boy’

Blake Shelton's "Come Back as a Country Boy" is his third single in two years to be written by Hardy. Since 2019, Shelton has released several songs without the songwriter-turned-artist (full name: Michael Hardy) as a co-writer, but with this song, he returns to the metaphorical well.

Hardy co-wrote "Come Back as a Country Boy" with Josh Thompson and Jordan Schmidt, the latter a co-writer with Hardy and Devin Dawson on Shelton's 2019 hit "God's Country." Together, they penned lyrics praising the country lifestyle; in fact, Shelton sings, "When I die, I wanna come back as a country boy ... If my neck don't come out red, then Lord, just keep me dead."

Below, Shelton shares the message of "Come Back as a Country Boy" in his own words.

“Come Back as a Country Boy” is song, basically, about just having so much pride about being country and living the country lifestyle that, even if you come back to life, you wouldn’t do it unless you could be country again ... If you can’t do it again — if you’re lucky enough to come back to life — you’d rather just stay dead.