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Cody Johnson Admits He Didn’t Want To Record Current Single, “Horseback,” Because Of Its Title: “Here We Go Again”
Never judge a song by its title.
2026 has been nothing short of a career year for Cody Johnson. Riding the highs of his first-ever Male Vocalist of the Year award at the CMAs back in November, he would follow that up with even more hardware — an ACM Male Artist of the Year AND his first-ever Entertainer of the Year win earlier this month at the 61st annual ACM Awards. Couple that with a few successful, somewhat controversial hunting trips and setting Rodeo Houston’s concert-only attendance record, performing to a crowd of 80,203 and subsequently breaking George Strait’s record of 80,020 at the event.
In case that wasn’t enough, CoJo would then turn around and release his tenth studio album, Banks Of The Trinity, back on June 26th, a project he noted was one of his most personal to date.
“When I heard the song “Banks Of The Trinity” for the first time, it was like a portrait flashed in my head of memories I thought I’d forgotten. It took me straight back home to Sebastopol, Texas, where I grew up on the river.
That’s why I chose a photo of Lawrence’s Grocery Store for the album cover. As a kid, I used to ride my bike two miles down an old dirt road just to get a cream soda and a Blue Bell ice cream bar. I’d sit there and listen to the old men talk for a while before heading back home with a basket of groceries.
This record is my way of going back to those dirt roads. I can’t wait for you to come with me on that journey back.”
What resulted was a rock-solid effort from the Texan. Beyond the high-profile collaborations with Luke Combs on the highly-anticipated “Shoot The Bull” and Brothers Osborne on “Fool Proof,” Johnson delivered some stellar tracks up and down Banks Of The Trinity such as “Time Bomb,” which sees him revealing never-before-heard tidbits of his life like going to jail, or “I Have,” which he noted has had a very strong reaction from women in particular.
With that being said, it looks like the fan-favorite (at least for now) is the album’s opener, “Horseback,” which sees CoJo tell the story of love gone wrong. Hilariously, the main thing he misses isn’t his ex… but rather his beloved horse, as Johnson explained in a social media post:
“Most breakup songs are about getting the girl back. This one’s about getting the horse back. My new single, ‘Horseback,’ is out now.”
Most breakup songs are about getting the girl back. This one's about getting the horse back. My new single, "Horseback," is out now. https://t.co/yhsHMWgiAA
Written by Randy Montana, Wyatt McCubbin, and Paul Sikes.
: JT Colston pic.twitter.com/1vdqLLUL2v
— Cody Johnson (@codyjohnson) June 12, 2026
The song was written by Randy Montana, Wyatt McCubbin, and Paul Sikes, and Cody Johnson does a beautiful job of bringing the hilarious lyrics to life. “Horseback” tells the story of a man who gets completely wiped out by his wife in a divorce, and the only thing he’s upset about is not having his favorite, trusty steed:
“He’s a ranch hand in a pinch, man
Hotter than the red on a cattle brand
‘Cause she’s a gold digger with a quick trigger
A cast iron, skillet swingin’, lid-flipper
Now he’s a double-wide on the county line
Sipping on a six pack of Lonestar Light
She did ’em dirty, took him to the cleaners
Now her pockets and her pastures are greener
And he says
I don’t miss her or her sister
I don’t need that old drop top Cadillac
She can keep that diamond, I ain’t lyin’
I just want my horse back.”
No doubt, the song is a gem that simultaneously harkens back to funny tracks, which were popular on radio back in the 2000s from the likes of Brad Paisley and Toby Keith. With that being said, however, the “Diamond in My Pocket” singer almost didn’t give the song a chance in the first place.
In an interview on The Rob + Holly Show, Johnson would explain that he hated the title at first and thought it would be another run-of-the-mill song that is usually pitched to him about “spurs, cowboy hats and horses,” noting that he’s a bit tired of being stereotyped with that type of track.
“I hated the title, first of all. You have no idea. Everybody knows, yes, I’m a songwriter, but I’m a huge songwriter advocate. So when you start asking songwriters to pitch you songs, a lot of times, it is ‘Spurs, cowboy hats, horses — that’s what he’ll cut.’ It’s like, ‘Dude, that’s not all I’m about.’ So when I saw the title ‘Horseback,’ I thought, ‘Here we go again.’
Luckily for Johnson and his fans, he gave it a chance and was blown away by the play on words and ultimately how funny the “Horseback” was. Additionally, he’d say how it was nice to have a funny song to go along with emotional, serious tracks such as “The Fall.”
“I’m like, ‘Okay. I can’t deny how freaking cool this song is.’ And it’s funny. I’ve put out songs like ‘The Fall,’ which is great… But songs like ‘Horseback?’ I have a very fun personality too, and it’s fun to express that musically.”
Ironically, Johnson would go ahead and send it to country radio as Banks of the Trinity’s lead single, getting a hefty 113 adds in its first week. And so far, it’s looking like a hit in the making, debuting at #25 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and already racking up over 2 million streams on Spotify alone in just three weeks.
“Horseback”
Cody Johnson Tour Dates
July 17 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena
July 18 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena
July 25 – Jacksonville, Florida – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena
August 8 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Paycom Center
August 22 – Knoxville, Tennessee – Food City Center
August 29 – Saint Paul, Minnesota – Grand Casinoa Arena
September 12 – Tacoma, Washington – Tacoma DomeThe post Cody Johnson Admits He Didn’t Want To Record Current Single, “Horseback,” Because Of Its Title: “Here We Go Again” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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