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Russell Dickerson on Digging Deeper Into the ‘Bones’ of His Love Song History: ‘I’m Betting Everything on This Song’

This week's Makin' Tracks column highlights Russell Dickerson's new song "Bones."

Russell Dickerson has adhered primarily to the first half of that equation during his career, embracing long and lasting love in his singles “Yours,” “Every Little Thing” and “Home Sweet.” But with his latest release, “Bones,” he manages to combine both grown-up Travis themes: commitment and the end of life. Co-writers Parker Welling (“Blue Tacoma,” “What’s Your Country Song”), Chase McGill (“Chevrolet,” “Next Thing You Know”) and Chris LaCorte (“23,” “Wind Up Missin’ You”) were down the road with it before anyone mentioned that Maren Morris already had a significant recent hit titled “The Bones.” No one was particularly concerned. They inserted new lyrics in the final chorus to drive the point of “Bones” home, folding part of a wedding vow into a line LaCorte suggested about carving a pledge into his tombstone, a word the group changed to “headstone.” The image emerged earlier in the writing process, but they saved the drama of that visual for the song’s closing moments.

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