Brantley Gilbert says society may have walked off and left him, and he's okay with that. You hear that entrenched, throwback sentiment in the lyrics of his new song "Heaven by Then," a collaboration with Blake Shelton, Vince Gill and van full of the best songwriters in Nashville.

"I'm a little bit of an old soul I guess. I'm a little old school about some things," he tells Taste of Country.

"I think there's a lot of ol' boys like me that we like what we like and you know, the new way of doing things and the new way of thinking about things doesn't really sit right with us sometimes. That's kind of what the song's about."

"When No. 3 is just a number / And Hank is just a name / When trucks don't sound like thunder and nobody prays for rain / When you don't hear ‘Yes, Sir, Yes, ma'am or Jesus on FM / Then, I hope I'm in Heaven by then."

"Heaven by Then" was started last year during a songwriting retreat to Texas. It's a trip Gilbert says he takes yearly with the same group of friends. Hardy was among them, and at one point, he got real upset at another co-writer.

"Taylor Phillips was talking about something else," Gilbert recalls, "and he said, 'Man I hope I'm in heaven by then.' The whole room stopped ... Hardy like literally slammed his fist on the table and said, 'Why would you say that in front of 10 people?'"

The anger (not really) was because that kind of smart song hook is one you save for a write with one or two other songwriters, so the royalties will be split fewer ways. "Heaven by Then" includes a whopping seven co-writers, in part because it was so late nobody could remember who said what.

"This is 3 o'clock in the morning in Texas. Guys have been drinking, those of us who didn't drink might have spent a little time with Willie (Gilbert's name for marijuana)," the star shares. "So we're grooving ... and Hardy picks up a guitar, which is never a bad thing."

"No, I don't wanna go today, but I don't wanna live / Down here at a place that thinks that that place don't exist / If there comes a day this country's somewhere country don't fit in / Hell, I hope I'm in Heaven by then."

Not only did the lyrics come spilling out, ideas to collaborate did, too. Everyone in the room had Shelton in mind as they added subsequent verse and chorus. The Voice coach gets an isolated verse on the final cut. Gill's harmonies were added later.

“I never thought in a million years I’d get to do a song with Blake Shelton," Gilbert says. "I never thought in a million years I’d get to do a song with Vince Gill. To have both of ‘em on one? I don’t have a bucket list, but if I did, we’d be making check marks all over it.”

"When they pave all the dirt roads / And John Deeres are dinosaurs / When the last back 40 gets old and young boys don't open doors / When you can't hunt a white tail and keep what you reel in / Well, I hope I'm in Heaven by then."

Officially, the writers of "Heaven by Then" are Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Michael Hardy, Jake Mitchell, Randy Montana, Hunter Phelps and Taylor Phillips. Berryhill and Gilbert co-produced this new single from the just-released So Help Me God album.

Upon release, "Heaven by Then" reached a country airplay chart position higher than any singles Gilbert had offered in three years. He hit a narrow target in embracing conservative values without getting political, although he'd probably tell you he was just being himself.

"The way things are in this world right now, I feel like society maybe walked off and left me and I'm okay with it," he says.

Brantley Gilbert (With Blake Shelton, Vince Gill), "Heaven by Then" Lyrics:

When number three is just a number / And Hank is just a name / When trucks don't sound like thunder and nobody prays for rain / When you don't hear ‘Yes, Sir, Yes, Ma'am or Jesus on FM / Then, I hope I'm in Heaven by then.

Chorus:
No, I don't wanna go today but I don't wanna live / Down here at a place that thinks that that place don't exist / If there comes a day this country's somewhere country don't fit in / Hell, I hope I'm in Heaven by then.

When they pave all the dirt roads / And John Deeres are dinosaurs / When the last back 40 gets old and young boys don't open doors / When you can't hunt a white tail and keep what you reel in / Well, I hope I'm in Heaven by then.

Repeat Chorus

Y'all let me go now

If I don't wake up tomorrow / To a world that I don't know / Y'all don't cry for this old boy / It's just my time to go.

Repeat Chorus

Top 22 Country Songs of 2022, Ranked

There are plenty of feel-good country jams on this list of the top country songs of 2022, but the No. 1 song is one of the best love songs of the decade. These 22 songs are ranked by critical acclaim, radio and sales success, and importance to the genre.

Seven of the 22 artists made our Top Country Songs list from 2021, as well, but there are no song repeats. If a song made a previous list (or didn't spend most of its time on the charts in 2022), it's not eligible. So, before you ask where your favorite song is (i.e. Cody Johnson, "'Til You Can't"), be sure the miss isn't just a technicality.

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