The Meaning Behind David Lee Murphy’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” & Working with Kenny Chesney

David Lee Murphy has written countless country hits, ranging from his own “Dust On the Bottle” and “Party Crowd,” to ones for his peers like Kenny Chesney‘s “Living in Fast Forward” and “Pirate Flag,” Thompson Square’s “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not,” Jake Owen‘s “Anywhere With You,” and Jason Aldean‘s “Big Green Tractor.” But there’s one that stands above the rest. In 2017, Murphy dropped what would become one of his career-defining songs, “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” a duet with his longtime friend and collaborator, Chesney. The song offers a hopeful message, one that encourages listeners to find the light (even if it’s neon) when life doesn’t seem to be going right. Everything’s gonna be alright / Everything’s gonna be alright / And nobody’s gotta worry ’bout nothing / Don’t go hittin’ that panic button, they assure in the chorus.

Murphy co-wrote the track with Jimmy Yeary and Chris Stevens and was released as the lead single from Murphy’s 2018 album, No Zip Code. It marked his first No. 1 hit in more than 20 years since “Dust on the Bottle” achieved the feat in 1995. More meaningful than the chart success, and their 2018 CMA Award win for Musical Event of the Year, was how the song impacted people’s lives. Murphy shares with American Songwriter about why the song is so special, and what makes Chesney such a worthy collaborator.

[RELATED: 3 David Lee Murphy Songs Every ’90s Country Fan Knows By Heart]

The Meaning Behind “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”:

“Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” is really special because Kenny sang it. We got a CMA Award for that and that was really cool…There’s certain things in our lives, sometimes you just have to let it go and just have faith in that it’s gonna be okay. Just take a deep breath, it’s gonna be alright. So that’s been really special, getting emails and texts and stuff from people saying with that song, ‘I was going through a difficult time in my life’…People going through serious illnesses and they would play that song when they were in the hospital, things like that. Kids at St. Jude [Children’s Research Hospital] would play that song on repeat. Those kind of things are special to me. That song made such a difference in people’s lives.

On Working with Kenny Chesney:

I knew Kenny from way back. He recorded a few of my songs over the years, and “Living in Fast Forward” was the first one that was [a] big number one. Those were such cool memories going out on the road seeing Kenny do “Fast Forward.” Over the years he cut “Pirate Flag,” “Til It’s Gone,” “Live a Little,” “Here and Now.” He did a bunch, there was some like “Beer Can Chicken,” “Flora-Bama” that we wrote together and we just wrote some new stuff for his new project.

He connects with people. He has a way of singing that connects. His phrasing is unbelievable. He interprets, and that’s the key, he doesn’t just sit there and sing it, he interprets it. He connects so well with people.

Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Kenny Chesney