Brantley Gilbert, ‘You Don’t Know Her Like I Do’ – Lyrics Uncovered

The lyrics to Brantley Gilbert‘s new single, ‘You Don’t Know Her Like I Do,’ are a big leap in the other direction from his previous chart-topper, ‘Country Must Be Country Wide,’ as well as the two tunes he penned for Jason Aldean (‘Dirt Road Anthem’ and ‘My Kinda Party’). But the Georgia-based singer songwriter says it’s all part of who he is at the end of the day.

“I don’t sing anything that I don’t know or write anything I don’t know,” Gilbert tells Taste of Country. “My songs do reflect my life … you’ve got your good times and your happy, party songs, then you’ve got your sad songs. And as you know, there’s a certain ex who I’ve written a thousand songs about [laughs]. I was in a situation where she and I broke up, and I wasn’t over it. It had been a long time, and I still wasn’t over it.”

“I can’t forget, I’m drowning in these memories / It fills my soul with all the little things / And I can’t cope, it’s like a death inside the family / It’s like she stole my way to breathe / So don’t try to tell me I’ll stop hurting / And don’t try to tell me she ain’t worth it,” Gilbert and songwriter Jim McCormick wrote in the song.

“I guess I just happened to have a bad day that day,” Gilbert says with a laugh. “I was having some woman troubles. I didn’t really understand why all my friends were like ‘Man, you’ve just got to get over it.’ It got aggravating for me. I didn’t really feel like anybody understood how close we were. She really was my best friend. There was more to it than just a relationship; there was a friendship there, too. There was just this really strong bond.”

“‘Cause you don’t know her like I do / You’ll never understand / You don’t know what we’ve been through / That girl’s my best friend / And there’s no way you’re gonna help me / She’s the only one who can / No, you don’t know how much I’ve got to lose / You don’t know her like I do,” they wrote in the lyrics of the chorus.

“People really didn’t seem to understand where I was coming from,” notes Gilbert. “So this song was kind of a message to all of them to say, ‘You know what … leave me alone [laughs]. I’m stuck on this deal, and I’m going to be for a while. It’s going to take some time, so get off me [laughs]!’”