After earning his first-ever No. 1 hit with the powerful tune “‘Til You Can’t,” Cody Johnson just revealed his new single “Human” will impact country radio on June 6.
Produced by Trent Willmon and co-written by Tony Lane and Travis Meadows, “Human” is the title track to the Texas native’s latest album. The lyrics detail the daily struggles of life, acknowledging that no one is perfect and everyone is just trying to do their best.
“All the headlights / All the midnights / Chasing all that empty, still ain’t got it right / All the crazy / All the gypsy / Well I guess all I’m sayin’ is forgive me / If I don’t know what I’m doing / I’m still learnin’ to be human,” Johnson sings on the chorus.
While Johnson didn’t have a hand in writing the song, it’s somewhat autobiographical. He recently told Apple Music that he’s lived every word of “Human.”
“[The song is by] two of the most incredible songwriters in the world. And the fact that this song hasn’t been cut in country music is baffling to me,” Johnson shared. ”But it also kind of speaks to the place that country music is in. I think that certain people would rather sing songs with a certain beat or a certain subject matter to get certain notoriety rather than taking the chance of singing a song that is vulnerable. And I also think that “Human” is a song that you have to have lived in order to sing. I did live that, you know, all the late nights playing, all the highways, all the midnights, all the whiskey—that’s what I did.”
Earlier this month, Johnson delivered the live television debut of the track during iHeartCountry Festival in Austin, Texas. During the performance, he offered an important message of inclusion and the reason he chose to make the song his next single at Country radio.
“You know one thing we all have in common, not just here in Austin, Texas, but across the United States of America, across the world. No matter how you feel about politics, no matter how you feel about religion, no matter what race you are, no matter what your background is, no matter how much money you have in your bank account. Whether you dress like me or you dress like you do, one thing that we all have in common is the fact that we’re Human. No matter where you’re sitting tonight, we’re all the same, we’ve gone through a lot in this country this last couple years. We’re all doing this together. We all have the same struggles even though our struggles are different and that is exactly why I chose this song to be my next single out to country radio.”
“Human” appears on Johnson’s latest project, Human: The Double Album, which arrived in October of 2021 and features 18 tracks, including his chart-topping hit, “‘Til You Can’t.”
“There was too much good out there to let go of, so I just said, ‘We’re going to cut all of them,’” Johnson previously shared of the project. ”There are ones I wrote on, there are ones I didn’t write on, and there are ones that I wish I’d written. I addressed things personally with this music and when people listen to Human, they are going to hear a lot more of me being me. I am finally comfortable with myself and able to share that with my fans.”
Johnson recently added nearly two dozen tour dates to his jam-packed touring schedule.
Johnson’s upcoming dates include support from artists such as Randy Houser, Easton Corbin, Ian Munsick, Craig Campbell, Ashland Craft, Dillon Carmichael, Randall King, Drew Parker and more.
Additionally, the Platinum-selling hitmaker is slated to join fellow superstar Luke Combs for a run of stadium shows: Denver’s Empower Field at Mile High (May 21), Seattle’s Lumen Field (June 4) and Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium (July 30).
He’s also set to Zac Brown Band at a number of shows later this summer.
