Riley Green’s ‘That’s Just Me’: All 19 Tracks Ranked

Green offers up this radio-friendly track, as he gives a musical warning shot to an ex, telling her to stay away “unless you want to give one last time another try again.” This third track on the album nicely kicks the tempo up a bit, however, the writing and production overall don’t always have the same engaging spark of some of the other tracks on the album.

This second song on the album continues the initial track’s somber feeling of missing an ex, keeping a moody vibe, but leaning into more angst than wistfulness, even employing similar imagery of missing time together on porch swings. The song is solid, but also feels a bit redundant. 

The first half of the album is heavy on ballads, including the fifth track “Imagine That,” where Green sings of calling up an ex-lover to tell them “you’re the only always on my mind,” and daring them to imagine looking out a window, seeing a four-wheel drive and someone who’s “dying to get you back.” Green delivers the track with sincerity and warmth, though the imagery gets a bit repetitive, leaving the listener longing for a few more vivid scenes.

Green already knows the power of a well-chosen duet, thanks to songs such as his Ella Langley collabs “Don’t Mind If I Do” and “You Look Like You Love Me.” On this album, he teams with Hannah McFarland for a twangy ballad. They sing about being on the precipice of reuniting for a romantic moment, pondering whether to be together for a night or part ways as he hits the road to return to Tennessee. Their voices intertwine pleasantly and elegantly over tender guitar.

Green caught fans’ attention when he teased this scathing romantic kiss-off earlier this year. The song’s protagonist quickly acknowledges an ex is hellbent on dragging “every letter of my name on a chain through the Mississippi mud.” Over twangy fiddle and guitar, he then details all the ways he was supposedly a “P.O.S.,” from cursing, fishing and drinking beer to driving a pickup and being gone during hunting season. Green and his co-writers infuse the lyrics with an appropriate amount of defiant swagger, though the song can come across at times as leaning heavily into some all-too-common lyrical themes.

A solid retro ‘90s country vibe and banjo lead off this wry song, with Green singing about a guy whose habit of breaking hearts comes from his family’s deep tendency to never stay in one place for long, physically or emotionally. A playful detour from some of the album’s earlier ballad-heavy moments.

He sets a light-hearted groove as he recounts various bruises, scars and unhealthy habits he’s picked up from others in his life over the years, but he attributes his broken heart and penchant for whiskey and barstools to his ex. The song’s summery melody belies the heartsick lyrics, but Green’s laid-back vocal delivery manages to intertwine both.

Over swaying fiddles and bright guitar, Green sings of a guy reminiscing over a short-lived relationship— a well-meaning romance that nearly became a marriage until life’s trails tore it apart. He sings about hoping for forever, even having “a ring in my Wrangler jeans,” but acknowledges that it still wasn’t enough to make the relationship last. 

Green delves into beachy territory with this laid-back, acoustic-driven track, singing about seeking out “a new place to chase cheap tequila with a lime,” only to find a short-lived romantic connection in a Destin bar. The song then describes a lover who loves AC/DC and late-night cigarettes, and has “a smile that makes my world stop.” The reserved, luminous guitar work keeps the story front and center, while making the most of Green’s dusky, conversational vocal.

Green has a few artist friends featured on this album, including Randy Owen (of Country Music Hall of Fame group Alabama). The two Alabama natives share a similar earthy drawl, heightening the sense of emotional loss to this track about knowing a heartbreak is fast approaching.

The album’s opening song was released in April as a promotional song. The crisp ballad has a warmth and earnestness to it, dripping with details of dances by fireplaces and watching sunsets while sitting on front porches, as he wistfully describes how life would be if only he was still with a former lover.

This track tucked later on in the album relates a story of a small-town backroad that’s a popular spot to park a truck and tune in to music on the dashboard’s radio, a spot where someone soaking in those songs and rural moments could also take in all the lessons they contained. It’s a place “where I learned to hold on and how to let go,” he sings, underscored by searing guitar. A solid song of nostalgia that brings to mind a bit of the essence of Brooks & Dunn’s “Red Dirt Road.”

In this humorous track, Green offers up a tribute to being trashed, peppering the rowdy lyrics with moments of slurred vocals to drive home the song’s intentions. The song is also a nod to the influence of the late Toby Keith, including Keith’s vocals from his 2005 hit “As Good As I Once Was” in the outro, giving the song a final parting shot of Keith-style jovial revelry. Green hasn’t always leaned quite so far into comedic musical territory, but here, he does so admirably.

This cleverly-written song, penned by Joe Fox, Seth Ennis, Chase McGill and Josh Miller, traces a man’s life from childhood to fatherhood, through the pairs of boots he wears along the way. Every pair marks a new milestone, capturing some of life’s twists and turns in growing up and starting a family. The storyline comes full-circle as the song’s protagonist becomes a father and ultimately sees his son wear his own first pair of boots. An astutely penned song, tenderly delivered by Green.

Country Music Hall of Famers Brooks & Dunn join Green for a song that nods to the small-town wisdom in the B&D hit “Red Dirt Road,” while taking stock of the rural areas that are fast being paved over to create shopping malls and subdivisions. Brooks & Dunn join on the bridge, which integrates a bit of “Red Dirt Road.” Together, their respective voices effectively convey the sense of nostalgia and sincerity behind this track.

It’s one of the few songs on the album Green didn’t have a hand in writing, but “Beach Happy” does make for one of the album’s most light-hearted, cleverly-worded tracks. He sings of being newly single, and hitting the beach for respite after a breakup. There, he revels in newfound freedom, sunny days near the sun and shore, being “the only one spending my cash,” while deadpanning over sinewy guitars, “Sure don’t want her back, because there’s no making that/ Beach happy.”

One of a handful of solo writes from Green on the album, this song finds him singing about a guy who is overwhelmed by the deep hurt an ex put him through. “Just when I thought I was 10 feet tall and bulletproof/ That girl showed me a kind of hurt I never knew,” he sings, noting that he “never stood a chance against her blue eyes.” This feels like an instant fan favorite.

Hearing the name Jake Worthington on a track, you know the song is about to take a hardcore country turn. True to form, harmonica leads off this honkytonk-ready collab. Worthington’s rugged George Jones-esque twang and Green’s smoother drawl pair well as they sing of being old friends sharing good whiskey while ruminating over bad exes. A solid outing from these two, and this being a solo write from Green makes it even better, showcasing more of the breadth of his songwriting.

A song that seems to contemplate the on-the-road life of a musician, he compares his wanderlust ways to a stray dog with no permanent home, as he’s “spent half my life running/ And the other half gettin’ home.” Gently rolling guitars underscore the song’s sense of acceptance that the urge to search out new places will always be with him. Green’s everyman vocal style sounds right at home on this track.