Earlier today, Luke Combs released a new song featuring bluegrass guitarist Billy Strings. They wrote the song in the summer of 2020 when there was a lot of chaos in the world. That chaos led to deeper division among people. The lyrics of the song reflect on that division. At the same time, Combs looks forward to a time when people can come together over their commonalities once again.
The lyrics of “The Great Divide” highlight the division in the United States. At the same time, there are words of hope that the damage isn’t too great to repair and that we can move forward in a more united way. The chorus highlights the duality of despair and hope in the song, “We’re all so far, so far apart now/ It’s as deep as it is wide/ We’re about to fall apart now/ If we can’t reach the other side/ We gotta find a way across the great divide.”
Luke Combs on “The Great Divide”
While the song is topical, Luke Combs isn’t trying to sway his audience one way or the other. In an Instagram video, he talks about releasing the song and the intention behind it.
On the intention behind the song, he says, “When we wrote it there were a lot of crazy things going on in the world. There are still a lot of crazy things going on in the world. I just felt like I had some stuff to say. It’s not meant to be political, It’s not meant to tell you how to think, or to tell you how to believe. That’s not my job. It’s just a guy kind of saying the way he was feeling when he wrote it.”
2020 was so full of turmoil that it seems like last summer was years ago. So much has taken place since then. According to the video, Luke Combs, Billy Strings, and Wyatt Durrette wrote the song in June of 2020. That was just one month after major civil unrest began in the United States. In June, major U.S. cities were burning and police were clashing with rioters and protesters. On social media, tempers flared and division between people deepened as extreme positions on the events became the norm.
In the song, Luke Combs perfectly reflects the feelings of many people who understand that there are problems with our great nation but know that with some understanding and open hearts, we can move forward as one once again.
