"Cover Me Up" is a song written and originally recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

singer

Jason Isbell Michael Jason Isbell (; born February 1, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Isbell ...

. It is the first track on his 2013 studio album ''

Southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions— north, east, south, and west—eac ...

''. In 2017, country music group

Zac Brown Band Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini ( fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulele ...

covered the song for Spotify on Spotify Singles. In 2019, country music singer

Morgan Wallen Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country singer and songwriter. He competed in the sixth season of ''The Voice'', originally as a member of Usher's team, but later as a member of Adam Levine's team. After being eliminated i ...

covered the song, and it was included on his 2021 album '' Dangerous: The Double Album''.

Content and history

Isbell told

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

in 2013 that he wrote the song about his wife,

Amanda Shires Amanda Rose Shires (born March 5, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and fiddle player. Shires has released seven solo albums starting in 2005, her most recent being '' Take It Like a Man'' in 2022. In 2019, she founded a country music supe ...

. He described the song as "a hard one for me to even get through without breaking down the first time" because of how personally he felt that it expressed his love for Shires. The corresponding album came after Isbell had ended

alcohol rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general intent ...

. The Bluegrass Situation describes the song as " Solemn, stripped-down, and slow, it floors listeners with its stark vulnerability and the strength of its romance as Isbell unfolds his love for Amanda Shires". The song is composed in the key of

E-flat major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D ...

. It uses a 6/8

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western culture, Western musical notation to specify how many beat (music), beats (pulses) are contained in each measu ...

with an approximate tempo of 44

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

Critical reception

Steve Leggett, in his review of the album for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, called "Cover Me Up" a "beautiful opening love song". Writing for ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, A liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves a ...

'', Jerrick Adams stated in a review of ''Southeastern'' that " on the one hand a gentle, insistent love song, and on the other a moving testament to personal redemption that never once turns a blind eye to past indiscretions. It sets the tone for the remainder of the album, which is given equally to the promise of romance and the ever-looming possibility of suffering, both self-induced and arbitrary." In 2020, ''Paste'' ranked the song number one on their list of the 20 greatest Jason Isbell songs, and in 2022, ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwr ...

'' ranked the song number four on their list of the 10 greatest Jason Isbell songs.

Certifications

Morgan Wallen version

In November 2020, Wallen's cover of "Cover Me Up" was announced as one of the tracks on his then-upcoming album '' Dangerous: The Double Album''. Wallen's version is co-produced by

Joey Moi Joey Moi is a Canadian record producer, audio engineer, mixer, songwriter, and musician. He is known for his work with the rock groups Nickelback and My Darkest Days, and country music acts Chris Lane, Dallas Smith, Florida Georgia Line, Jake Ow ...

and Dave Cohen. Wallen had covered the song in concert for more than a year prior to the release of his studio version, including performances on a tour with

Luke Combs Luke Albert Combs (; born March 2, 1990) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Born and raised in North Carolina, Combs began performing as a child, most notably performing at Carnegie Hall. After dropping out of college to pursue ...

and during a video shoot created by the country music website ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

''. The latter publication noted that while Wallen's live covers had received mixed reception from fans, Isbell himself stated approval toward Wallen's rendition. Although not released as a single, Wallen's rendition charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Canadian Hot 100 charts between 2019 and 2020. It has also received a platinum certification from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

(RIAA) and

Music Canada Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It ...

. Wallen uploaded an 8-minute short film on November 22, 2019, directed by Justin Clough and filmed near Leiper's Fork,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. The video portrays the song's storyline through a soldier who is suffering

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a ...

. After a controversy surrounding a video of Wallen using a racial slur in February 2021, Isbell announced that he would donate his songwriting royalties to the Nashville chapter of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other versions

The song has also been covered by the

, released exclusively to

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

in 2017.

Rodney Atkins Rodney Allan Atkins (born March 28, 1969) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Curb Records in 1996, he charted his first single on the ''Billboard'' country chart in 1997, but did not release an album until 2003's ''H ...

released a version of the song, appearing his album ''

Caught Up in the Country Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the ball ...

'' (2019), as did

Warren Zeiders Warren Zeiders is an American country music singer and songwriter. Biography Zeiders studied business and played lacrosse at Frostburg State University, where he also recorded and posted covers on TikTok. He began co-writing and singing ori ...

, on his 2021 album ''Accoustic Covers''.

References

{{Morgan Wallen Songs written by Jason Isbell 2013 songs 2019 songs Country ballads 2010s ballads Morgan Wallen songs Song recordings produced by Dave Cobb Song recordings produced by Joey Moi