"Settling Down" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country music, country singer. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place ...

. It was released on September 21, 2020, as the third single from Lambert's seventh studio album '' Wildcard''. Lambert performed the song live at the

54th Annual Country Music Association Awards The 54th Annual Country Music Association Awards were held on Wednesday, November 11, 2020, at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee and was hosted by CMA Award winners Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker. Background Darius Rucker is ...

Composition

Lambert wrote the song with Luke Dick and

Natalie Hemby Natalie Nicole Hemby Wrucke (born March 24, 1977) is an American country music songwriter and singer. She has written songs for Lee Ann Womack, Eli Young Band, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Sunny Sweeney, Little Big Town, Jon Pardi, Kacey Musgr ...

, the same team that wrote her previous single, "

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous passerine birds in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. Bluebirds lay an ...

", and it was produced by

Jay Joyce John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine. He also fronted the band Bedlam, featured on the soundtrack to ...

. Lambert developed the song's hook while having an earlier conversation with her bus driver about her relationship with Brendan McLoughlin ("am I settling up or settling down?") and brought that to the writing session, and together they wrote a song "full of paradoxes" that highlighted the whirlwind life of an artist touring the country while also desiring the homestead lifestyle following Lambert's fresh marriage to McLoughlin. Lambert also noted that McLoughlin was one of the song's most ardent supporters and lobbied for its release as a single: "And you know, he was out there with us on the road and he was hearing, when I was hanging with radio, that people were responding to it."

Music video

The music video for "Settling Down" was directed by

Trey Fanjoy Trey Fanjoy is an American music video director. Fanjoy has directed over 150 major label music videos. Her videos have appeared on CMT, VH1, GAC, The Nashville Network, CMT Canada, and MTV. She is the first woman to win the Country Music Ass ...

and premiered on October 21, 2020. It was shot on location at Lambert's farm outside

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and features her husband, Brendan McLoughlin, marking the first time Lambert has had a love interest in one of her music videos: "I'm like, 'You're cute, you're here, and you're free.' It was fun; he did such a great job... and our little dog is in it, and our ponies. It's at my magical-happy place an hour away from Nashville."

Chart performance

"Settling Down" debuted at number 45 on the ''Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since October 20, 2012, although the magazine also retrospectively recognizes the Hot Country Songs charts from January 20, 1990, through October 13, 2012, ...

chart dated October 3, 2020, and at number 49 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart dated October 17, 2020.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Miranda Lambert singles 2019 songs 2020 singles Miranda Lambert songs RCA Records Nashville singles Songs written by Miranda Lambert Songs written by Luke Dick Songs written by Natalie Hemby Song recordings produced by Jay Joyce