Ashley Cooke Breaks Down The Story Of ‘Your Place’

Ashley Cooke takes a stand against cheating exes everywhere with her empowering breakup anthem, “Your Place.” Riddled with confidence, the tune first caught fan’s attention when Cooke started sharing it on socials and later released it as part of her 2023 debut album, Shot in the Dark. Suddenly, it became one of the most requested songs during her live shows, leaving her to realize that it needed to find a new home on country radio.

Story Behind The Song

While Cooke’s powerful vocals play a big part in the rise of the song’s attraction, it’s the message she conveys that seems to have struck a chord with listeners. It’s evident through the lingering essence of pain that she used her authentic experience with a cheating ex to deliver a song that demonstrates strength and resilience.  

“The whole inspiration behind the song revolves around this ex-boyfriend that I have who I dated for a minute, and he cheated on me. I was trying to figure out how I wanted to write about it, what I wanted to write about, and I had this idea in my phone for so long called ‘Ain’t Your Place.’ I brought it in the room with Jordan Minton and Mark Trussell, and it literally was such an easy song to write, which I think sometimes that’s a really good indication of just a great song.”

Reclaiming Her Power

Throughout the song, Cooke details the aftermath of walking away from that relationship. She starts off the chorus by speaking directly to her ex, letting him know he no longer has any right to know how she’s doing, who she’s been spending time with or hitting her up in the middle of the night when he’s drunk and missing her. Then she uses the title in a more physical sense as she sings, “You don’t get to care where I’m waking up these days/ It ain’t your place.”

“For me, being in that toxic relationship my whole young adult life, it was something for me to say, ‘no, I know my worth, I have my power, and I’m not going to put up with your bullsh**, to be completely honest.’ So it was kind of my reclaiming my power song,” she shared. “It’s really fun to get to see people at shows who are saying the same thing. They got out of a bad relationship or a cheating relationship, and they feel like that’s their answer, too. So, that’s kind of where it all started from.”

“Your Place” Music Video

In a new music video, which Cooke says she is “truly obsessed with,” the song’s narrative is played out through the eyes of her ex who is transported to different levels on an elevator, with each stop being an important moment in her life that he’s no longer a part of. This includes birthday celebrations with family, hanging with friends, and nights out at Nashville’s Lakeside Lounge.

“It was really fun to get to see it all come to life,” Cooke shared while reflecting on the overall vision of the video. “When I first walked on set, they custom built an elevator to put into every scene that we have. It was the coolest thing. I was like, there’s an elevator in the Lakeside Lounge, this bar in Nashville where we always go shoot pool at, this is crazy.”

She went on to say that the creative process was extremely collaborative between her, her team, and the director, Justin Clough. When it came time to figure out how the video would end, they decided it was time for the former love interest to finally step out of the elevator and into the apartment. The closing clip finds Cooke and the former love interest coming face to face as she makes sure to get her point across before getting into the elevator and watching the doors close on their relationship for good. 

“It turned out really great, I love how it’s a unique take on the meaning of the song, and I’m pumped that everybody, hopefully, will feel the same,” Cooke added.

Watch

How The Song Landed On Country Radio

Out of all the 24 tracks on Cooke’s Shot in the Dark album, “Your Place” was not initially chosen as a single, but fans did their part in expressing what they wanted to hear, and Cooke heard them loud and clear.

“That song we never picked as a single. We were just gonna see what songs react and go with what we felt was right,” Cooke explained to Country Now. “That song, we used to put at the top of my set, and people would scream it so loudly, then we put it in the middle of my set and people would scream it so loudly. So we finally were like, okay, something’s happening. Every single show, the song’s so reactive without any kind of push towards it and it was really cool to let people raise their hands and choose what they want to be the song that they hear on the radio.”

On December 11, the tune penned by Cooke with Jordan Minton and Mark Trussell took the rising star’s career to the next level as it commanded the airwaves of 71 first-week stations and became the third most-added. Since then, it has rapidly climbed the charts at Country radio and secured a spot in the Top 30. Additionally, Cooke is averaging over 1M+ on-demand streams per week, placing her in the Top 15 for female Country currents in streaming. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ASHLEY COOKE (@theashleycooke)

“It’s truly so fulfilling, that’s the best word that I can use for it because I’ve been working at music my whole life and really started focusing on it in 2019, I’ve been chasing this dream since then. Honestly, this feels like the first time that fire is catching. It feels like momentum is just really picking up, and I’ve always had so many champions in the industry, which I’m so beyond blessed for, but this is the first time that I really feel like people are like, oh, something’s happening…A lot of champions are coming out and believing in me and this song, so it really means a lot.”

Ashley Cooke recently made her debut at Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa festival in Riviera Cancun, Mexico and next she’ll join Jordan Davis on the next leg of his Damn Good Time Tour. This upcoming trek will bring the country stars across the UK, Canada and Europe before returning to the U.S. in March.