Chris Lane Explains the Personal Story Behind ‘Fill Them Boots’ — and Shares the Baby Name Idea His Wife ‘Shut Down So Hard’
Chris Lane’s been on a hot streak recently with songs that take inspiration from his personal life. His romantic “Big,…
Chris Lane; Photo by John Shearer
Chris Lane’s been on a hot streak recently with songs that take inspiration from his personal life. His romantic “Big, Big Plans,” which hit No. 1 on the country charts in December, spoke to his relationship with his wife, Lauren Bushnell, and the singer even used footage from his proposal to make the music video.
But while his latest submission to radio, “Fill Them Boots,” might not be as overt an homage to his own love story, Lane says he’s still taking songwriting cues from personal experience.
“I had this song idea written down in my phone for quite some time before I wrote it,” he recounted during a recent virtual press event. The song speaks from the perspective of a guy who’s hoping to help a new love interest bounce back after a breakup — and hopefully, start a new relationship in the process.
“The thing that it made me think about was the relationship [Lauren] was in [before we started dating], and honestly, it kinda tells that story, a little bit,” Lane continues.
“At some point, as a guy or a girl, you’ve been mistreated in a relationship, and then found somebody who actually treats you the right way. And the relatable part of it for me is Lauren and [my] relationship,” he adds with sincerity, before cracking a joke-y smile. “I was the guy who stepped in and gave her everything she needed! Technically, I filled those boots!”
These days, Lane and his wife have traded in parties and bars for more time spent at home, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lauren is being particularly careful, the singer adds, because she is currently pregnant with the couple’s first child — which could make her more vulnerable to severe illness if she were to catch the virus. Even when “Big, Big Plans” went No. 1, Lane explains, the celebrations have been low-key.
“A lot of her friends have gotten COVID while they were pregnant and did not do well with it, so we’ve been super careful,” he says. “We don’t get to go out to eat a whole lot…But as far as celebrating, we did take one trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where we kind of used that as a celebration, and honestly, almost as a life celebration, as well.”
But in the meantime, they’re busy preparing to welcome their baby boy, who is due to arrive in June — and they’re even tossing around some name ideas.
“We’re close on it. We think we have it nailed down,” Lane says, when asked if they’ve got a name picked out for their son. “I’ll tell you one that I threw out, and I was like, halfway joking, halfway serious, and Lauren shut me down really fast. But I thought it was kinda cool! I wanted to name him Rambo.”
While it may have been vetoed right away by Lauren, Lane reasons that he thinks the name sounds “tough” — especially if his son winds up going into sports.
“Like, what can I name him that stands out and is tough?” he points out. “I feel like [hearing an announcer say], ‘Coming up to bat, Rambo Lane’ — how can he not drop bombs, you know what I mean? But yeah. Shut down so hard.”
Written by
Carena Liptak