“Buy Dirt” by Jordan Davis (ft. Luke Bryan)

The term “buy dirt” is generally understood as alluding to the act of purchasing a farm – the type of investment that could prove wise considering that land, as they say, is the basis of all economic activity. Furthermore, as implied in the bridge of this song, land is in fact a limited resource.

But in the case of this narrative, the vocalist comes off as someone who earns money for materialism’s sake, because it’s the thing to do, so to speak. So there’s this elderly dude he’s familiar with who is advising him otherwise, that he should “buy dirt” instead. And in this context, the O-G is not referring to purchasing land per se. Instead that instruction, in full, reads more like an admonishment for the younger vocalist to settle down in life. 

Or put differently, money isn’t fulfilling in and of itself.  But the narrator could use it for example to settle down, turn his passion into a career, get married, start a family and perform acts of piety. And possessing those attributes, according to the old timer, will indeed grant the vocalist happiness indeed.

So ultimately, this is more or less your quintessential country song, as such musicians tend to value family, religious dedication and land even.

Facts about “Buy Dirt”

Jordan Davis, the headline vocalist of this track, is a newjack compared to Luke Bryan and relatedly is lesser known as of the writing of this post. For instance, Jordan only has one studio album under his belt thus far, that being 2018’s “Home State”. Meanwhile Luke has dropped a number of studio albums, beginning with 2007’s “I’ll Stay Me”, in addition to having won a number of prestigious industry awards.

“Buy Dirt” has also proven to be Jordan Davis’s best performing thus far. That is to say that this is the only of his track to date to have topped Billboard’s Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs lists (as well as the Billboard’s Canada Country chart). It has also reached platinum status in the US as of early 2022. And to note, part of its success is attributable to TikTok virality.

This song came out 21 May 2021 as the title track of Jordan’s second EP. And even though it marks the first time he and Luke Bryan have teamed up musically, the two of them are, according to Davis, “great friends”. Jordan also considers Luke a role model.

Jordan wrote this song with Jacob Davis, another country singer who also happens to be his brother. And the other co-writers of “Buy Dirt” are another pair of siblings, Matt and Josh Jenkins. And for the most part, co-writer Josh says that this piece came together in “probably like 30 minutes”.

This song was produced by Paul DiGiovanni.

Jordan actually conceptualized this piece while the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. Therein he came to the realization that one only needs three things in life, namely:

• “faith”
• “family”
• “friends”