Meaning of “Shotgun” by George Ezra
“Shotgun” is a song recorded and performed by English singer and songwriter George Ezra. According to Ezra, he wrote this song after spending quality time relaxing and unwinding
Describing his stay in Barcelona, Ezra said he spent a lot of his time there walking up the hill and relaxing in a very nice garden where he often watched people minding their own businesses and “trying to figure out their lives”.
All in all, this track was inspired by the renowned Spanish city of Barcelona.
According to Ezra, during his one-month stay in Barcelona, he lived in an apartment that was owned by a woman who went by the name Tamara. He therefore decided to name his second studio album Staying at Tamara’s. “Shotgun” is one of the tracks on this album.
Facts about “Shotgun”
- “Shotgun” was penned by George Ezra and English musician Joel Pott. Aside being known for his numerous songwriting and production credits, Pott is also famous for being the lead vocalist of the English indie band Athlete.
- The track was produced by British songwriter and music producer Cam Blackwood. Besides his collaborations with Ezra, Blackwood is also well-known for collaborating with such noted artists and bands as We are the Scientists, Amy Macdonald, London Grammar, and Florence and the Machine. It is worth noting that in addition to producing the track, Blackwood also sang backing vocals on the track.
- “Shotgun” was officially released on May 18th, 2018 as the 5th single from Ezra’s second studio album Staying at Tamara’s which he titled after his landlady. The album was a massive success for Ezra, reaching number on in the United Kingdom.
- The track has a total length of 3 minutes and 21 seconds.
- The song’s official music video was released on June 14th, 2018.
- “Shotgun” peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 1 in Scotland. Today, this track is one of the most successful singles by Ezra.
- The word “shotgun” appears approximately 10 times in the song’s lyrics.
What music genre is “Shotgun”?
It is a folk-rock song.
How can it be about Barcelona when one of the lyrics state “south of the equator”? Personally I think this song is about Australia, or Brazil
how about Cape Town – Table Mountain ?
Yes, in another song he mentions South Africa, sugarcoat. In general I think yellow is the sun and green is the vegetation; he is being driven around in an open topped car; riding shot gun.
Totally agree .. It’s got that SA Capetown vibe too ..
It’s about Australia as ‘yellow’ and ‘green’ is mentioned in the song which are national colours of Australia and ‘south of the equator’ indicate Australia as well !
That can also mean south Africa though?
Plausible, indeed.
Well, yellow and green are also Brazil’s official colors.
the songwriter should know, it’s all about metaphors, and not literal.
So did I.
PS. I am Australian ^^
Actually it is a about a scientologist escaping Ireland and he is experiencing the Catholic Church’s and psychiatry’s version of fairgame. Theres a mountain top is about Slieve Donard the highest peak in Northern ireland and he is writing that i can find him from there – when we went there we couldnt see a thing the clouds were so thick. The guy who wrote the lyrics despite the music industry’s lies is Kevin Devlin – not the same Kevin Devlin who sings Rewind but the same Kevin Devlin who wrote it. He is probably the biggest lyric writer in the pop industry and Mika does a lot of his stuff.
A post farther down gives the link to an interview with George Ezra where he stated that he wrote Shotgun about his trip to Australia. He was in Barcelona when he wrote the song about his previous trip to Australia
I just watched George on The Project (an Australian news program) say with his own mouth that Shotgun is not about Australia. He strayed away after saying it wasn’t about Aus and didn’t want to tell us what it was about so I guess we’ll never know.
👍🏼
It says ‘the south of the equator navigator’ which means that the navigator comes from south of the equator?
Reference as well to yellow and green both national colours of Brazil and Australia
And South Africa
No alligators in Australia or South Africa. I guess that leaves Brazil?
I think you are onto something there – only crocs here. The yellow and green must be the flag then and the mountain top not Table Mountain but Sugar Loaf Mountain. Budapest, Brazil – what will the next one be? Barcelona, Bucharest, Bombay, Boston…
“Home Grown” Alligator = Crocodile?
See ya later alligator, see you in a while crocodile… Often used in Australia, being an English expression… Plus many foreign to Australian call our crocodiles alligators! So proves nothing… Plus road trips are big in Australia, Queensland weather is all year round beach weather… The eastern seaboard has basically every city at the foot hills of the Great Dividing Range…
Not sure people would call “shotgun” in brazil either…
And the Lager comment? Australia known for its high consumption of beer, our most famous international being Fosters Lager, which we just don’t drink here.
I think that this lyrics it’s about Brazil. There are many references to this country in the lyrics like as: “The south of the equator”; “Deep-sea diving ’round the clock, bikini bottoms, lager tops” and the most interesting: “There’s a mountain top that I’m dreaming of” this phrase makes reference to Pão de Açúcar, one of the most visited hotspots from Rio de Janeiro. Thank you George Ezra!!!
I agree it’s about Brazil -alligator reference to boot-yellow & green flag, south of the equator, bikini beaches-this is almost a tourist promo for the country-btw the song is great-also mountain top would be Christ t in Andes in Rio…
It’s just a song. Don’t try to read too much into it. Most song writers are not the most literate people in the world
Home grown alligator refers to home grown weed. And it’s more likely about Australia and the gorgeous mountains in the hinterlands which are all the way down our beautiful coastline.
I’ll be ridding shoot gun = front seat in a car in australia, south of the equator = not Barcelona, green and gold = Australia as well, if anyone tries to say Australia isn’t a main influence in this song, I call bull shit
Wow, I didn’t know so many people were wondering about this like me.
I am from South Africa and everything just sounded so right: “The south of the equator”, “Deep-sea diving … bikini bottoms”, “hot sun”.
For the “lager” bit, Castle lager is basically, or one of, the national beers of South Africa and widely consumed.
I am going to give Table Mountain the win for “There’s a mountainTOP that I’m dreaming of”;
but there was one thing that was bothering me from the start, we normally refer to South Africa and especially our national sports teams as “Green and Gold” not “Yellow and Green”.
I am going to ignore the alligator bit, as George just wanted to rhyme with “later” 😉
I always thought the alligator was in reference to how we Saffas always say “see you later alligator, in a while crocodile. “
Has anyone asked George Ezra?
Yes, he clearly said the yellow and green simply reference the bright fictionalized palm trees and sun shine.
i dont think its AUS, as the reference ‘mountain top’ doesn’t seem to point to AUS.
When George visited Australia he mentioned that he stayed with his Aunt who lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and has visited her previously. Could be hmmmm!!
This song encouraged me to travel. That’s all I care about. I wanna hit every possible spot mentioned, and if I’m not sure, I’ll find something close to it.
I just wish current songwriters would write lyrics that make sense !
I mean, the target of songwriters is probably the opposite
It make sense but to them. Audience don’t have to understand. It is really up to writers to decide how they portray what they want and whether they will use metaphors, inside jokes, etc. If you don’t like their lyrics you don’t have to listen, simple
This song describes everything about South Africa! Mountain, sun, huge reptiles, green, gold…. I mean, surely this is South Africa.
For a moment there, I even thought George was a South African trapped in a cold dark country, clearly pining for the endless summer, golden beaches and some of the oldest mountain ranges on earth, right here in South Africa, my home. I’m working on the bikini bod, George.
As far as I could see yellow and green were the national colours of South Africa. The mountain was table mountain. And driving round the coast etc was the Cape. And Cape Town. The old South Africa not the new one
I think it’s really about what George says it’s about. It’s about his holiday in Barcelona. It’s not meant to be geographically or ecologically accurate. Relax people. Breath.
I think its more about a dive site in Komodo island,Indonesia . There is a dive site here called shotgu n .. and exactly like what he described
Bikini Bottom is the hometown of Spongebob..
So its clear that he’s talking bout the side effects of using grass…he imagined himself in a dreamworld (the world he created by the power of grass)..
It’s used as a song at Carrow Road, home of Norwich City, who are one of very few teams that play in yellow and green. George has been asked about whether it has anything to do with Norwich or football, and he says no, but it’s a song that suits us Norwich fans, and we’re grateful!
I agree, I’ve always thought it’s about Australia. Everything thing he sings about indicates that. I always thought the mountain top he refers to is in fact Ayers Rock.
Its about mars which he visited in a homemade aligator shaped spaceship and the yellow and green was the infection he got by trying to ride a shotgun that had burnt his leg.The sun changed in the atmosphere as its the red planet and the orbit of mars takes 687 days so when he was on earth time flew by
Its about the tour de france bike race. Yellow Jersey is the leade and green is . Riding in the hot sun . Green Jersey is something else.
Definately South Africa, around Cape Town, the Mountain in Cape Town, lots of deep sea diving there, Camps BAy is full of bikini Bottoms, the hot sun only sets at 8.00pm in summer, there is plenty of Lager drunk down there, and he also mentions his visit to Cape Town on another song on the same Album
It is about Australia
“Shotgun” was written in Barcelona, but makes references to time spent in Australia with lyrics like “Time flies by in the yellow and green,” yellow (gold) and green being the national colors of the country, and “South of the Equator, navigator” and “Deep sea divin’ ’round the clock, bikini bottoms, lager tops.” Ezra …
https://www.iheart.com/content/2019-02-05-george-ezra-opens-up-about-hit-single-shotgun-his-podcast-more/
George Ezra said the song is about Australia. Thank you! It’s what I thought when I came to this site
i THInk this song colabarates with the ANC goverment of South Africa. Yellow and Green, Mountain top ( table mountain) felling like a someone you know what i meen… i been ridding shotgun…sounds to me like his colabrating wiht the ANC TO puch voilence in our county… proberly got paid good for this…nothing sound barcelona to me.
I’d like to add that:
The narrator of the song Shotgun is giving goodbye to someone else by saying “Homegrown alligator, see you later / Gotta hit the road, gotta hit the road”. He’s going to a new place for him.
“Time flies by in the yellow and green”: No, it’s not Brazil our South Africa; Sorry. “The bright fictionalised palm trees and sun shine”? Give me a brake. It is indeed Australia (https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/australian-national-symbols/australian-national-colours).
There’s a mountaintop that I’m dreaming of: It’s not about a mountain or its top; It’s related to a pickup truck (https://www.mountaintop.com.au/)
“I’ll be riding shotgun underneath the hot sun”: Here’s other english expression – riding shotgun (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riding_shotgun; https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=riding%20shotgun). The narrator of that song is sitting in the passenger’s seat of the pickup truck, at least.
“Feeling like a someone”Who is driving the pickup truck in order to the passenger feels like a someONE? Who is the “ONE”? See the Shotgun video lyrics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_B3qkp4nO4). The word someone is presented separated “some” “one”. I won’t tell you. But if you wanna really know, watch this same video lyric at the 3min03sec and Do the Math. Maybe he is in red.
The south of the equator, navigate it / Gotta hit the road, gotta hit the road / Deep-sea diving ’round the clock, bikini bottoms, lager tops / I could get used to this: That’s one more evidence that the country is Australia. The reason that is not Brazil or South Africa I already explained to you.
The really BIG QUESTION here is why is the narrator going to Australia?
Sorry but 2 in the back 2 in the front blows that up
Well done
Do you mean ‘two in the pink, one in the stink?’
No this is DEFINITELY about Australia!!!
he’s talking about the assentation process. living in the yellow and green refers to the heart and solar plexus chakras…the mountain top is the crown chakra or heaven and he’s riding shotgun because its his body and soul climbing it back to god(the sun) under the hot sun…
Why doesn’t someone ask George Ezra?
I think its about weed. Yelliw being hash green being grass and the mountains you kniw what i mean being the kush region.
BARCELONA is the weed capital of spain and when people relax and unwind there its normally getting high
Agreed. That was my thinking. Cheers.
I thought Australia first too. (Being a Kiwi next door neighbour) But it could be South Africa or Brazil. Let’s just agree the whole Southern Hemisphere rocks and Christmas time means cold salads and the beginning of a long summer holiday with lagers in hand.
I will drink to that
This song is actually about Barcelona, Spain.
Gay riding it most likely means
the song isn’t about anything in particular – it’s just a bunch of words that rhymed and he thought sounded cool. Lennon and Mac this ain’t
I thought riding refers to motorbike or a horse, what was he riding according to George Ezra’s song?
It’s about relaxing vibes man.. but references Australia in parts. George said so.
i think he’s talking about riding in a tractor and what he’s thinking about as he is driving. when he says yellow and green he means a john deer tractor. everything he talks about is what he is thinking about as he drives.
Up until reading these comments, I thought it was about a guy who joined the service.
Sexual experiences from the other side.
It is a shit of übersezig I know it is not easy to know what Ezra means.
Old Georgie boy is playing it smart by NOT telling us where it’s about. It means the Aussies, the South Africans, the Brazilians and the Spanish all claim it as theirs! Great marketing trick