Dierks Bentley takes his music seriously, as a songwriter and a singer. How seriously? “My job is to be a poet for the common man. That’s what Merle Haggard is,” he says. “He sings [and] does things in ways that [make] you [think], ‘Man, I wish I could say that same thing to someone that means something.’” Dierks aspired to do the same in his current Top 10 hit, “I Hold On.” “I think on this song, I was able to really use some common images…in explaining why I’m never going to walk out…never going to leave…that’s just not who I am as a person.”

Hear more of Dierks’ musical poetry when his new album, Riser, is released at the end of the month (February 25th).

AUDIO: Dierks Bentley says he aimed high with the imagery and message of his latest hit, “I Hold On” (from his soon-to-be-released album, Riser).

Dierks Bentley (poetry in song) OC: …a person. :33
“My job is to be a poet for, you know, the common man. That’s what Merle Haggard is, you know? He sings [and] does things in ways that [make] you [think], ‘Man, I wish I could say that same thing to someone that means something.’ You know, to my girlfriend, my wife. He just has such a great way of singing that feels so…like it just rolled off his tongue, but it’s like really poetry. I think on this song, I was able to really use some common images of a truck and a guitar…and faith, love and freedom to wrap that all in explaining why, you know, I’m never going to walk out on you, never going to leave you. You know, that’s just not who I am as a person.”