Photo of Drayton Farley courtesy of Jeremy Glazier/ Black Cat Bone Productions
If you’ve ever heard of Drayton Farley, there’s a good chance you’ve heard “Pitchin’ Fits” a time or two. Right now, it is his most popular song and has garnered over 2 million streams on Spotify alone. The song is about going through hard times but having that one person there to make things seem bearable. Most people have been there at one time or another. As a result, it’s one of those songs that hits close to home for countless listeners.
Drayton Farley included “Pitchin’ Fits” on his debut album A Hard Up Life. The album dropped in January of 2021 and the world was still in a pretty rough place overall. This timing combined with Farley’s songwriting made this song popular among country music fans who were feeling down and out.
“Pitchin’ Fits”
- Best Lines: “It’s a long and hurtful phase / And I don’t know if I belong here at all. / But when I’m here with you / I don’t mind at all.”; “Tell me I’m not crazy / And we all feel like this. / I’ve been so damn down here lately / Tell me I’m just pitchin’ fits.”
- Release Date: January 29, 2021
- Written By: Drayton Farley
- Produced By: Drayton Farley
Drayton Farley on “Pitchin’ Fits”
Recently, Outsider sat down with Drayton Farley and talked about a wide range of things including “Pitchin’ Fits” and the story behind it. Farley said that there wasn’t a big “crazy story” behind the song. Instead, he said, “Writing that one was almost like a journal entry more than anything. It was almost like a little therapy session.”
Drayton Farley went on to say that the lyrics to “Pitchin’ Fits” poured out of him quickly. “I had been in a really negative place for a really long time. [I was] just really stressed out and depressed with the way life was heading.” At the time, he said, he had a good job, a happy marriage, a beautiful child, and everyone in his family was healthy. However, “there was still something about life and the way everything was working out that wasn’t fulfilling at all.”
Before COVID hit, Drayton Farley’s job as an assembly line worker was already incredibly demanding. It left little time for him to balance his blossoming music career and spending time with his family. Then, the pandemic hit and, he said, “It seemed like everything around me was negative. Everything was a downer. There was nothing good going on. Everything was falling apart around me and just in the world in general.”
Casting a Wide Net
“Pitchin’ Fits” is a personal song for Drayton Farley. However, he didn’t want to narrow his focus too much. “I was just pouring out feelings that I had been having. When I realized that what was coming out was going to actually be a song, I decided to try to make sure I was writing it in a way that didn’t just fit my life. It could fit anyone else’s because we’re all human and we all suffer the same things.”
Drayton expanded on this a little further saying, “If you get too specific, lyrically, you narrow your audience to people who are almost exactly like you. A lot of times, in country music that’s what happens. It’s songs written for country music fans. ‘Pitchin’ Fits’ was clearly not a very specific song as far as any one group of people and I tried to keep it that way.”
Drayton Farley “Pitchin’ Fits” Lyrics
[Verse]
Tell me, can you save me?
I think I’ve fallen sick
I have grown to be so angry
And I just can’t call it quits
Tell me I’m not crazy
And we all feel like this
I’ve been so damn down here lately
Tell me I’m just pitchin’ fits
[Chorus]
‘Cause it’s a long and hurtful phase
And I don’t know if I belong here at all
But when I’m here with you
I don’t mind at all
I don’t mind at all
[Verse]
So tell me I’m still breathing
I’m gonna be okay
Tell me you’re still here
And you won’t ever go away
Tell me I’m not dying
Just need to get some rest
And tell me all this trying
Will pay off in the end
[Chorus]
‘Cause it’s a long and hurtful phase
And I don’t know if I belong here at all
But when I’m here with you
I don’t mind at all
I don’t mind at all
[Verse]
Tell me all these things
That I cannot tell myself
Tell me you don’t think
That I need to get some help
Tell me that you love me
Just tell me one more time
Tell me that I’m dreaming
Just open up my eyes
[Outro]
‘Cause it’s a long and hurtful phase
And I don’t know if I belong here at all
But when I’m here with you
I don’t mind at all
I don’t mind at all
Oh, when I’m here with you
I don’t mind at all
I don’t mind at all