Cover Me Up#Morgan Wallen version
{{Short description|Song by Jason Isbell}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Cover Me Up
| cover =
| type = song
| artist = Jason Isbell
| album = Southeastern
| released = 2013
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Americana
| length = 4:54
| label = Southeastern
| writer = Jason Isbell
| producer = Dave Cobb
}}
"Cover Me Up" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Jason Isbell. It is the first track on his 2013 studio album Southeastern.
Content and history
Isbell told NPR in 2013 that he wrote the song about his wife, Amanda Shires. He described the song as "a hard one for me to even get through without breaking down the first time" because of how personally he felt that it expressed his love for Shires.{{cite web | url=https://www.npr.org/2013/06/10/190372187/jason-isbell-a-southeastern-songwriters-path-to-sobriety | title=Jason Isbell: A 'Southeastern' Songwriter's Path To Sobriety | publisher=NPR | date=June 10, 2013 | accessdate=January 31, 2021}} The corresponding album came after Isbell had ended alcohol rehabilitation. The Bluegrass Situation describes the song as " Solemn, stripped-down, and slow, it floors listeners with its stark vulnerability and the strength of its romance as Isbell unfolds his love for Amanda Shires".{{cite web | url=https://thebluegrasssituation.com/read/why-cover-me-up-is-the-truest-love-song-jason-isbell-will-ever-write/ | title=WHY 'COVER ME UP' IS THE TRUEST LOVE SONG JASON ISBELL WILL EVER WRITE | publisher=The Bluegrass Situation | date=March 4, 2016 | accessdate=January 31, 2021}}
The song is composed in the key of E-flat major. It uses a 6/8 time signature with an approximate tempo of 44 beats per minute.{{cite web | url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0200338 | title='Cover Me Up' sheet music | date=September 9, 2019 | publisher=MusicNotes.com | accessdate=January 31, 2021}}
Critical reception
Steve Leggett, in his review of the album for AllMusic, called "Cover Me Up" a "beautiful opening love song".{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/southeastern-mw0002540499 | title=Southeastern | publisher=AllMusic | accessdate=January 31, 2021}} Writing for Paste, Jerrick Adams stated in a review of Southeastern that " on the one hand a gentle, insistent love song, and on the other a moving testament to personal redemption that never once turns a blind eye to past indiscretions. It sets the tone for the remainder of the album, which is given equally to the promise of romance and the ever-looming possibility of suffering, both self-induced and arbitrary."{{cite web | url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/jason-isbell/jason-isbell-southeastern/ | title=Southeastern | work=Paste | date=June 10, 2013 | accessdate=January 31, 2021}} In 2020, Paste ranked the song number one on their list of the 20 greatest Jason Isbell songs,{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best/jason-isbell-songs/|title=The 20 Best Jason Isbell Songs|first=Ellen|last=Johnson|work=Paste|date=May 13, 2020|accessdate=July 10, 2022}} and in 2022, American Songwriter ranked the song number four on their list of the 10 greatest Jason Isbell songs.{{cite web|url=https://americansongwriter.com/the-top-10-jason-isbell-songs/|title=The Top 10 Jason Isbell Songs|first=Sam|last=Long|work=American Songwriter|date=May 16, 2022|accessdate=July 10, 2022}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|award=Gold|title=Cover Me Up |artist=Jason Isbell|relyear=2013|certyear=2022|access-date=February 19, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true | noshipments=true | streaming=true}}
Morgan Wallen version
{{Infobox song
| name = Cover Me Up
| cover = Cover Me Up.jpeg
| type = promo
| artist = Morgan Wallen
| album = Dangerous: The Double Album
| released = {{start date|2019|04|05}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Country
| length = 4:53
| label = Big Loud
| writer = Jason Isbell
| producer =
| misc = {{External music video|1={{YouTube|D__POWBeOgU|"Cover Me Up"}}|header=Lyric video|type=song}}
{{External music video|1={{YouTube|KEnFCa-5p9E|"Cover Me Up"}}|header=Short film|type=song}}
}}
In November 2020, Wallen's cover of "Cover Me Up" was announced as one of the tracks on his then-upcoming album Dangerous: The Double Album. Wallen's version is co-produced by Joey Moi and Dave Cohen.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/9483110/morgan-wallen-dangerous-double-album|title=Morgan Wallen Announces 30-Track Double Album 'Dangerous': The 'Idea Started Off As Just a Joke'|date=November 12, 2020|first=Gil|last=Kaufman|magazine=Billboard|access-date=November 21, 2020}}
Wallen had covered the song in concert for more than a year prior to the release of his studio version, including performances on a tour with Luke Combs and during a video shoot created by the country music website Taste of Country. The latter publication noted that while Wallen's live covers had received mixed reception from fans, Isbell himself stated approval toward Wallen's rendition.{{cite web | url=https://tasteofcountry.com/morgan-wallen-cover-me-up-jason-isbell-controversy/ | title=Criticism Won't Keep Morgan Wallen From Performing 'Cover Me Up' | publisher=Taste of Country | date=December 16, 2019 | accessdate=January 31, 2021}} Although not released as a single, Wallen's rendition charted on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Canadian Hot 100 charts between 2019 and 2020. It has also received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA){{Certification Cite Ref|region=United States |artist=Morgan Wallen |refname="RIAA"}} and Music Canada.
Wallen uploaded an 8-minute short film on November 22, 2019, directed by Justin Clough and filmed near Leiper's Fork, Tennessee. The video portrays the song's storyline through a soldier who is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/morgan-wallen-cover-me-up-video-916649/|title=Morgan Wallen Depicts Soldier's PTSD in Harrowing 'Cover Me Up' Video|publisher=Rolling Stone|last=Freeman|first=Jon|date=November 22, 2019|accessdate=January 23, 2021}}
After a controversy surrounding a video of Wallen shouting a racial slur in February 2021, Isbell announced that he would donate his songwriting royalties to the Nashville chapter of the NAACP.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/jason-isbell-morgan-wallen-cover-me-up-donation-1126630/|title=Jason Isbell Is Donating His Morgan Wallen Royalties to the NAACP|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=February 10, 2021|accessdate=February 8, 2022|first=Jonathan|last=Bernstein}}
=Chart performance=
==Weekly charts==
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (2019–2021)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| {{single chart|Canada|50|artist=Morgan Wallen|rowheader=true|accessdate=February 3, 2021|refname="Can Hot 100"}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardhot100|52|artist=Morgan Wallen|rowheader=true|access-date=August 25, 2020}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardcountrysongs|15|artist=Morgan Wallen|rowheader=true|access-date=August 25, 2020}} |
==Year-end charts==
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (2020)
! scope="col"| Position |
|---|
| scope="row"| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2020/hot-country-songs|title=Hot Country Songs – Year-End 2020|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=February 10, 2021}}
| 97 |
=Certifications=
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|award=Platinum|number=2|type=single|certyear=2024|access-date=September 28, 2024}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=single|artist=Morgan Wallen|title=Cover Me Up|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=2019|certyear=2022|accessdate=October 5, 2022|refname="MC certs"}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Morgan Wallen|title=Cover Me Up|award=Platinum|relyear=2019|certyear=2024|source=radioscope|access-date=January 2, 2025}}
{{certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|award=Platinum|number=4|title=Cover Me Up |artist=Morgan Wallen|relyear=2019|certyear=2022|access-date=November 1, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true | noshipments=true | streaming=true}}
Other versions
The song has also been covered by the Zac Brown Band, released exclusively to Spotify in 2017. Rodney Atkins released a version of the song, appearing on his album Caught Up in the Country (2019), as did Warren Zeiders, on his 2021 album Acoustic Covers.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Jason Isbell}}
{{Morgan Wallen}}
Category:Songs written by Jason Isbell
Category:Song recordings produced by Dave Cobb