About The Song
Travis Tritt scores his second No. 1 hit with a song about making it big in the music business.
After reaching the top ten with his debut single “Country Club,” Tritt earned his first chart-topper earlier in the year with “Help Me Hold On.” As the third single from Country Club, his debut album, Warner Bros. chose “I’m Gonna Be Somebody.”
There’s something that just works about these kinds of songs when they come early in an artist’s career. Tritt didn’t write “I’m Gonna Be Somebody,” but it still comes off as autobiographical, as it tells the story of a young and determined man to become a successful singer and musician.
The third verse gives it some extra potency, as the singer notices a young man in the front row of his concert that has the same hunger in his eyes as the protagonist once did.
It’s not quite as great as “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow” or “Wrong Side of Memphis,” lacking the specificity of the former and the rhinestones and grit of the latter, but it’s still a winning tale of young man dreaming big and having that dream realized.
Country Club went gold in the fall of 1990, as Tritt received his first CMA Horizon Award nomination. At the 1990 CMA Awards, he performed the fourth and final single from Country Club, “Put Some Drive in Your Country.” Even though it fell short of the top twenty, the single established Tritt’s image better than any of the singles that came before, and laid the groundwork for the superstardom that came with his second major label album, It’s All About to Change. We’ll be seeing a lot more of Tritt in 1991.
Video
Lyrics
Bobby played his guitar on the harder side of town
Where it’s hard for a poor boy to find the money
He had dedication, he had the heart and soul
Somehow he knew he was born to play
People said, “Get a real job, support your family
‘Cause there’s no future in the road you’re takin'”
He never said a word, the dreamer just kept on
Late at night you could hear him say
He said
I’m gonna be somebody
One of these days I’m gonna break these chains
I’m gonna be somebody someday
You can bet your hard-earned dollar I will
The road was a struggle, took him ten years to the top
And now he’s number one on the stage and the radio
Still, he can’t believe how people come from miles around
When it seems like only yesterday he would say
I’m gonna be somebody
One of these days I’m gonna break these chains
I’m gonna be somebody someday
You can bet your hard-earned dollar I will
Hey-yeah-yeah
Bobby played his hometown, one full moon August night
When he heard a voice in the front row singin’
It was a sandy-haired rebel boy with same ole hungry eyes
He looked up at Bobby and said
I’m gonna be somebody
One of these days I’m gonna break these chains
And I’m gonna be somebody someday
You can bet your hard-earned dollar I will
You know I will, yeah-yeah
I’m gonna be somebody
One of these days I’m gonna break these chains
I’m gonna be somebody someday
You can bet your hard-earned dollar I will
Oh, yeah
You can bet your hard-earned dollar
I will