Rising country singer-songwriter Max McNown has had a pretty legendary rise to fame.
He got his start by teaching himself to play the guitar over the course of just months and busking around Southern California before becoming a viral TikTok artist, with 2023’s “A Lot More Free” putting him on the map.
Now, he’s a Platinum-certified star with well over a billion streams to his name and a loyal fanbase around the globe.
Today, he dropped his eagerly anticipated third album, Leave On A Light, in the midst of a string of exciting performances across North America.
It’s the perfect time to be a fan, and below we’ve collected 84 of his best lyrics from across his discography to use for Instagram captions.
For setting off to seek your fortune:
“I’ll pack my bags with the morning sun. Tires hit the road, tryna be someone.”
-“Slow down, Slow Down”
For when the grind starts wearing on you:
“We’ve been runnin’ in circles and fightin’ the forces inside our minds tryna find purpose in money and chasing the light.”
-“Slow down, Slow Down”
For finally heading home after too long away:
“I’m coming home baby, so come on and leave on a light.”
-“Slow down, Slow Down”
For learning to take things easy again:
“Can we slow down, slow down? I know it’s been a long time comin’. Breathe it in, let it out.”
-“Slow down, Slow Down”
For losing yourself to the music:
“So take my hand, turn the record on. Let’s dance real close till the night is gone.”
-“Slow down, Slow Down”
For recognizing what you’ve had all along:
“We’ve been searchin’ for somethin’, but darling, it’s right here in front of us.”
-“Slow down, Slow Down”
(Photo credit: Benjamin Edwards)
For when you really mean it:
“It’s such a relief when ‘I’m fine’ means ‘I’m fine’ and it ain’t just a mind game.”
-“First Born Daughter”
For treating yourself far too harshly:
“You’re hard on yourself, only see imperfections, but darling, even mirrors can lie.”
-“First Born Daughter”
Also read about: 60 Sassy and Emotional Megan Moroney Lyrics to Use as Your Next Instagram Caption
For loving them just as they are:
“Don’t rearrange the way that you are ’cause there’s nothing that I’d change.”
-“First Born Daughter”
For knowing exactly what you want from life:
“If life has only begun, don’t know where it’s ending, but I’d rather spend it holding your hand.”
-“Done For”
For dreaming of marriage and family:
“And some might say that’s a little old-fashioned. Things move fast when you’re taking it slow.”
-“Done For”
For wanting forever:
“I don’t wanna ruin all your plans, but I might need a lifetime, and I know you don’t really need a man, but I’d like to change your mind.”
-“Done For”
For yearning to matter to them:
“I wanna be, wanna be, wanna be something to someone. Does that mean something to you?”
-“Something to Someone”
For wanting to share the burden:
“All your scars and secrets. If it hurts you, let me feel it.”
-“Something to Someone”
For that special person who changes everything:
“Edges got a little softer, life got sweeter.”
-“Selah’s Song”
For pondering how someone’s doing on their own:
“You’re on your own chasing dreams. You’re doing real good, and you don’t need me.”
-“Selah’s Song”
For when your fears have shifted with age:
“The monsters all fled from under my bed. Now they’re downtown walking the streets.”
-“World Change Me”
For standing your ground, no matter how hard it gets:
“It’s easy to fold, to fall, to throw your hands up and join ’em all. Hard to be a light, hard to be alone, hard to keep fighting in a world that ain’t home.”
-“World Change Me”
For refusing to let anything change who you truly are:
“Maybe I can’t change the ways of this world, but I won’t let the world change me.”
-“World Change Me”
For when someone’s beauty is incomparable:
“Starlight over the Hollywood sign, but nothing’ll ever shine as bright as your eyes.”
-“Famous to You”
Also read about: 175 Iconic Taylor Swift Lyrics From The Life of a Showgirl and More to Use as Instagram Captions
For only needing to be famous to one special person:
“Someday I wanna be a household name, as long as it’s the one you take.”
-“Famous to You”
For celebrating the one who makes your bad days great:
“Always seeing the best on my worst days, pulling me out of the mundane.”
-“Famous to You”
For achieving your lifelong goal of true love:
“All those big dreams, they seem so small. Once I had you, I had it all.”
-“Famous to You”
For feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders:
“Standing here, I feel it all. A troubled mind and a weary soul longin’ for a ray of hope.”
-“Same, Same Sun”
For being happy so long as you’re together:
“And I realize it’s by design, I’m where I’m supposed to be, in that same, same sun shining on me.”
-“Same, Same Sun”
For trying to put your problems into perspective:
“And I know I’m not the only one with bills to pay and pain to numb.”
-“Same, Same Sun”
For contemplating the nature of love:
“Isn’t that love? Breaks you down to build you right back up.”
-“Isn’t That Love?”
For encompassing all the highs and lows of life:
“It changes with the seasons, it’s doubtin’ and believin’, isn’t it?”
-“Isn’t That Love?”
For when taking risks doesn’t pay off:
“I’ve storm chased along the Oregon coastline. Tried dodging lies and landmines, but that never worked too well.”
-“Heart You Didn’t Break”
For needing a friend in a trying time:
“So won’t you please protect my soul? All I need is a hand to hold.”
-“Heart You Didn’t Break”
For needing to get out:
“If we don’t hit the gas, we might never leave. I could name a million other places I’d rather be.”
-“Comets”
For that romantic shot under a stunning night sky:
“Chase the northern star up to the Northern Lights, and we’ll be dancing with the comets as they’re putting on their show.”
-“Comets”
For being more than ready to take a chance:
“Just wanna ride on. I don’t wanna wonder where I could’ve gone.”
-“Comets”
For seizing life:
“I don’t wanna wonder what is or what isn’t. Whatever it is, I don’t wanna miss it.”
-“Comets”
For contemplating your own shot at happiness:
“I’ve watched the sparrow, seen how it flies to light at the end of the tunnel.”
-“Make My Peace”
Also read about: 52 Angsty Julien Baker Lyrics to Use as Your Next Instagram Caption
For needing a partner on your big adventure through life:
“No, I don’t wanna live this life without you in it. Baby, say that you wanna go. I gotta know.”
-“Make My Peace”
For the love that makes you want to stop and smell the roses:
“World keeps flying, always has always will, but, baby, right now you’ve got mine at a standstill.”
-“Standstill (My My My)”
For leaving New York City behind:
“Well, I took a big old bite out of the Big Apple. Took one taste to know it’s great but not for me.”
-“Greatest Audience of All”
For never wanting to leave a special someone behind:
“Of all the places that I’ve traveled, I can only think of one I hate to leave.”
-“Greatest Audience of All”
For when performance helps you come alive:
“I find my soul playing for the greatest audience of all.”
-“Greatest Audience of All”
For hoping you never part:
“I just pray I’ll never see the way she says goodbye.”
-“The Way She Says Goodbye”
For not being their first, but knowing you’ll be their last:
“Wish I got here sooner, but I’m here right now.”
-“Space for You”
For knowing it’s best not to try to erase the past:
“Here’s to the ones who loved, loved you first.”
-“Space for You”
For wanting to know every last thing about someone:
“Tell me all the insignificant things that make you who you are. You’re such a work of art.”
-“Space for You”
For when visiting home fills you with nostalgia:
“Making me wish I was little again.”
-“The Room”
For knowing nothing good ever comes from being stuck in the past:
“I’ve been chasing ghosts, but I just wound up haunted.”
-“The Room”
For contemplating the future:
“When my back’s all bent and my hair turns grey, if I’m lucky enough to see that day, will I feel content or will I still want more? Or will I have built a life worth dying for?”
-“The Room”
Also read about: 100+ Vulnerable Noah Kahan Lyrics to Use for Your Next Instagram Caption
For seeing through deceit:
“What’s on your face ain’t in your heart.”
-“Both Sides of the Blade”
(Photo credit: Benjamin Edwards)
For preferring the duality of love and hate over apathy:
“Give me beauty, give me blame. Give me lovе and give me pain. Give mе both sides of the blade.”
-“Both Sides of the Blade”
For knowing everything will eventually pass:
“Just give it time, they all run dry.”
-“Dream Run Dry”
For pondering the nature of legacy:
“Will they say I was brave that I stood my ground? That I had compassion for the ones the world threw down? I really wanna be that now.”
-“97”
For when staying guarded does little to protect you:
“These walls I’ve built, I’ve built them well thinking I’d protect myself from the pain I’ve felt.”
-“Windows In The Wall”
For the one who brings down your well-constructed walls:
“You make we wanna put a window in the wall.”
-“Windows In The Wall”
For wishing you had the means to express your love in a way that’s never been done:
“They say that there’s nothing new underneath the sun. They’re probably right, why even try?”
-“From Me To You”
For dedicating a song to a special someone:
“But this one’s different, this one’s different. ’cause it’s a song from me to you.”
-“From Me To You”
For the love that’s taken over your mind and your heart:
“My head’s been dodging words like bullets while my heart’s been catching hands.”
-“Fishing Line”
For when safety and comfort are a person:
“No matter where we roam, I know you’ll make it feel like home.”
-“Fishing Line”
Also read about: 50 Iconic LAUV Lyrics to Use for Your Next Instagram Captions
For always knowing they’d hurt you:
“You showed me knives for hands and I still let you hold my heart.”
-“Willfully Blind”
For feeling stagnant for far too long:
“Turns out staring at a ceiling fan for hours and hours and days on end, laying here in this old motel bed can make you start to lose your head.”
-“Running On Empty”
For the freeze frame you never want to leave:
“I could live right here in this moment for the rest of my life.”
-“Forever Ain’t Long Enough”
For the person who makes you want to improve:
“I know that I gotta find a better me for you.”
-“Better Me For You (Brown Eyes)”
For when life feels like a dream come true:
“Don’t wake me up. Let me dream of that sunrise painting the mountainside gold.”
-“St. Helens Alpenglow”
For discovering the straw that broke the camel’s back:
“Ain’t it interesting how the smallest things stack up?”
-“The Cost of Growing Up”
For dreading the idea of starting from scratch in love:
“Don’t make me ask the same questions to somebody new.”
-“Same Questions”
For hoping they call:
“If you turn to lonely, call me if you miss me.”
-“Call Me If You Miss Me”
For knowing when to not give up:
“Mother said life ain’t paradise, but there’ll be battles worth fighting for.”
-“This Side of Heaven”
For when you’re young but you know what you want:
“I don’t got a whole lot of years behind me, but I don’t want one more second of lonely baby.”
-“This Side of Heaven”
Also read about: 250 Nostalgic Lyrics From Across blink-182’s Discography to Use as Instagram Captions
For not carrying your worries with you:
“I’ll take my boots and these problems and leave ’em both by the door.”
-“Marley”
For reflecting on a hit-and-miss period:
“I know this year wasn’t anything close to a high note.”
-“Where To Start”
For when your friends make everything a bit easier:
“You don’t gotta deal with the pain all by yourself.”
-“Where To Start”
For turning to hope and healing:
“Where you see hopeless, I see a soul revival. Where you see broken, I see a work of art.”
-“Where To Start”
For recognizing the duality of existence:
“Life can be beautiful and life can be mean.”
-“It’s Not Your Fault”
For warding off dark thoughts:
“I’ll strike a match, light a candle and curse the darkness.”
-“Hotel Bible”
For trying on a positive point of view:
“Gratitude and grace. Check your perspective.”
-“Azalea Place”
For keeping on through the difficult times:
“And I don’t know how to feel about the winter. but I’m told it gets warm after December.”
-“Freezing in November (Revisited)”
For looking back on past love:
“You haven’t crossed my mind in a month or so, and you probably moved on now, but I’ll never know.”
-“Turned Into Missing You”
Also read about: 125+ of the Best Lyrics From Across Olivia Rodrigo’s Discography to Use as Your Next Instagram Caption
For when everything reminds you of them:
“Turned on the radio, and it was our song. Should’ve turned it off, but I just sang along.”
-“Turned Into Missing You”
For recognizing that not everything lasts forever:
“Sometimes a fire burns out. Sometimes a well runs dry. Sometimes a trail goes cold deep in the dead of night.”
-“Strong As Iron”
For watching a sturdy love fade:
“Love strong as iron’s still gonna rust.”
-“Strong As Iron”
For feeling like friendship isn’t enough:
“We’ve been getting closer, but closer still ain’t close enough to hold you.”
-“The Way I Wanna”
For deciding to seize every day to its fullest extent:
“Dead set on living, living ’til the day I die.”
-“Dead Set”
For when someone new becomes the most important person in your life:
“Honestly, it’s the strangest thing when strangers turn into your everything.”
-“The Most”
For recognizing all of the little things:
“But all those details that nobody else would notice are the things that bring my whole world into focus, what keeps me going.”
-“The Most”
For when letting go feels right:
“I’m a little bit hurt but a lot more free.”
-“A Lot More Free”
For even more inspiration, click HERE to discover all of Lorde’s best lyrics to use as captions.
