motorboating lyrics

The Meaning Behind the Song Lyrics: “Pontoon” by Little Big Town

by Alex Hopper August 25, 2022, 9:53 am

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For many people, summertime means heading to the lake just as soon as the weather hits the upper 80s. It turns out, that’s Little Big Town’s version of summertime bliss, too, as evidenced by their 2012 track, “Pontoon.”

The song, originally released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Tornado , earned the band their first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot Country charts and remained at the top spot for over a week. “Pontoon” also clinched LBT several awards, including a Grammy for Best Country Group Performance.

Throughout the foot-tapping country track, Little Big Town paints the perfect summer day, complete with soaking in rays, floating, and taking an easy-breezy ride on a pontoon. Let’s dive into the lyrics behind the track.

Songwriters Luke Laird, Natalie Hemby, and Barry Dean reportedly came up with the title after a publisher asked about a track the trio wrote for Miranda Lambert called “Fine Tune.” The publisher seemed to only get the gist of the title correct, calling it “Pontoon” instead. Laird and Hemby liked the sound of the new title and decided to make the flubbed song name a reality soon after. 

“It was started in a writing room at Universal Music, but we didn’t get very far—first verse, a few lines of chorus, but the music was clear,” Dean told American Songwriter in 2020 regarding the origins of “Pontoon.”

“It was months later before the three of us got back together because our calendars were crazy,” he continued. “We met at Luke’s office and it was right around the time Natalie was going to have her baby. We got together for a few hours, finished the chorus first, then wrote the second verse and bridge. They were both fun days.”

Looking Into the Lyrics

Swapping speed for an easy-cruising ride, the song fully leads into the comfort-first mentality of a pontoon boat. Unlike its Ski boat counterpart, pontoons are made for a gentle romp around the lake, perfect for enjoying a drink and relaxing with friends. Little Big Town sets that same scene with the opening lines.

Back this hitch up into the water / Untie all the cables and rope / Step onto the astroturf / Get yourself a koozie / Let’s go / Who said anything about skiing? / Floating is all I want to do / You can climb the ladder / Just don’t rock the boat while I barbeque

By the time the chorus hits, the listeners are headed straight toward carefree elation. Across the instant ear-worm refrain, they move into a “slow-motion” party, making waves and catching rays.

On the pontoon / Making waves and catching rays up on the roof / Jumping out the back, don’t act like you don’t want to / Party in slow motion / Out here in the open

Music Video

The accompanying video is exactly what you’d expect it to be. The four-piece heads out to the harbor, with coolers and instruments in tow, ready to live out the day they sing about in the song. Their pontoon is a double-decker cruiser named “Boondocks”—a reference to another classic LBT song of the same name.

As the video croons on, the party grows bigger without ever losing that gentle breeze. Check it out below. 

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Pontoon by Little Big Town

Songfacts®:

• The first single from country quartet, Little Big Town's, fifth studio album was penned by Barry Dean, Natalie Hemby and Luke Laird. Hemby came up with the idea for the song after her publisher misheard the title of " Fine Tune ," a cut she and Laird wrote for Miranda Lambert. Speaking with Songfacts, Dean explained : "She was really frustrated with this person for not understanding. Their job was to really know our stuff, and they didn't. But Luke heard that, and at that point, we really wanted to write it. I started Googling: Is there a 'Pontoon' already? Because you'd think, with the '90s in country music it had already been done. But it wasn't. There weren't any pontoon songs. I was, like, 'Are you kidding me?' And I looked at Luke and said, 'We're clear.'"
• A pontoon boat is a flattish boat that relies on pontoons to float, which are used for both pleasure boating and fishing in the US. According to Sweet all four of the group's members had pontoon-boat experiences while growing up. At the 2013 ACM Awards, we asked Little Big Town if they were concerned about the title. Here's what they said: Kimberly Schlapman: We weren't really concerned until we went to London. We realized they really have no idea what a pontoon is. Jimi Westbrook: We thought everybody knew what a pontoon was. Karen Fairchild: Yeah, we grew up on pontoons and on the lake, and it's part of southern living. And I guess we just assumed everybody knew that. Motorboating is also very universal. [Laughing] If you didn't know what a pontoon was, you had another shot.
• Little Big Town's Phillip Sweet told The Boot the quartet on hearing the song, "fell in love with it instantly." He added. "We could hear ourselves singing it and we could feel the fun energy behind it. It's fun and sexy and summertime; it just feels right for right now."
• Karen Fairchild admitted to Billboard magazine that the band had some doubts when they first heard the song. "Natalie sang the demo and we thought, 'Man, that's a song that you've never heard.' First of all, who's ever written a song about a pontoon? Never heard that. But having a chick sing it? I don't know," she confessed. "There's something weird about the delivery when we heard Natalie sing it. And so we thought, 'This song is cool. It sounds like something country fans will really love if they could get a chance to hear it.'"
• This was the very first Country #1 for the Little Big Town quartet, who had been recording for 10 years. It was a huge breakthrough; their previous best placing had been "Bring it On Home," which peaked at #4 in 2006. LBT quickly rose to the top tier of country music, scoring a huge hit in 2014 with " Girl Crush ." For the writers of "Pontoon," who had a hard time finding an artist to take a chance on the song, it was a special feeling. "They'd been through three labels and maybe that many managers," Barry Dean told us. "It had been a ride. So there was a lot of pressure on that first single coming out, and they chose to bet on that. That was my first time feeling that: You're excited you got it cut and you're excited you got a single, but you care very deeply and you want to make sure that it helps them. That was the first time I kind of gulped and realized these artists are taking a risk. They're betting on me and our song. That was a real wake up call for me."
• In Nashville, getting a song to the right artist involves making a quality demo to show off the song. The songwriters are often talented singers and musicians, which was the case on "Pontoon." "For the demo, Natalie was pregnant and laying over on a couch with a handheld mic," Barry Dean explained in his Songfacts interview. "It had a weird electric guitar and a drum-machine beat, and it had a vocal. That went to Dierks [Bentley], and he hated it. Then it went to Kix Brooks, who sent us an email that said, 'This is hilarious, but there's no way I would cut it.' And at that time, Kix was about to do a solo album, but he was taking a break. If he wanted it, we would still be waiting. So Little Big Town heard it with their manager and they picked it up. They had a vision for it. Jay Joyce, the producer, he and [engineer] Jedd Hughes put on that 'uh-a-u-a-ow' - that signature riff was not on the demo. It was a mandolin Jedd Hughes was playing, and producer Jay Joyce is playing a mellotron mandolin keyboard thing with it. That's why it sounds so odd. So they put that on there and then did their Little Big Town thing. So the next thing you knew, it went from being kinda goofy, to being cool and sexy because of the way they are and the way Jay produced it."
• The song sparked a fashion craze, as fans sported T-shirts adorned with a phrase from the song, "Mmm....motorboatin'."
• The first line, "Back this bitch up into the water," is something Natalie Hemby came up with after Luke Laird goaded her into writing the song, which she thought was a stupid idea. "Luke has a way getting people to do things," Barry Dean told Songfacts. "He was like, 'Come on, what would you say?' And the first thing out of her mouth was, 'Back this bitch up into the water,' and we just fell out laughing."
• This was the first song that Barry Dean, Natalie Hemby and Luke Laird wrote together. "We had each written with the other, but we were excited to get to write together," Dean recalled to American Songwriter magazine. Once they came up with the title, they were off and running. "Luke started playing the groove," said Dean. "I started playing bass on a synth. Pretty soon Natalie sang the first line of the song. When we got back together to finish it – which was really writing it - we used the same track we'd started. It was essentially a drum groove, electric guitars, and a bass line. Natalie who was quite pregnant sat on the couch, held an SM58 and sang it once, and that was the work tape."
• This song, along with the rest of the Tornado album, was produced by Jay Joyce (Patty Griffin, Eric Church, Cage the Elephant). Speaking with Billboard magazine, Karen Fairchild gave due credit to the producer's contribution to the record. "Jay is a great moderator of what feels good," she said. "He lets his heart guide him. We really don't over think things. If we're in the studio tracking a song like 'Pontoon,' and we've done it a few times and it feels good, that's it. He says 'Let's move on.' There's no reason to keep going if the vibe is right. There's a lot of fun, and a lot of spontaneity, and I think our fans can hear it on the album."
• After coming up with the hook for the song and the first verse, the three songwriters put it aside. Seven months later, they reconvened. Before Natalie Hemby arrived, Luke Laird and Barry Dean started working on the song. She was prepared to start something new, but when the guys showed her what they were working on, she helped them finish the song.
• The song opens with a mandolin lick played by Australian Country musician Jedd Hughes doubled by Jay Joyce with a mellotron mandolin sample.
• Little Big Town had been nominated for at least one CMA Award at six consecutive ceremonies since their first nomination in 2006, but walked away empty-handed each time. They finally broke their duck in 2012, picking up Single of the Year for this song as well as Vocal Group of the Year. "We' re living proof that if you work really really hard and chase your dreams, all the good stuff happens and it follows you," said Karen Fairchild.
• The video was directed by Declan Whitebloom, who also did LBT's " Day Drinking " and some of Taylor Swift's videos, including " Mean " and " We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together ." The setting is Percy Priest Lake in Nashville, specifically a section known as "party cove," where many a pontoon party takes place.
• This won the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Karen Fairchild later told reporters backstage how they played around with the song in the studio. "We messed with taking the reverb off the vocal on 'Pontoon' and pulling it down a little bit and it didn't feel the same," she said. "We didn't know if anybody would play it because it was like that but the fans seem to dig it." Phillip Sweet added, "They like motor boating in reverb," which brought the room to laughter.
• The most surprising place that Barry Dean has heard this song was during his wife's high school reunion. He recalled to Billboard magazine: "They were doing karaoke, and somebody did 'Pontoon.' They didn't know I'd written it."
• More songs from Little Big Town
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• Lyrics to Pontoon
• Little Big Town Artistfacts

Comments: 2

• Cb from Ca Little Big Town's song Pontoon is a track mix disaster for the bass guitar track! It fades in and out of existence at the start of the song, blurps in real quick, then fades till a little bit later in the song.
• Camille from Toronto, Oh June, 2012. I just saw this video on TV today and can tell it's gonna be a BIG hit for a group that well deserves it. They have a fabulous sound and the video is perfection. Way to go!

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Little Big Town

Pontoon letra.

• Released 11 de September, 2012
• Author Barry Dean , Natalie Hemby , Luke Laird

Pontoon lyrics

Back this hitch up into the water Untie all the cables and rope Step onto the astro turf Get yourself a coozie Let's go

Who said anything about skiing? Floating is all I want to do You can climb the ladder Just don't rock the boat while I barbeque

On the pontoon Making waves and catching rays up on the roof Jumping out the back, don't act like you don't want to Party in slow motion Out here in the open Mmmmmmm motorboating

(Hoo hoo hoo)

Reach your hand down into the cooler Don't drink it if the mountains aren't blue Try to keep it steady as you recline on your black inner tube

(Hoo hoo hoo) (Hoo hoo hoo)

5 mile an hour with aluminum side Wood paneling with a water slide Can't beat the heat, so let's take a ride

On the pontoon (Hoo hoo hoo) On the pontoon (Hoo hoo hoo) Back this hitch out into the water On the pontoon

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letra de Pontoon

Pontoon songtekst, pontoon testo, pontoon paroles.

Pontoon is a song interpreted by Little Big Town

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Lyrics submitted by mike

Pontoon Lyrics as written by Barry Dean Natalie Hemby

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, CTM OUTLANDER MUSIC LP, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.

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first one...hehe...they are talking about enjoing on a flat boat

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Story Behind the Song: 'Pontoon'

What if someone heard Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," misheard the lyrics and wrote a hit song called "Hold Me Closer, Tony Danza?"

That's essentially what happened with Little Big Town's "Pontoon." Co-writers Natalie Hemby, Luke Laird and Barry Dean told the story behind the 2012 country hit to Bart Herbison of Nashville Songwriters Association International .

I get up this morning, and Little Big Town is on "Good Morning America." Of course they're doing that song. That song just keeps materializing; I hear it everywhere. It's already in some commercials, right?

Natalie Hemby: I don't know, but I hear it on the lake all the time, so that's a good sign.

This whole thing starts with the publisher confusing something that they thought you guys had written. Luke?

Luke Laird: Natalie and I had written a song that Miranda (Lambert) recorded called "Fine Tune." It was on her last album, and it's still one of my favorite songs the two of us have written. Somebody had overheard "Fine Tune" playing in an office at the publishing company or something, and another person came and asked Natalie, "What was that song of yours? 'Pontoon' or something?"

NH: It was kind of like that. It wasn't me. It was somebody else that they said it to. They called me and (said), "They thought that you were saying 'Pontoon.' " So I called Luke and said, "We should write this really obnoxious song called 'Pontoon,' to be funny.

LL: Of course Barry and I were like, "Yeah."

Barry Dean: For Natalie that probably is lyrically not the most meaty song, but she takes a special angle on the lyric, and we shaped it that way. And Luke had that groove, and the production of the record (by) Jay Joyce. It's hipper than you think it would be. It's kind of built like an old country song, and then produced like something a little fresher.

LL: It literally is one of those songs that we never could have imagined. It started in the room. We all reacted to it, and I feel like as a writer, you have to trust that.

Now, there's a story after the song. You (Natalie) went to buy a pontoon. This is priceless to me.

NH: Oh yeah. Well, if you're going to write a song about a pontoon, someone has to buy one. My husband loves boats, so we took the plunge. These two still haven't bought one, and now we're probably going to end up selling ours. We went to go buy a boat, and it's a nice new boat a guy was selling. He had to sell it because his wife was pregnant and they just moved here. We took a ride on the boat, and we loved it. We had my in-laws on there, and just as we were about to leave ... we came back to the dock, and I have to leave because my daughter is getting a little fussy. She sings, "Motorboatin' " as we're getting off the boat, and the guy was like, "Oh my God, that song is so awful." (laughs) ... Not everybody likes your song, and that's OK.

— Compiled by Dave Paulson, [email protected]

About the series

In partnership with Nashville Songwriters Association International , each week we will release a video interview with a songwriter about his or her work. See the full interview with Natalie Hemby, Luke Laird and Barry Dean at www.tennessean.com/music along with past installments.

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