Story Behind the Song: Parmalee, ‘Be Alright’

Parmalee's "Be Alright," which the band released in the summer of 2019, actually started out as a song written by Australian singer-songwriter Dean Lewis. From the very first time they heard it, however, the band members agree that they knew it could be a great country song. Read on to learn the story of that transformation -- and which lyric Parmalee had to change in order to "countrify" the track.

We heard it, and just -- I think it's so relatable, through all aspects. You know, who hasn't gone through a bad breakup and had your buddy help you out? And I think when we heard it, my first thought was, "That's a country song. That's a Parmalee song right there."

So we knew we wanted to cut it, because I was thinking, "This is right up our alley." We recorded it and sent it over to Dean. We had to change a couple lyrics, that was the thing, and we had to ask him if it was okay to change some lyrics. He'd said, "I know you love her but it's over, mate." We changed that to "I know you love her, man, but it's too late." Had to countrify it, I guess!

But it was about the easiest recording we've ever done, with any song we've ever done, because the song just fit what we call the Parmalee groove. We went in the studio, plugged everything in, and recorded it the way we would do it, and what you hear is how it turned out. It just ended up being great.

And [Lewis] did such a good job with the lyrics, too. Every great country song tells a story. It starts, and it finishes, and it creates emotion. I feel like that was the thing that really made us realize that "Hey, this could be a country song."

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