‘Permanent Headphones’ by Parker McCollum - Lyrics & Meaning

When Parker McCollum revealed the tracklist for his self-titled album, while some fans lamented the absence of the long-teased ‘Big Old Fancy House’, many instead celebrated the unexpected inclusion of ‘Permanent Headphones’ on the 2025 project.

First released as part of McCollum's 2013 A Red Town View EP - which has since been removed from streaming platforms - the Texas has gaven the much-loved ode a re-release in 2025. It feels apt, given the fact that his fifth album, Parker McCollum, has been billed as a return to the ‘Pretty Heart’ hitmaker's early sound.

During a 2024 interview with Cowboys & Indians, McCollum revealed he wrote ‘Permanent Headphones’ after getting too high to find his way home from a Jack in the Box parking lot.

Parker McCollum's 2025 album is permeated by a sparser, more stripped-back production style, with McCollum striving to recreate the now-mythologised sound of his 2017 debut, The Limestone Kid. ‘Permanent Headphones’ finds the ‘Burn It Down’ singer-songwriter unfurling his laconic, undulating vocals across a gentle guitar riff.

The steady, hazy instrumental mirrors the laidback ambience that pervades the ‘Permanent Headphones’ narrative, with McCollum flitting between listlessness and tranquility.

“What is this
Nobody knows
Playing a fool
Making nothing my goal
Going to ride like its a [...]
All coked out and high
Craving that feeling just to ease your mind
Greasing up the gears with what is left
Never gonna push this through any kind of test
Holding out on the good times
We all know
Digging up dirt just to fill the hole”

The opening verse finds Parker McCollum expressing a general sense of youthful aimlessness, as he wonders aloud where this road will take him. He references being “coked out and high”. There's a recurring theme of seeking means of temporarily easing his discomfort, with McCollum hinting at an underlying sense of emptiness with the moving, poetic line, “Digging up dirt just to fill the hole”.

“And yeah we're creeping out late just to go insane
Making time fly right through our brains
Change in season is a change in my soul
Backroads racing through my permanent headphones”

He takes a step back and observes how he and his friends are staying up late, for the sole purpose of making themselves go “insane”. McCollum outlines how they're wasting time for the sake of it, before revealing how he immerses himself in his music - the headphones perennially attached to his ears - to make it through the day.

“Like the thunder rolling
We were right out of town
Waiting to be released
You won't see me around
Walking slowly, down a dusty road
Grandpa's laughing, he's telling dirty jokes”

This last verse feels more like a snapshot of small town life, with Parker McCollum yearning to hit the road and leave the confines of his county line in the rearview mirror.

It's interesting that he abruptly switches from dreaming of heading out on an adventure, to fondly describing how his grandfather is “telling dirty jokes”. This juxtaposition between his fantasy of leaving home and the rose-tinted portrayal of family life consolidates the protagonist's inner turmoil, and the uncertainty surrounding his future.

‘Permanent Headphones’ feels like an insightful window into the crossroads Parker McCollum experienced during his teen years, as he considered pursuing music full-time.

In a 2024 interview with Cowboys & Indians, Parker McCollum explained where the track came from, “My older brother was always writing songs, and that’s really why I wanted to do it. I was always trying to impress him. So that day in my truck, I wrote a song called ‘Permanent Headphones.’ I played it for him and he was like, ‘Dude. You’re gonna be the next George Strait.’ I still remember that day so well”.

“What is this
Nobody knows
Playing a fool
Making nothing my goal
Going to ride like its a [...]
All coked out and high
Craving that feeling just to ease your mind
Greasing up the gears with what is left
Never gonna push this through any kind of test
Holding out on the good times
We all know
Digging up dirt just to fill the hole

-

And yeah we're creeping out late just to go insane
Making time fly right through our brains
Change in season is a change in my soul
Backroads racing through my permanent headphones

-

Like the thunder rolling
We were right out of town
Waiting to be released
You won't see me around
Walking slowly, down a dusty road
Grandpa's laughing, he's telling dirty jokes

-

And yeah we're creeping out late just to go insane
Making time fly right through our brains
Change in season is a change in my soul
Backroads racing through my permanent headphones
Backroads racing through my permanent headphones”

For more on Parker McCollum, see below: