"Burning Man" is a song written by

Bobby Pinson Bobby Olen Pinson (born August 10, 1972) is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Nashville in 2005, Pinson made his debut that year with his album ''Man Like Me''. Its lead-off single, " Don't Ask Me How I Know", peaked at No. ...

and Luke Dick and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to Capitol Nashville and released his eponymous debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's ''Modern Day Drifter'', ar ...

as a collaboration with American country music duo

Brothers Osborne Brothers Osborne is an American country music duo consisting of brothers T.J. Osborne (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and John Osborne (lead guitar, background vocals). Born in Deale, Maryland, the duo signed a recording contract with EMI Records ...

. It was released in May 2018 as the second single from Bentley's 2018 album ''

The Mountain The Mountain (french: La Montagne) was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. They were the most radical group and opposed the Girondins. Th ...

''.

History

Co-writer Luke Dick said of the song, "The chorus is the idea of being a walking contradiction in some regards. There is — especially for artistic types‚ the feeling of wanting to wander or be out in the world, but also the desire to be grounded in some way too". This "contradiction" is expressed in the lyric "''I'm a little bit holy water but still a little bit burning man''." He said that he did not have the idea until he began to write songs with

, and after completing the song, the two chose to offer it to Bentley. Bentley said that he felt an "immediate connection" to the lyrics upon hearing the song, and that he identified with its theme of having contradictory elements to one's personality, given his own life as both a touring musician and a father. The duo

is featured on the track: T.J. Osborne provides duet vocals, while John Osborne plays lead guitar. Bentley said that he wanted to include an artist who was comparatively younger, and that when he sent a text message to the brothers asking if they wanted to record, they responded in only two minutes.

Commercial performance

Burning Man peaked at No. 5 on ''Billboard''s Hot Country Songs, and No. 2 on Country Airplay (No. 1 on

Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytic ...

), for charts dated February 2, 2019. The song has sold 149,000 copies in the United States as of March 2019.

Music video

The song's music video was directed by

Wes Edwards Wes Edwards is a music video and commercial director. He has directed over 150 official music videos in various genres from country to EDM. He has created multiple videos for Brothers Osborne, Dierks Bentley, Dash Berlin, and Emma Hewitt. In 2020 h ...

. It features Bentley and the Brothers Osborne performing the song near the

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gulf o ...

, interspersed with touring footage. According to Bentley, several crew members suffered

heatstroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstroke, b ...

while filming the video.

Personnel

From ''The Mountain'' liner notes. * Alan Bradbury – background vocals * Dierks Bentley – lead and background vocals *

Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter. Biography Life and career Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...

– drums, percussion * Luke Dick – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals, percussion, programming * Ian Fitchuk – bass guitar, keyboards *

Jedd Hughes Jedd Hughes (born in Quorn, Australia) is an Australian singer, songwriter, session musician, and record producer. Early life Hughes grew up in Quorn, where he grew up listening to his father's country records. He won a local country music co ...

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Rob McNelley – electric guitar * Tim O'Brien – background vocals, fiddle * John Osborne – electric guitar * T. J. Osborne – lead vocals * F. Reid Shippen –

bass synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2018 songs 2018 singles Dierks Bentley songs Brothers Osborne songs Vocal collaborations Capitol Records Nashville singles Song recordings produced by Ross Copperman Music videos directed by Wes Edwards Songs written by Bobby Pinson Songs written by Luke Dick