[5] He then went into a reclusive state, staying at a friend's house, where he continued to work on writing songs, including the Number One hits "Give It Away" for George Strait and "Ladies Love Country Boys" for Trace Adkins.

The Mercury re-issue includes three songs not found on the original ("Mowin' Down The Roses", "The Last Cowboy", and "Between Jennings and Jones"), while two other tracks from the initial release ("Next Ex Thing" and "Leave You Alone") were omitted.

Dave Cobb co-produced the tracks "Place Out on the Ocean" and "Between Jennings and Jones" with Johnson's road band, the Kent Hardly Playboys (which was composed of Wayd Battle, Jim "Moose" Brown, T.W.

This song is a mid-tempo in which the male narrator warns of the consequences of drug addiction; the singer begins smoking pot out of boredom but loses his home, family and sense of direction and is eventually busted for "cocaine and a whore" in a hotel room and sent to prison.

Kevin J. Coyne of Country Universe.net gave the song an A rating, saying that "[i]t speaks to Johnson’s confidence as a singer and a writer that he is willing to give voice to a character whose actions should deem him unlikable.

Through the careful construction of a remorse-laden inner monologue, Johnson gives his character dignity[…]Like so much of great art, it illuminates the humanity that hides in the shadows of shame and sorrowful regret.

Accolades were heaped on That Lonesome Song upon its release, hailing Johnson for returning country to its proper owners: the downtrodden, heartbroken screw-ups of the world.

It could be that commercialization of country has reached a saturation point and Johnson is helping kick off a new outlaw movement, but another decade will be needed to see how that pans out."