Story Behind the Song: Craig Campbell, ‘Outskirts of Heaven’

Craig Campbell's single "Outskirts of Heaven" is his perfect vision of the afterlife. Inspired by a passage in the Bible -- which didn't resonate with Campbell as much as it might others -- Campbell decided to pen "Outskirts of Heaven" to ask for "dirt roads for miles" and "hay in the fields and fish in the river," and describe his own idea of what Heaven looks like. Below, the singer tells The Boot the story behind the song.

I wrote it just because I feel like that’s what my Heaven is going to be. So, I gave the good Lord a road map: I said, "Look, when I get to Heaven, this is what I want. Make sure you’ve got it ready when I get there." But at the same time, it also says, "It’ll be whatever you want it to be," and that’s what the song is all about.

The inspiration just came from the idea that Heaven -- if you read the book of Revelation, it tells you that there’s golden streets and pearly gates and a very big city, which is not the environment I grew up in. I can’t imagine myself living in any big city, Heaven or not. So I’m excited to get to Heaven, but I feel like what I describe in "Outskirts of Heaven" is more my style.

We wrote it in a couple hours, [but] I sat on it for a long time. I had the idea and kind of had all the pieces in my head. I told my co-writer, Dave Turnbull, about it, and we just started putting the pieces together.