A rueful smile wrapped in barroom bravado—Travis Tritt’s “Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof” toasts the myth of invincibility, then gently tells the truth about what it costs.
Let’s anchor the facts right up front. “Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof”—written by Travis Tritt—was issued as the second single and title track from the album Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof on August 6, 1994. It reached No. 22 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles & Tracks and No. 17 on Canada’s RPM Country Tracks; the B-side on the U.S. single was an acoustic version of the song. The album itself had landed a few months earlier, on May 10, 1994, produced by Gregg Brown for Warner Bros. Nashville, ultimately peaking No. 3 on Top Country Albums and No. 20 on the Billboard 200, with U.S. sales certified 2× Platinum.
There’s a tidy origin story to the title—one older fans especially enjoy. Tritt has credited his tour bus driver, Jackie McClure, with tossing out the phrase that stuck; it fit the song’s central joke perfectly: the way a few drinks can make a fellow feel like a giant in steel armor, even as he stumbles over his own boots. Tritt liked it so much he gave the same name to his 1994 autobiography.
On record, the cut is pure Tritt: a country-rock shuffle with just enough snarl to raise the hair on your arms and just enough swing to keep your feet light. The studio credits for the track read like a who’s-who of Nashville pros—Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Terry Crisp on steel, Jimmy Joe Ruggiere on harmonica, Dennis Locorriere on background vocals—tucked inside Gregg Brown’s crisp production. There’s air around the beat; the Telecasters bite but don’t bark; and Tritt’s baritone grins through the verses before he leans into that title line like a man who knows better and is going to do it anyway.
If you remember the video era, the song arrived with a Jon Small–directed clip in late ’94—amber bar-light, motorcycle swagger, and the kind of wry performance that plays the punch line without undercutting the heart. It matched the record’s tone: self-deprecation with a backbone.
What does it mean—especially to ears with a few decades in the scrapbook? “Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof” isn’t a lecture on alcohol; it’s a human-scale confession about the stories we tell ourselves to get through a night. The narrator’s bravado is paper-thin, and he knows it. That’s why the song lands so warmly for older listeners: it recognizes the little theater of courage we all stage sometimes, then lets the melody—and that title phrase—fold a bit of mercy around the truth. It’s not moralizing; it’s memory with a backbeat.
Placed in the arc of Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof, the track also explains the album’s particular chemistry. The set spun off four Top 40 country singles—“Foolish Pride” (a No. 1), this title cut, the Keith Whitley chestnut “Between an Old Memory and Me” (Top 15), and the aching “Tell Me I Was Dreaming” (a No. 2). As a pair, the last two put the heart on the table; the title track keeps the temperature humane, reminding you that Tritt’s brand of Southern rock–leaning country can wink and still cut deep. It’s no accident the album roared out of the gate commercially and stuck around—these songs worked in pickup trucks and living rooms equally well.
There’s also the matter of craft. One reason the record still feels good in the hands: it’s built to be played loud without losing its edges. Doug-sure drums and a loping bass keep the floor steady; guitars answer Tritt in short, conversational phrases; the fiddle and steel color outside the lines just enough to suggest a memory you can’t quite place. It’s music for the real rooms we live in—kitchens after supper, garages with the door rolled up, a long two-lane home from work when you’re a little too tired to pretend and a little too proud not to try.
And that title—“Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof”—has become a kind of shorthand in the Tritt catalog. Fans say it with affection, because the line knows how life actually unfolds: you feel indestructible at 9 p.m., a little less so at midnight, and by morning you’re back to being a mere mortal who can still laugh at himself. That humility is the song’s grace note. It tips its hat to the outlaw pose without getting trapped in it.
Quick file for the scrapbook
- Artist: Travis Tritt
- Song: “Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof” — released Aug 6, 1994; U.S. Hot Country #22, Canada RPM Country #17; B-side acoustic version; music video: Jon Small.
- Album: Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof — released May 10, 1994; producer: Gregg Brown; Top Country Albums #3, Billboard 200 #20; RIAA 2× Platinum. Personnel on the title track include Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Terry Crisp (steel), Jimmy Joe Ruggiere (harmonica), Dennis Locorriere (bg vox).
- Backstory: phrase suggested by Tritt’s bus driver Jackie McClure; also the title of Tritt’s 1994 autobiography.
Play it again and notice what your shoulders do. That little lift on the chorus isn’t just swagger—it’s recognition. Tritt gives you permission to grin at your own tall tales, then get on with the business of living. And some nights, that’s exactly the kind of strength a good country song is meant to lend.