Matt Cooper’s ‘Highs & Lows’ Include Turning Down a Huge Payday

The lyrics to Matt Cooper’s “Highs & Lows” recognize that life’s a rollercoaster. The country music newcomer knows the ride well.

During an interview with Taste of Country Nights, Cooper admitted to being offered more than $500,000 after “Ain’t Met Us Yet” went viral in 2021, but he turned it down.

“It was my mom that was like, ‘Hey you need to slow down a little bit,'” he recalls. “I did. I slowed down, prayed about it and I was like, ‘I don’t feel good about any of this.'”

Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he moved back home, broke. A job selling cars began to finance his promising young music career, and that led to some wins and a little money via streaming apps like Spotify.

Spoiler alert: “Highs” were on the horizon, but first the most devastating of “lows.”

In 2023, Cooper’s mother died.

Who Is Matt Cooper?

Matt Cooper is a 24-year-old Jacksonville, Fla. native. After being cut from the University of Central Florida baseball team, he began writing songs, and within a short period of time, his TikTok videos began to earn him fame (but not much fortune).

Musically, he says he grew up on Dan + Shay, but considers Rascal Flatts and Ed Sheeran to be major influences.

While Cooper plays drums, guitar and piano, he focuses on songwriting in Nashville.

He’s been in Music City for two years and credits his current team — including record label Quartz Hill — for helping him get over burnout he began to experience two years ago.

What Happened to Matt Cooper’s Mom?

While “Ain’t Met Us Yet” was becoming popular, Cooper was helping his father and two younger brothers care for his mother. She died after a battle with cancer, and after that, the singer says he was lost.

“Highs & Lows” was born out of that confusion. At his website he recalls going to a therapy session and one man standing to say, “I get high all the time when I feel low.”

He also spoke about how God has been good, and after a short conversation, Cooper returned home to write his first radio single (coming next month) in the span of an hour.

Matt Cooper, “Highs & Lows” Lyrics:

I met this man about a week ago / He said, son don’t you know / That we’re all doomed / So I turned and asked, Mr what do you mean / He said, son take a seat / Cause here’s the truth.

Chorus:
I get high when I feel low / I’m real rich but I’m real broke / Trynna to find someone to hold me together / I get lost but never found / Reach the stars and hit the ground / Now this old life has knocked me down / Down forever.

So I turned and said, Mr. I feel your pain / Truth is I’ve hurt the same / I know what it’s like / He looked at me said, boy what do you mean / So I went and took his seat / And he took mine.

Second Chorus:
I been high and I been low / I ain’t rich but I ain’t broke / I’d pray I’d find someone to hold me together / I was lost but I was found / When my knees hit the ground / And I laid all my troubles down / Down forever.

Three years went by when I saw him again / I said, Sir how’s it been / And he just smiled.

Third Chorus:
I been high and I been low / I ain’t rich but I ain’t broke / I’d pray I’d find find someone to hold me together / I was lost but I was found / When Jesus turned my life around / And I laid all my troubles down / Down forever.