"Settle for a Slowdown" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released in January 2006 as the third and final single from his second studio album Modern Day Drifter. The song becoming Bentley's third #1 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.^[2] The song was written by Bentley, Brett Beavers and Tony Martin.

The song is a mid-tempo ballad that paints a picture of a man watching his loved one pull away. He knows he cannot hold her back, but he just hopes that he will see brake lights, indicating that she at least paused for a moment before leaving him behind. Just knowing that she hesitated would be a measure of comfort, but it doesn't happen.

In the first verse, he is looking for a "slowdown" from his lover's vehicle while "getting soaked to the bone" (i.e., standing out in the rain). All he wants is to see the brake lights flash, just once, to know that she once loved him enough for the slightest hesitation, but she never does.

Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that the song serves up the theme "with a creative lyric that finds a fresh way of saying what we have all heard before." She goes on to say that Bentley "turns in a beautifully measured, thoughtful performance that oozes hurt tempered with reluctant resignation."^[3]

The music video was directed by Chris Hicky and premiered in early 2006. The music video paints a picture of a woman leaving Bentley and their trailer in the desert for Hollywood. Bentley eventually shows up in Hollywood at a mansion and sings the chorus acoustically.

"Settle for a Slowdown" debuted at number 47 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs for the week of January 28, 2006.