Chicken Soup for the Soul: Country Music: The Inspirational Stories behind 101 of Your Favorite Country Songs

by Jack Canfield

  Kenny Chesney and I were at the same publishing company, and I knew him before he got his record deal. We had written a song together called “Me and You” that had been a hit for him. I liked what he did and he liked what I did, so we decided to start writing together again.

  One day he called me and said, “Have you seen that movie Jerry McGuire?” I said I had, and then asked him why, and he said, “You know that one line in there — ‘you had me at hello’ — that is an amazing song idea.”

  That movie was pretty popular by then, so I said, “Well, everybody’s seen that movie, everybody knows that line right now, so everybody’s going to want to write that.” And, in his inimitable way, he said, “Well, then, let’s be the first ones.”

  As soon as he said that, I felt something. I usually go with my gut, and if I feel something like that, I’ll go with it. Before we even got together, I already had some ideas working in my head, but I wanted to change it to “You Had Me From Hello,” because there was something about going from “me” to “at” that I didn’t like. It seemed it would be better to go from a vowel to a consonant rather than from a vowel to another vowel. Vocally, I thought it would work better for the singer, and also poetically it sounded better.

  When we wrote it, we really weren’t thinking about the movie that much. We were just thinking about how someone can take your breath away and steal your heart at the same time. And the singer in this song says, “The moment you looked into my eyes, you owned me.” I love those kinds of lines, expressing those kinds of feelings.

  The challenge is to say something that will make the listener think the person singing the song understands them. If you are close enough to someone and you end up falling for them — boy, that’s universal. Everyone has done that. We’ve all been hurt by it, but what a wonderful element of our lives that is. And it’s such a powerful feeling to hear “You had me from hello.”

  Unlike many artists, when Kenny has an idea like that, he is already imagining what he can do with that song, so he is really writing for himself. We knew that he was going to cut it. It’s not that he can’t write for someone else, but he’s a very soulful person. He has a lot of depth to him and he’s a pretty cool guy. We finished the song, he cut it and it was a big hit for him.

  At the time we wrote it, we both knew who Renée Zellweger was and who Tom Cruise was, but we didn’t know that much about either of them. At least Kenny didn’t. I was a pretty big fan of Renée Zellweger, but had never met her. So one thing led to another and Kenny and Renee were in a relationship with each other, and I sat there thinking, “I was a big fan of hers. Don’t I at least get to meet her?”

  When I play this live, sometimes I make a joke about this and say, “Here we write this song and Kenny Chesney ends up having a love affair with Renée Zellweger and all I get is my name in super small print somewhere in the middle of People magazine. What’s up with that?”

  You Had Me From Hello

  One word, that’s all you said,

  Something in your voice caused me to turn my head.

  Your smile just captured me, and you were in my future, far as I could see.

  And I don’t know how it happened, but it happens still.

  You asked me if I love you, if I always will.

  CHORUS:

  Well, you had me from “Hello”

  I felt love start to grow

  The moment that I looked into your eyes.

  You owned me.

  It was over from the start.

  You completely stole my heart,

  and now you won’t let go.

  I never even had a chance, you know

  You had me from “Hello”

  Inside I built a wall so high around my heart, I thought I’d never fall.

  One touch and you brought it down.

  The bricks of my defenses scattered on the ground

  And I swore to me I wasn’t going to love again

  The last time was the last time I’d let someone in.

  But you…

  CHORUS

  You had me from “Hello.”

  That’s all you said

  Something in your voice caused me to turn my head

  You had me from “Hello”

  You had me from “Hello”

  Girl, I’ve loved you from “Hello”

  To purchase the original demo of this song,

  go to www.countrysongdemos.com

  You Won’t Ever Be Lonely

  Story by Andy Griggs

  Song written by Andy Griggs and Brett Jones

  Recorded by Andy Griggs

  I was doing a lot of playing on the road when I first came to Nashville and when I was home for a little break around 1998 I met a guy named Brett Jones. We got together one day over on Music Row to write and he pulled out his guitar. I kept admiring it and I just couldn’t stop talking about it. He said, “Yeah, it’s a J-200 Gibson 1963 model and I’ve had it forever,” and he talked about what a great sound it had and gave me a big story about it. Then he let me play it, and he started playing my Martin. Then he said, “If you record this song that we write today, it’s gonna be a hit.”

  And I told him, “Look, you’ve gotta dream bigger than that. It’s not just gonna be a hit; it’s gonna be a #1.

  Then Brett laughed and said, “I tell you what, Griggs. If this song goes to #1, I will give you this guitar.” So I said, “Yeah, okay,” and we started to write and I didn’t think anymore about it.

  He asked me, “What do you do about a woman who is home when you’re out on the road? How do you keep her happy?” Then we started talking about his wife and how hard it is being away from loved ones. I said, “Well, you can’t really tell a woman that you’ll always be there — physically there. That’s just a lie. A woman can’t offer a guy that, and a guy can’t offer a woman that either.”

  We kept talking and writing and I said, “You know, sometimes things happen at home when you’re away and you can always call her and say, “Honey, I wish I was there, but I’m not. But I won’t ever leave you lonely. Even if I am away, if you’re down, I’ll be there in spirit or emotionally. I’ll be in touch one way or another, whether through a cell phone call or a prayer, or an e-mail or whatever. If you need me, we can take pictures of each other being silly or brushing our teeth or whatever.” So that was the idea we started with.

  We finished the song and it was chosen to be a single release. The first time I heard the song on the radio, I was going hunting. It was about 4:30 in the morning. I was driving by myself, eating a honey bun for breakfast. The DJ said, “Here’s a new guy named Andy Griggs and his new single.” I just pulled over and started crying. Every week, I watched it go further and further up the charts. But I had forgotten all about the guitar. I was just excited that the song was doing so well. Eventually, it got all the way up to #1 on the Cashbox charts and #2 on Billboard.

  Brent showed up at a #1 party we had on Music Row and he was carrying that guitar. I just looked at him and said, “Listen. Thanks for the song. Thanks for the offer, but the answer is no. I just can’t take that guitar from you.”

  But he said, “No, this guitar belongs to you. I made a deal. Please don’t hurt my feelings. You have to take this guitar.”

  So I said, “Well, since you put it that way, maybe I will.” And I took it and gave it a nickname. He had always called me Catfish and I always called him Bullfrog, so I named the guitar Jeremiah in honor of him.

  A little while after that song hit, I got a letter from a lady. I think she was from New Mexico. She told me that she had left her husband one day in the early morning. And before she could get out of town, she turned on the radio and heard “You Won’t Ever Be Lonely.” She started crying and turned back around and went home and her husband was there waiting for her. He had just gotten up and was worried about her. She said in the letter they were still together and doing fine. That was the first time that I heard about one of my songs really changing somebody’s life. H
er name was Laura. She never gave her last name, but Laura in New Mexico, that was probably the most rewarding letter that I ever got.

  Up until then, mostly what that song meant to me was a chance to get a new guitar and some nice royalty checks, but after that it really took on a new meaning for me.

  You Won’t Ever Be Lonely

  Life may not always go your way

  And every once in awhile you might have a bad day

  But I promise you now you won’t ever be lonely

  The sky turns dark and everything goes wrong

  Run to me and I’ll leave the light on

  And I promise you now you won’t ever be lonely

  For as long as I live

  There will always be a place you belong

  Here beside me

  Heart and soul baby you only

  And I promise you now you won’t ever be lonely

  It’s still gonna snow and it’s still gonna rain

  The wind’s gonna blow on a cold winter day

  And I promise you now you won’t ever be lonely

  You’re safe from the world wrapped in my arms

  And I’ll never let go

  Baby, here’s where it starts

  And I promise you now you won’t ever be lonely

  BRIDGE:

  Here’s a shoulder you can cry on

  And a love you can rely on

  For as long as I live

  There will always be a place you belong

  Here beside me

  Heart and soul baby — you only

  And I promise you now you won’t ever be lonely

  No, no, you won’t ever be lonely

  You’re Gonna Miss This

  Story by Ashley Gorley

  Song written by Ashley Gorley and Lee Miller

  Recorded by Trace Adkins

  One afternoon in 2006 my wife and I were living in a house that always needed something fixed. This one afternoon, there was a handyman there — might have been a plumber — and my kids and my dogs were running around him while he was trying to work and getting into his tool box and everything. So I apologized to him several times. Finally, he said, “Oh, that doesn’t bother me. I have several grown kids and I miss not having them around the house.”

  That scene stayed in my head for a while. I had a writing appointment with Lee Miller at his office a couple of days later. Writers will often have the idea fleshed out a little better when they come to a writing session, but I didn’t have anything. I didn’t even have the title. All I had was this scene in my head of the handyman telling me that he missed his kids.

  We started on this song after we had been working on another song most of the day. I started describing the idea I had to him and he just sat there and listened. At one point, he looked at me and said “You’re Gonna Miss This.” Right there, we knew we had the title. I was playing my guitar, and I started strumming it, and came up with a groove and a melody that we thought would fit. From there we wrote the bridge and then kind of wrote backward from there.

  We thought up a few different scenarios to end up with that bridge. We started thinking of the things in life that we think we’re going to miss. Our kids were still pretty small, but we both started looking back on that time in life when you get into high school and you start thinking you can’t wait until you turn 18 so you can do your own thing and make your own rules. Then you get out on your own and have a job and a lot of pressures and you realize how great it was when all you had to worry about was Mom dropping you off at school and going to practice that night and maybe doing a little bit of homework. And we decided that would be the first verse — the one about the young girl who is in the car with her mother and says, “I can’t wait to turn 18.” And her mother turns to her and says, “You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast.”

  Then we came up with the idea for the next verse where the same young girl is a newlywed and living in a one-bedroom apartment. She says, “I guess this will do.” And her father tells her “Baby, slow down, because you’re gonna miss this.”

  The bridge is where the plumber comes in. It’s five years later and he is working on her water heater and the kids are screaming and she keeps apologizing. Then he says, “That don’t bother me. I’ve got two babies of my own. One’s 36 and one’s 23. And you’re gonna miss this.”

  When we finished it and did the full-scale demo, we pitched it to several artists, including Brad Paisley, who had it on hold for a while. But when Trace’s manager heard it, he knew that it was a perfect song for Trace’s voice. We thought it might just be an album cut but then they put it on his Greatest Hits album. One of his singles they had just released wasn’t testing well on the radio, so they went ahead and pulled it and put ours out instead. It took off like a rocket. We knew it was a strong single, but we were still really surprised and humbled when the award nominations started coming out. It was nominated for CMA Song of the Year. Although it didn’t win there, it did become the ASCAP Song of the Year and the Academy of Country Music chose it as Single of the Year, too.

  When Trace was chosen to be on The Apprentice with Donald Trump, the song was just peaking toward the end of the taping of the show, so that was great timing for us. Trace was raising money for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, which his kid suffers with. Interestingly enough, Lee’s kid has a similar serious allergy problem, and for everyone who downloaded a copy of the song that night, the royalties went to that charity. Even though Trace didn’t win, he was able to raise a lot of support and awareness for that charity, which was an extra blessing.

  So many times in life, it seems like we’re so preoccupied about getting to the next stage in our lives that we miss all the precious moments along the way. And that’s what Lee and I really wanted to convey with this.

  You’re Gonna Miss This

  She was staring out that window, of that SUV

  Complaining, saying “I can’t wait to turn 18”

  She said “I’ll make my own money, and I’ll make my own rules”

  Mamma put the car in park out there in front of the school

  Then she kissed her head and said “I was just like you, but…”

  CHORUS:

  You’re gonna miss this

  You’re gonna want this back

  You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast

  These are some good times

  So take a good look around

  You may not know it now

  But you’re gonna miss this

  Before she knows it she’s a brand new bride

  In a one-bedroom apartment, and her daddy stops by

  He tells her “It’s a nice place.”

  She says “It’ll do for now”

  Starts talking about babies and buying a house

  Daddy shakes his head and says “Baby, just slow down”

  CHORUS

  Five years later there’s a plumber workin’ on the water heater

  Dog’s barkin’, phone’s ringin’

  One kid’s cryin’, one kid’s screamin’

  She keeps apologizin’

  He says, “They don’t bother me.

  I’ve got two babies of my own.”

  One’s 36, one’s 23.

  Huh, it’s hard to believe, but ...

  CHORUS

  You’ve Got to Stand for Something

  Story by Aaron Tippin

  Song written by Buddy Brock and Aaron Tippin

  Recorded by Aaron Tippin

  I have to give my co-writer, Buddy Brock, credit on this one. The initial idea was his. I had just moved to Nashville and was writing for Acuff-Rose Music. I was trying to get Buddy to come up to Nashville from South Carolina, where we were from, and be a part of it, but he wasn’t quite ready to make that jump.

  I was recently divorced, so I would go back there and have my daughter every other weekend. She was about the same age as Buddy’s daughter, so the two of them would play while we wrote songs. One time,
Buddy said, “I’ve got this idea for a song. My dad used to always say, ‘You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything,’ and I think that would be a great title.” I told him my dad used to say the same thing and we got to talking about how much they were alike.

  We started off going in another direction. It was about a boy who got into trouble and his daddy bailed him out and so on, and I said, “This is not working. It’s not real. It needs to be us.” So we just took what our dads had taught us and instilled in us as kids and put it down on paper.

  I was thinking of my dad when I said, “Daddy didn’t like trouble, but when it came along / Everyone that knew him, knew which side he’d be on.” I remember one time we were at a high school football game. I was about ten years old. The national anthem was playing and there were a couple of old boys standing near us and they were just talking away. The song ended, and everybody sat down except for my dad. He walked right down to him and told them what he thought of their conduct. He said next time they needed to stand up and just shut up, and have some more respect for that flag and this country. That’s the type of guy he was. I saw him stand up that way a lot of times.

  I had just signed my record deal the week before, and I went in and played the song live for Joe Galante, President of RCA Records. Back then I carried around my lunch pail and a bunch of song lyrics and things like that in a big old beer box. I was known around Music Row for carrying this thing. So I called him and said, “Hey Joe, I need to see you. I want to play this song for you.”

  He is a busy guy, of course, but he said, “Sure, come on in.” So I went into the office and threw this big old beer box on his nice wooden desk, and shoved his stuff out of the way. He just looked at it kind of funny. He listened to the song and then he left the room and he came back with this nice RCA briefcase. He said, “Aaron, I love the song. That’s going to be your first single.”

  I was really excited, of course. Then he handed me that briefcase and he said, “And one more thing. Don’t ever bring that damn beer box in my office again.” I’ll always remember that.