|
PARADISE
(Craig
Morgan, Harley Allen)
After we'd recorded seven songs, Atlantic Records president Barry Coburn
asked me to write something about my life, even if it didn't turn out to
be something we'd use on the album. I called Harley Allen, a talented
songwriter, to help me with it. Over a third of my life was in the
military and we talked about that for over two hours...the good times,
the hard times, the fun times, the great stuff and the bad stuff, and
how it affected my life and my family. The song is detailed enough that
I get really emotional singing it. I'm both proud and humble about what
I've done in my life.
I WANT US BACK
(Dean Dillon, Marla Cannon Goodman, Buddy Cannon)
Dean and Marla and Buddy wrote this a year ago and called me in to do
the demo. Dean uses really unique, one-of-a-kind phrasing, and it was
very difficult for me to grasp what he was trying to do. But then when
we got in the studio and that first note came through the headphones, I
just got it, and sang the song from beginning to end. I could see Dean
in the control room gesturing and apparently raising his voice. I
thought I didn't do it right and he was angry. Actually, he had been
telling them that he loved it and that they needed to hold the song
until I got a record deal. They did.
SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT
(Craig Morgan, Tony Ramey)
This is a song that brings out the positives of being somewhere you
might not want to be. It talks about the first stages of romance and
excitement. Having been away from home for such long periods of time, I
can remember not having anything to write to my parents about until I
met Karen. She's now my wife. She was and still is everything to write
home about.
302 SOUTH MAPLE AVENUE
(Craig Morgan, Paul Harrison)
When Paul and I started this song, I told him, "This is the address
where you live, where everybody lives, and where their parents live.
It's that place you go back home to, the one everybody can picture in
their minds. This isn't a real address that I know of, but it's very
much a real song. When I hear it, I envision my parents' home in
Kingston Springs, Tennessee, and I hope it takes other people back home,
too.
IT'S ME (Craig
Morgan, Steve Dean, Wil Nance)
Steve Dean is a big Beatles fan, and he started writing this melody
that's kind of a Buck Owens meets the Beatles. I knew that no matter
what the influences, it would sound country when I sang it, and so I
started throwing out ideas. I said, "This song sounds like me... it
is me." Will jumped all over that for the title, and we wrote about
a guy doing all these weird things to let this girl know he's crazy
about her.
WHEN A MAN CAN'T GET A WOMAN OFF HIS MIND
(Bill Anderson, Sharon Vaughn)
The first time I heard this song was at Atlantic Records, it had been
pitched to another artist who passed on the song. There's a depth and
reality to this song that holds all the truth and tradition of country
music that I love and I've actually been where this song will take you.
EV'RYTHING'S A THING
(Steve Dean, Wil Nance, Joe Nichols)
Steve and Will called me one day and said, "We've got a hit song
for you." They told me what it was about, and I liked the idea.
Then I asked about the melody and they said, "It's all one
chord." I said, "You guys have lost your mind." But I
went over and listened to it, and heard the way they did it, and I
absolutely fell in love with the song.
WALKING IN MY FATHER'S SHOES
(Craig Morgan, Jeff Knight)
I got this idea from my youngest son. He always wants to put on my shoes
and walk around, and I got to thinking about it--here I am following in
my father's musical shoes. I was also thinking about my wife's father
whose example I also hope to follow as a man I look up to. This is my
wife's favorite on the record.
HUSH
(Craig
Morgan, Bill Anderson, Buddy Cannon)
This song came out of a conversation we were having about country radio,
oddly enough. Bill Anderson was using a metaphor that just sort of
flowed into the lyric here. At one point, I came out with the line,
"He's looking in the mirror, checking out his hair, putting on his
cologne," and Buddy jumped in with, "He ain't shaved since
Tuesday, but tonight, every little whisker's gone." We wrote it in
less than two hours, and I remember thinking, "It can't happen that
quickly. It can't be that good." But Buddy called me the next day
and said, "We wrote a hit yesterday."
EVERYWHERE I GO
(Craig Morgan, Marla Cannon Goodman, Gene Elsworth)
This is a very down-to-earth song about a guy who, no matter where he
goes or what he does, he sees this woman. The worst thing that could
happen in my life would be losing my wife, and I envisioned what that
would be like. Marla and I actually wrote this during another demo
session. We walked out of the studio and it was raining. My wife's
father had just passed away and she had told me, "He's everywhere I
am," As Marla, Gene & I sat in the back of the studio with that
thought in mind, we wrote this song.
I WISH I COULD SEE BAKERSFIELD
(Buddy Cannon)
This song is about Tommy Collins*, one of the greatest songwriters ever
to have lived. He's referred to as 'Leonard' by Merle Haggard, both of
which are from Bakersfield. Tommy is too ill to travel back there now,
and that's what this song is about. We called Merle to ask if he would
mind coming in and doing a part, and he said he would. So now I have a
duet with Merle Haggard talking about one of the greatest songwriters
ever. It's a very emotional thing for me to be able to do something like
that..
|
