3 Tim McGraw Album Cuts That Should Have Been Singles

Since 1991, Tim McGraw has released more than 70 singles. When McGraw released his debut single “What Room Was The Holiday In”, it was a flop at radio. Unfortunately for McGraw, so were his next three singles. But by “Indian Outlaw” in 1994, on his sophomore Not A Moment Too Soon album, McGraw had hit his stride.

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In the 30 years since then, McGraw has remained a presence at radio, with hit after hit. With 17 studio albums to his credit already, McGraw has recorded a lot of music, although most of the songs were never released to radio.

These three Tim McGraw songs are just album cuts, but could have been singles.

“Cowboy Lullaby”

“Cowboy Lullaby” is a collaboration with McGraw’s wife, Faith Hill. The song is on their The Rest Of Our Life duets album. Written by Brett James and Brett Beaver, the song feels perfect for radio.

“Cowboy Lullaby” says, “Baby, let’s ride that wild wind blowin’ / Let our kiss shoot some stars out of the sky Get carried away like some deep river rollin’ / Tonight, I wanna be your cowboy lullaby.”

“Ain’t That The Way It Always Ends”

“Ain’t That The Way It Always Ends” is on McGraw’s 1997 Everywhere album. Admittedly, the record already has several hit singles, including “It’s Your Love” with Hill, plus “Just To See You Smile”, “For A Little While”, and more. “Ain’t That The Way It Always Ends” might seem like a sad song, but the uptempo melody and McGraw’s vocal delivery make it seem perfect for radio.

But if there is a 90s song that seems made for radio, it’s “Ain’t That The Way It Always Ends”. Written by Skp Ewing and Don Sampson, the song says, “Johnny came home broken-hearted / Said he lost his girl / He bottled up all the hurt in his heart / Punched a hole in the wall of his world / Now, Betty, she was a blond-haired beauty / With an eye for a man who could spend / She stole his heart in a pick-up truck / Then drove off in a Mercedes Benz / And he said. ‘Oh, and she looked so innocent / Talkin’ ’bout bein’ just friends / Oh, and it don’t make a bit of sense / Ain’t that the way that it always ends?”

“Gravity”

Tim McGraw doesn’t write many of his songs. But he did write “Gravity” with Lori McKenna. “Gravity” is the last song on McGraw’s 2020 project, appropriately called Here On Earth.

“Gravity” says, “Gravity’s a fragile thing / All of the words that you left in your throat / All of the dreams in the dark / Now you can finally see them / They’ll meet you at your destination / Now that you have made it so far.”

McGraw is backed by the Filharmonic Orchestra on “Gravity”. The song was written for the movie Free Solo. Free Solo is a true story about Alex Honnold. Honnold completed the first free solo climb of El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park i

“There are few people who pursue their passion with the fearlessness of Alex Honnold. It’s both terrifying and exhilarating to be on that journey with him when you watch Free Solo,” McGraws says (via The Boot). “Lori McKenna and I wanted the lyrics of ‘Gravity’ to be a reminder that fear is a battle fought on a variety of planes, from mental to spiritual to physical. We tend to think ‘fearlessness’ is synonymous with big bold gestures. But there’s also a fragility inherent in risk, and we wanted that to come through.”

Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for iHeartRadio