“How Have I Not Written That?”: Jordan Davis Knew This ‘Learn the Hard Way’ Track Was Meant for Him

When a song speaks to you, you know it, which is why Jordan Davis knew that he wanted to cut a specific track for his third studio album, Learn the Hard Way, after listening to the demo one time. The song, penned by Lydia Vaughan, Ben Johnson, and Hunter Phelps, followed a style similar to what Davis was doing after appearing on CMT Crossroads with South Carolina rock band Needtobreathe.

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All Davis had to do was trade a dusty barroom for a high school baseball field, and suddenly, the song fit like a glove.

Jordan Davis Wished He Had Written This ‘Learn the Hard Way’ Track

Jordan Davis has been a country chart regular since the late aughts, enjoying consistent success in the Top 10 with tracks like “Buy Dirt”, “Slow Dance In A Parking Lot”, and “Singles You Up”. His third album, Learn the Hard Way, aimed to continue that winning streak upon its August 2025 release. Davis co-wrote the vast majority of the songs on the album, with a few notable exceptions: “Learn the Hard Way”, “I Ain’t Sayin”, “Know You Like That”, and “Bar None”. As for the last track on the list, Davis felt like that song could have come straight from his own heart.

“I couldn’t stop listening to it,” Davis said of “Bar None” in a 2025 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “Listened to it probably ten times the evening I got it, woke up the next morning, listened to it again, called my team, and was like, ‘I need to go record this song today because the next person that hears this song is gonna record it.’ ‘You and your memory, one, me and this bar, none.’ That’s genius. I’ve been here for ten years. How have I not written that?”

The breezy country song uses the phrase “bar none” as a play on words—both a phrase meaning “without exception” and a way to keep score with a literal bar. Lydia Vaughan was the first songwriter to bring the expression to the co-writing session. Ben Johnson and Hunter Phelps hadn’t heard the saying before and were hesitant to move forward with the hook until Phelps texted his wife, who replied, “Yeah, everybody’s heard that phrase” (via Billboard).

The Country Singer Traded Bar Rooms for Baseballs

At face value, “Bar None” is a lighthearted drinking song with a catchy earworm of a hook. But like any good country song, look a little deeper into the lyrics, and the track describes a man drinking his sorrows away at the bar. “I’m gonna need three or four more, baby. If movin’ on had a scoreboard, it’d say, ‘You and your memory, one, me and this bar, none.” While heartbreak is relatable enough on its own, Jordan Davis took it one step further by relating “Bar None” to baseball.

“I pitched in baseball, and I was losing a lot,” Davis told Billboard. “So, this one felt right at home. It’s not just a feel song. It’s a well-written song. And I was excited.”

For Davis’ part, he’s not afraid of working with songwriters who he feels are better than him. In fact, he prefers it. “I’m happy [these songwriters are here], because when I get to write with them, I get that pit in my stomach. ‘All right, dude. You’re sitting down with a good one today.’ To think that in a two-year period, I wrote the best 17 songs in Nashville—that would be a lie,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

The Learn the Hard Way track proved to be another Top 10 hit for Jordan Davis, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, No. 8 on Hot Country Songs, a modestly successful crossover placement of No. 43 on the Hot 100, and No. 1 and No. 3 on Australia’s and Canada’s country music charts, respectively.

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