John Morgan, Brent Anderson, Will Bundy, and Lydia Vaughan sat in a line in front of a long, rectangular table surrounded by members of the country music press on Tuesday afternoon. Within a few minutes, hundreds of family members, friends, songwriters, and country music executives would flood the second floor of Nashville bar Live Oak. But at that moment, the room was relatively empty as singer-songwriter Morgan and his co-writers shared their memories of writing their first No. 1 hit together — “Friends Like That (feat. Jason Aldean).”
The writers agree they had no clue it would be a No. 1 hit on country radio.
“I feel like we knew it was a fun tempo,” Morgan said. “I think the only reason we got away with it is the lighthearted feel behind it because the lyrics … it’s like borderline depressing. We left it just vague enough.”
Lyrics include: Willie on my left, Jack on my right| Blowin’ that smoke on a Friday night| Waylon turned up on the JBL| Girl, you probably think I’m goin’ through Hell| But I don’t care if you never come back| ‘Cause who needs you when I got friends like that?
“Friends Like That” is Morgan’s first No. 1 as an artist – and third as a songwriter. The North Carolina native has co-written 16 songs for Aldean over the years, including several of Aldean’s 29 No. 1 hits, such as “Trouble with Heartbreak” and Aldean’s collaboration with Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You.”
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John Morgan Says Tempo Made “Borderline Depressing” Song a No. 1 Hit
Morgan found out he landed his first chart-topper as an artist in April and then boarded a plane – with a middle seat assignment. He had hours to think about his career-defining success. The song climbed the country music radio airplay charts for one year before reaching No. 1.
“I think I got a text and turned it on airplane mode and just enjoyed it the whole four flight,” Morgan said. “It’s something you always dream of doing if this is what you’re trying to do.”
The writers joked that they celebrated with a party at a semi-local hardware store because Morgan needed a new fuel filter for his truck. The happily married father of two has worked toward this goal for a long time; he didn’t want to slow down. He joked his family “back home” probably still thinks he cuts grass for a living.
“The music business is such a weird thing to explain to somebody,” he said.
Understandable, given the fact that Morgan is both an artist on the song and a songwriter. It’s his first one as a singer, but not his first chart-topper as an artist. It’s granular when talking to people who are passive listeners and have never explored what goes into getting a song recorded and on the radio. Morgan treasures both chart-topping experiences – as an artist and as a songwriter. He said both are “equally sweet,” but that earning the top spot as an artist gave him an inside look at what singers must do to promote the music.
The Music Business is Weird
“I think seeing that side of it firsthand, now have a lot more appreciation for getting a cut as a songwriter because I know what the artist is going through to promote it and get it there,” he said. “That part has been really cool and has been a lot more satisfying, I think.”
Morgan, Bundy, and Anderson did most of the talking while Vaughan sat at the end, taking it all in. When asked why she wasn’t saying anything, she said: “I don’t know. John is just better at answering questions than me.”
At that point, the men piped up and started questioning why she was being so quiet.
“Give her a really hard question,” Morgan said good-naturedly.
John Morgan’s “Friends Like That” is the Little Song That Could
Vaughan said writing with the men was always fun and that they had been friends much longer than they had been a group of hit songwriters. The men started tapping the table and singing “Cotton Eye Joe” – an inside joke from the day they wrote “Friends Like That.” The men started playing the “Friends Like That” guitar riff during the writing session, and she started singing the lyrics, “Where did you come from, where did you go.”
“That was a running joke through the whole thing,” she said. “I always described the song as the little song that could just because of the timing of it. I don’t know that any of us thought that if something happened with the song, it would be five years later.”
Was “Cotton Eye Joe” an Inspiration?
With that, more people began to fill the room. Aldean arrived and took his place on stage as Morgan’s collaborator and label owner. Aldean signed Morgan to his Night Train Records imprint in 2022, which is part of BBR Music Group/BMG.
Morgan, Aldean and the songwriters lined up across the stage in front of the crowd, each taking turns talking. Aldean was introduced to Morgan as a songwriter, but as soon as he heard him sing, he suggested Morgan pursue it professionally.
“It’s been really cool to watch that journey with you from the beginning of coming to town with having a pot to piss in, to be honest,” Aldean said. “I think I gave him some money to get his truck fixed. There was something in John that we saw, which we don’t often see in this town. It is rare when you’ve got a guy that comes through town who sings his ass off, and everything he sings sounds amazing.”
Morgan’s new single, “Kid Myself,” which he wrote with Tyler Hubbard and Jordan Schmidt, is now available.
(Photo by Matthew Berinato)
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