Johnny Dailey‘s “Over a Girl” came from a place of sentimentality, inspired by his own love story with his wife. American Songwriter premieres the song today.
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Before meeting on a Zoom call with hit songwriters Josh Osborne and Scooter Carusoe, Dailey and Carusoe hopped on a phone call where Dailey pitched the title, “Over a Girl.” The two seamlessly traded lines that turned into verses, with the chorus and melody following soon after.
“We wanted the verses to be lyrically driven, and I love how it turned out,” Dailey tells American Songwriter about the songwriting process, praising Osborne and Carusoe as “two of the best songwriters in Nashville–great lyrical writers, which is my favorite element to the songs that I like to write and sing.
“Having both of these guys on the song made it really strong; I don’t think the song would be what it is without them.”
Throughout the verses, the traditional country-style song answers the question “what do you do to impress a girl?” Dailey describes. The lyrics are picturesque, expressed through such images as those two-lane roads you’re gonna leave ‘em/Find a field full of hay and freedom/Ain’t seen stars till you’ve seen ‘em/Over a girl, which Dailey cites as his favorite lines in the song.
“I just love the way we flipped the title and made it fit in with the storyline,” he explains. “It all pieced together so nicely and we tried to make it flow.”
Writing the song also conjured up memories for Dailey of falling in love with his wife, particularly the first night they met. The singer hopes that the song serves as the soundtrack of a memorable moment in fans’ lives.
“When I hear this song, it immediately takes me back to dating my wife and meeting her for the first time,” he professes. “There’s such an excitement getting to know someone on the nights and days we spent together. It’s so rewarding looking back and seeing where we are now.
“I hope when people hear this song for the first time, it either takes them back to meeting that person for the first time and reminiscing on all the feelings they felt in that moment, or I hope that it relates to somebody that’s currently in this moment, driving their truck to pick up a girl that they’re going to spend their life with one day.”
“Over a Girl” follows Dailey’s previous single, “Got Married.”
Photo Credit: Kirsten Balani/Courtesy of Marbaloo Marketing
