CURRENT SINGLE: “7500 OBO”
Years ago, Tim McGraw wrote a song called “If You’re Reading This,” which is a perfect Memorial Day tribute because of the poignant subject matter of the song. “Brett and Brad Warren and myself wrote that song,” recalls Tim. “I remember I was on an airplane, and I think it was a Time magazine article – and it was early on during the Iraqi war – and there was a story called ‘If You’re Reading This.’ And it was about soldiers writing letters and puttin’ ‘em in their pockets in case something was to happen.”
Tim recalls reading several of the letters that actual soldiers had written, that were published as part of the article, and he says, “When I got home, I called Brett and Brad and they came over, and we sat in the living room and spent a day and wrote that song. And it impacted us when we finished writin’ it, but you’re so close to it when you write it.”
They weren’t sure if the song was only powerful and emotional to them because they had been so immersed in writing it, so, Tim says, “Our nanny at the time, Jojo, was at the house, and we asked her to come in. We said, ‘Will you come in and listen to this song and see if it’s as good as we think it is?’ And then she just started crying when she heard it, so we felt like that we really had something special.”
Tim McGraw – Memorial Day If You’re Reading This :47
“Brett and Brad Warren and myself wrote that song. I remember I was on an airplane, and I think it was a Time magazine article – and it was early on during the Iraqi war – and there was a story called ‘If You’re Reading This.’ And it was about soldiers writing letters and puttin’ ‘em in their pockets in case something was to happen. I’d read a few of the letters that they had written home of soldiers who had gotten killed in action. And when I got home, I called Brett and Brad and they came over, and we sat in the living room and spent a day and wrote that song. And it impacted us when we finished writin’ it, but you’re so close to it when you write it. So, our nanny at the time, Jojo, was at the house, and we asked her to come in. We said, ‘Will you come in and listen to this song and see if it’s as good as we think it is?’ And then she just started crying when she heard it, so we felt like that we really had something special.”