Tim McGraw Tells Us The Hardest Song To Sing Live And His Favorite Cover
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00:00Really excited to have this guy on the show.
00:02He's a guy who's given us so many great songs.
00:04Also a great actor as well.
00:06Ladies and gentlemen, Tim McGraw.
00:09Good morning, Tim.
00:11Good morning, guys. How are you?
00:12We're doing great, man.
00:13And we're talking to you about this new song, Standing Room Only,
00:17that happens to be the title track of your 17th studio album.
00:22I know. I started when I was 10. Can you believe it?
00:25Yeah, that's right.
00:26Let me do the math here. Carry the one.
00:30Hey, you know, we'd mentioned that 17th studio album.
00:32I got a question for you.
00:33I know I'm not a songwriter, obviously, or a musician,
00:35but I always wonder what that process is
00:38when it comes to picking your next single
00:40or putting songs on a new album
00:41because you've written so many songs
00:43and you've recorded so many songs.
00:45How do you kind of tap into something new
00:47or something fresh for yourself
00:49in order to put out 17 albums?
00:52You know, it's still the same process.
00:53A great song is a great song is a great song.
00:55And, you know, you just sort of listen through a ton of songs
00:59until you find stuff that really resonates to you
01:02and sort of strikes you viscerally.
01:03And, you know, when I start out every project,
01:05I always write for every project.
01:06Not everything that I write makes it.
01:08In fact, most of the time,
01:09the stuff I write doesn't make it on an album.
01:12I get lucky every now and then.
01:13But what the process does for me writing
01:16is I start writing songs
01:17that I sort of thematically want my album to be about.
01:21And then I start finding songs
01:22that are written better than the ones that I'm writing.
01:25Now I push mine to the side
01:27and start collecting these other songs.
01:28But this one really stood out to me
01:30when we were going through the songs
01:32to record for this album.
01:33And it just sort of screamed at me in the first single.
01:36For what it said, and, you know, melodically,
01:39it's such a unique song, melodically.
01:41And then when we made the record,
01:42the record just came out beautifully.
01:44And so sonically,
01:45I really loved the way this record sounded.
01:46So everything about the song
01:48just sort of raised its hand
01:50and said I should go first.
01:51And you have to pay attention to that,
01:53especially when you've been doing this
01:55for as long as I have,
01:56you sort of start paying attention
01:59to the songs that really stand out to you.
02:01And it doesn't become that difficult of a process
02:04once you sort of have all the songs
02:06out on the table in front of you.
02:07Talking to Tim McGraw right now,
02:08the new single is Standing Room Only.
02:10And Tim, I gotta be honest with you, man.
02:12I really think that is a cool way
02:14to think about that process
02:16of putting an album together
02:17because, you know, call it ego,
02:19call it you've been in the business a long time
02:21where you know a lot about the business,
02:22but being able to step back and say,
02:24you know what, I kind of trust this songwriter.
02:26This songwriter might be able to tell
02:27this story better than I can
02:30or tell a story that will relate to people
02:32better than I can.
02:33I think that's a really cool thing.
02:34Well, yeah, I mean, you know, gosh,
02:36this town's, I mean, songwriting
02:37is the lifeblood of what we do.
02:40I mean, without a song, you don't have anything.
02:43And to me, that's one of the greatest arts
02:48of all time is to sit down and write
02:50a great song in three to four minutes
02:52that tells people.
02:53So, you know, I always say
02:54that you can tell people how you feel,
02:56but when you tell somebody how they feel,
02:58they didn't know they felt that way
02:59until they heard you say it.
03:01That's when you really got something special.
03:03And that's what the gift of songwriting is.
03:05You know, when you tease this new song on social,
03:08your fans figured it out pretty quick
03:10what you were talking about
03:11and what the title of the song is.
03:14What does that say about the fans
03:15and their love for you?
03:17I mean, it was really quick.
03:18I was shocked how quickly they got it.
03:19And they're paying attention, that's for sure.
03:22They're a lot sharper than I am.
03:25I probably wouldn't have gotten it
03:26had I not known about it.
03:28Well, you got some loyal fans.
03:29That's for sure, man.
03:30That's awesome.
03:31Talking to Tim McGraw right now.
03:32Standing Room Only is the single.
03:34Tim, we want to do some rapid fire with you.
03:36Is that cool?
03:37Yeah.
03:38All right.
03:38Hardest song to sing live?
03:40The last note of Live Like You Were Dying,
03:43trying to hold that sucker out.
03:44All right.
03:45Favorite song to cover?
03:46Favorite song to cover.
03:47Tiny Dancer, always.
03:48I mean, it's Elton John, so I get it.
03:50All right.
03:51Last concert you went to?
03:52Last concert I attended.
03:54I don't go to concerts.
03:55Well, The Judds,
03:56when Faith was singing with The Judds in Kentucky.
03:58Yeah.
03:59All right.
03:59There you go.
04:00Give me a movie that's in your top five all time.
04:03There Will Be Blood.
04:05All right.
04:06And the number one thing on your honeydew list?
04:09Take the Garbage Out.
04:10Okay.
04:11And finally, a song that's got to be
04:13on your workout playlist.
04:15Journey Greatest Hits.
04:16There we go.
04:17All right, man.
04:18Well, listen, Tim McGraw,
04:20Standing Room Only,
04:20is the new single and the name of the album.
04:23Tim, thanks so much for hanging out today,
04:25and you have a great day, bud.
04:26Thanks, guys.
04:27Good talking to you.
04:27All right.
04:27You too.
04:28You too.