Rascal Flatts have said that when they first heard their single "Back to Life," they immediately knew they wanted to record it. For Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay, who co-wrote the song, however, "Back to Life" was a chance to fulfill a long-term goal of writing with a friend whom he admires as a songwriter.

Read on to learn more about the process of writing "Back to Life" and what -- or rather, who -- inspired Mooney to pen the track. 

["Back to Life"] was a really cool thing to be a part of. I wrote that with a few buddies of mine, and, actually, Niko Moon is one of the writers on that song. He and I knew each other from Atlanta, and he moved here to pursue a career as a writer and artist; he's actually in the band, Sir Rosevelt, with Zac Brown. He's just a super talented writer, and we've been trying to write forever.

We finally got together, us and Cary Barlowe, and we were able to pull that song together. It was just a really fun write. We've been out on the road with [Rascal Flatts] for a while this summer, and we were just playing different songs for them, and that one jumped out to them. They cut it, and it turned out really cool.

[The song is definitely inspired by] my wife Hannah, for sure. I think it's hard not to [be inspired by her], because [Dan + Shay bandmate Dan Smyers and I] both have wives that are way out of our league. So anytime we have a chance to express our gratitude for that, we do.

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