Story Behind the Song: Tim McGraw, ‘Still’

Lee Brice, Kyle Jacobs and Joe Leathers co-wrote the song "Still," which Tim McGraw recorded and co-produced for his 2009 Southern Voice album. McGraw released the tune as a single in February of 2010, and it landed in the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Below, Brice tells The Boot about how the song came to be.

We wrote this song down at Joe's place in Rosemary Beach, Fla. Joe has this little orange book of "wisdom and hookedness;" he's just got all of his titles in there. I actually grabbed his book and was going through it, because sometimes I will see one of his titles differently than how he sees it.

I saw "Still." [That title] reminded me of something my mama always said. I'd be on the road working hard and missing home a little bit. She would always say, "Lee, just close your eyes. Imagine where you want to be. Be really still, and you can be there." It would make me feel better.

I said, "Man, I love that!" So Kyle, Joe and I sat down to write it. I was really excited. I just knew it was going to be special.

There's a funny thing about that day: My producer's wife, Lisa, was there also, just hanging out with us. She is a song plugger in Nashville and is a very good song person. We were in the middle of writing "Still," and we played her what we had. She went, "Well, I don't know ... I just don't know if I really get it. It's cool. We'll see." Then Tim cuts it! She called me as soon as he cut it, and she said, "All right, I was wrong!" [Laughs]

This story was originally written by Alanna Conaway, and revised by Angela Stefano.

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