Story Behind the Song: Brett Young, ‘Not Yet’
Brett Young got back to basics with his single "Not Yet," for which he looked to the songwriters who produced his 2016 radio debut, "Sleep Without You." The singer says working on "Not Yet" gave him a chance to re-focus on some familiar writing routines with old friends, and also offered him a chance to get into a different sonic territory than his previous single, "Lady."
The latest in a seven-in-a-row streak of No. 1 hits, "Lady" is particularly special to Young, as it is inspired by his wife and young daughter, Presley -- but it's also a ballad, and Young admits that he naturally gravitates to those. So, to switch it up, he focused on making his follow-up single feel-good and uptempo.
Below, Young explains the story of how he wrote "Not Yet," and how he captured a fun, carefree vibe in the song.
My favorite thing about "Not Yet," other than loving the song, was [that] Justin [Ebach] and Kelly [Archer] were the writers on "Sleep Without You." We haven't had a single together since my first single.
I don't think it's any coincidence that it has the same vibe as "Sleep Without You," at least sonically, anyways. Justin's so great at creating music that makes you feel good, that makes you wanna dance.
For anybody that doesn't know Justin Ebach and Kelly Archer, the vibe in the writer's room is, like -- it's really hard to keep Kelly from getting up and dancing, especially when the demo's done. When she gets sent the demo, she'll send videos of herself dancing to it in her kitchen -- I mean, that's how you know you got a good one -- so, it was a blast.
I'll be the first one to admit, I've gotten away with a lot of ballads in my career; I know that's what I'm kind of getting known for. So I knew that after "Lady," it was time to switch it up, and going into summer, have something that was just a good summer song and not too heady, not too deep.
It's a song about those moments in your life that you wish never had to end. It's easy to relate to: Everybody can pick and choose and plug in that one life experience that they have that this song makes them think about. It just felt like a fun summer [song], and a good way to follow up a song like "Lady."
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