Story Behind the Song: Dan + Shay, ‘Glad You Exist’
Dan + Shay's "Glad You Exist" is a song of love and gratitude, which the pair co-wrote with Ryan Lewis, Tayla Parx and Jordan Reynolds. "There's a couple billion people in the world / And a million other places we could be, but you're here with me / Take a moment just to take it in / 'Cause every high and every low led to this / I'm just so glad you exist," goes the chorus.
Quite simply, "Glad You Exist" is as heartfelt as it sounds, but it's not just about Smyers and Mooney's immediate families; rather, this one is for their friends and fans, too. Below, the pair share the story behind the song, in their own words.
Dan Smyers: I had the phrase "Glad You Exist" written down in my phone -- I always caught myself saying it to my wife, just being appreciative that she is on this planet at the same time that I'm on this planet. I brought it to Shay, and we started kicking around ideas.
We thought it would be a really cool song, and it turned into just a message about how grateful we are for everybody in our lives ... and it's taken on new meaning for us not being able to see everybody in person, so this song is super close to our hearts ...
"Glad You Exist" is more than just a song to us ... We're so proud of this one, and it's different than anything we've ever done before ...
We made this song during quarantine ... so our resources were a little bit limited: We had my laptop, a couple microphones and an acoustic guitar, and we got it done. We're so proud of the way this one turned out, and we kind of have this grand vision for whenever things get back to normal, whenever we can finally get back out on the road: We want to be standing in the middle of the arena, turn all the house lights on, and this is just one big, feel-good sing-a-long.
Shay Mooney: "Glad You Exist" is one of our favorite songs we've ever written. I think just the actual lyrical content and what it says, we're very proud of ...
After that song kind of came together, I feel like, when we finally got to record it, it was during quarantine, and I feel like the entire timing of how this song came together was not only good for our fans ... but also for us.
You know, it's important to remember we need to tell the people that we love that we love them and we're glad they're around, and I think being away from your family and not getting to see the ones that you love, we were reminded of that even more, so this song has taken on a new meaning, and we're just very proud of it.
What Is Dan + Shay's Best Song? Here's Our Top 10: