Story Behind the Song: Rascal Flatts, ‘Back to Life’

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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