Welcome back to Country Music 4 Ever! The songwriting is very fascinating to me. Somebody somewhere gets an idea that they write down, and eventually those words are put to music and one day that song could be on the radio. Some songwriters have artists in mind that they want to record the songs they write, and other times the songs get pitched to multiple artists before someone decides to record it. Many songs that became hits were originally meant to be sung by someone else. Today we’ll take a look at some of those songs.

In 2003, Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss had a hit with their duet “Whiskey Lullaby.” However, the song sat for three years before anyone considered recording it. It was pitched to Dierks Bentley, but after listening to it, he didn’t hear it as a duet, so he passed on it.

In 2005, Zac Brown Band released their iconic hit “Chicken Fried,” but that song was not originally supposed to be recorded by them. It was first pitched to Alan Jackson, who came very close to recording it, but decided not to. When asked why he decided against it, he said, “Man, I just had a song about cornbread and chicken, and I had a song about bologna. Every album I’ve got has these songs about food, so I just don’t think I want to do one about chicken fried right now.”

Also in 2005, Carrie Underwood had a smash hit with “Jesus, Take The Wheel.” The song was first pitched to Sara Evans, but after listening to it, she passed because she didn’t like the “stupid” song.

In 2009, Miranda Lambert released one of the biggest songs of her career, “The House That Built Me.” However, Blake Shelton really wanted to sing it and came very close to cutting it, but he knew how much Miranda loved it, so he let her have it.

Lastly, in 2016, Blake Shelton released “She’s Got a Way With Words.” This song was first pitched to Jake Owen, who thought it was a very cool and well-written song, but he passed because he didn’t want his ex-wife to think it was written about her.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back soon!