We take you behind the scenes and explore the making of one of our favorite tunes with The Song Remembers When…
In 2014, Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line were on a roll. They had five hit songs under their belts and they were preparing to release their second album Anything Goes. FGL’s manager felt that the duo needed to shift a bit and record something a little deeper than party songs that they initially had success with. “Dirt” would be the first single from Anything Goes, and it proved that fans were ready to hear the more serious side of the duo. The song went all the way to #1.
Rodney Clawson and Chris Tompkins were the writers behind this one. Previously, they had written “Get Your Shine On” and “Round Here” for the duo. And, it was Chris who came up with the idea for “Dirt.”
Chris said that it was an early morning, and he was at home staring out his back window where he was having a pool installed. He saw all this dirt piled up and got to thinking about all the things you can do with dirt. At first, he thought about dirt in relation to a Friday night: “You write her name on it; you spin your tires on it; build your cornfield whiskey bonfires on it.”
Chris had a writing session with Rodney coming up and he knew since Rodney was from Texas, he would totally get this idea. The concept inspired Rodney to think back about the generation of farmers in his family. This is where the line, “You’ve mixed some sweat with it, taken a shovel to it,” came into the mix. The writers wrapped the song up with the circle of life – “Dirt – some day you’ll return to it.”
“Dirt” would go on to earn an ACM Single of the Year nomination. And, it allowed FGL to broaden their music in a new way.