Lauren Alaina Loved Getting ‘Flirty’ On ‘Getting Over Him’
The How I Wrote That Song limited series gives music fans a front-row seat for conversations with songwriters behind some of the biggest hits of yesterday and today. You’ll learn the stories behind the songs from the people who wrote them. New episodes will be released every other Monday through December 12. How I Wrote That Song is produced in partnership with Beasley Media Group, XPERI (HD Radio), and BMI.
“It really kicked my booty!” Lauren Alaina could be talking about a number of obstacles life has thrown her way over the years, but right now she’s referring to COVID-19. “I was so mad when I got it because I have taken this pandemic very seriously and I ended up getting it somewhere, where a group of people was gathered everyone had tested negatively. And somehow I got it and I was pretty sick. I was only really sick for three or four days. And then it took me a couple of weeks to feel one hundred percent again. But it’s no joke, I’m better now.” When we sat down (remotely) to discuss some of her songs, she was in a joyful mood and took a lot of pride in her ability as a songwriter.
Let’s talk about your new song: “Getting Over Him.” You could have written it all just from your point of view and not had this sort of dialog with Jon Pardi. So it’s almost a movie casting decision.
I had gone through two really crazy breakups and I’d never really been single for a long length of time since high school, and I was kind of like casually dating this guy. And it didn’t work out. I mean, it was super casual, like we went on a couple of dates, whatever. It wasn’t a big thing, really, but it was nice to flirt with someone again. And when it kind of fizzled out, one of my friends said if his only purpose was to help you get over that last guy, [that’s ok].
And so I wrote down that he was my “get over him guy.” I went into the writing session with Emily Weisband, who I work with a lot, and Paul DiGiovanni, my producer, and I also write with him a ton. I brought this idea up and I was like, “I want it to be like a dirty country sound.” I actually prepped Paul with that.
[Later] I brought this idea up to Emily and she loved it. And we wrote the chorus and then we wrote the first verse. And when we were preparing for the second verse, I was like, “Do you guys think we can make this a duet and tell the male perspective as well?” So we just kind of created this character from the other side of it. We got another songwriter in town to actually sing on the demo. And I was listening to it and I was like. “Wow, we described Jon Pardi.” He literally is the definition of going out and having a good time on the weekend. And that’s what this song is about, just two people flirting in a bar. And I have been in a lot of bars with Jon Pardi. I never flirted with him! He’s married and he’s like my brother, but he plays that role really, really well. So I just called him and said, “Hey, I’ve got this song, no pressure, but I think you could be really cool for it.” And I just texted it to him and he said yes immediately. And we got him in the studio.
Check out the rest of the interview in the podcast and video above.
