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Story Behind the Song: 'All-American Girl,' Carrie Underwood

Ashley Gorley, Morgan Hayes and I wrote 'Don't Forget To Remember Me,' which went to No. 1 [for Carrie Underwood]. Ashley and I had one day with Carrie, and we had a couple of ideas we were prepared to pitch to her. She was sick and coughing, and I thought, 'God, I can't even believe she came.' She was really pleasant and in a real good mood, so we pitched her this first thing we were thinking about, which was kind of a 'Don't Forget To Remember Me: Part 2.' It was a solid song, and we felt really good about it. We got done and she said, "Well that didn't take long. Maybe we should write another one." We were surprised, because it was a nice day and she was sick. But she shrugged her shoulders and said she didn't have anywhere else she needed to be.

We thought we needed to write something uptempo, since we already had a ballad/mid-tempo song finished. Ashley said, "We've got this one thing that could be uptempo called 'All-American Girl.'" She laughed and said, "It's not about me, is it?" We said, "No, it's about this husband and wife, and the husband always wanted a boy, but he ended up with a girl." She said, "Great, sounds like my dad!"

We started around 2:45 PM and by 5:30 PM we were totally done, and we never went back and changed anything. Really, if it wasn't for Carrie wanting to stay in there and write another one, we never would have written it. It really was a special day because we all three had really good chemistry. She was singing and getting in there with the melody and doing things vocally we wouldn't ever think about doing. Ashley and I walked into the parking lot and thought, "What the heck happened in there?"

Kelley Lovelace is a Grammy-nominated songwriter who has also written hits for Brad Paisley, Joe Nichols, Terri Clark, Clay Walker and many more.


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Kathy

I love your work Kelley. Somehow, someday, I hope I can contact you with some lyrics I have written. I am not a songwriter, but have some lyrics that I could absolutely picture Brad Paisley singing.

Keep up the fantastic work, God Bless you! Kathy

May 17 2008 at 12:27 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kathy

This message is for Kelley. I love your work. Somehow, I am hoping to find a way to contact you. I have lyrics for, what I think is a fantastic song for Brad Paisley, but I am not exactly what you would call a songwriter. I would definately need a collaborator! Hope to reach you sometime. Keep up the wonderful work, God Bless! Kathy

May 17 2008 at 12:18 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
chasity smith

i love you carrie your the best

April 30 2008 at 3:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply