It's a classic love song, solid and true, heard so clearly by its A-list singers that its unconventionality almost goes unnoticed.
Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood debuted at No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs chart on Oct. 12 with “I'm Gonna Love You,” blessed by a timeless Randy Travis-like verse applied to a musical institution which combines many classic styles.
“It's big, like a pop song,” Johnson says. “It kind of feels like a blues song, but we sing it like a gospel song.”
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They make it sound standard too. But it isn't. For starters, the time signature moves around a bit. The verses alternate between 3/4 and 4/4 bars until their conclusion, when the “I'm gonna love you” hook arrives in reversed waltz bars. Then they break into a 4/4 chorus — if, that is, the song actually has a chorus. It has a soaring, four-line stanza that fills the space where a chorus usually sits. But this section does not include the hook and never reaches the root chord. Instead, it segues into the next verse, which ends up feeling like an extension of the chorus.
“I think of it as a bridge that you repeat, even though it's like the chorus,” says songwriter Chris Stevens (“Everything's Gonna Be Alright”). “You can call it whatever you want.”
“I'm Gonna Love You” took a long time to get from creation to the public sphere, thanks to its early roots of inspiration on the Dixie Chicks' 2016 tour. (The band has since been renamed The Chicks.)
Songwriter Kelly Archer (“Sleep Without You,” “Wild As Her”) saw them in Chicago on June 5, and Travis Denning saw them twice in August, in Atlanta and Nashville. The morning after the Bridgestone Arena show, Denning and Archer met in Stevens' writing room at Starstruck. When The Chicks became the subject, they discussed their penchant for simple, on-point choruses paired with deeper lyrics. They decided to write with this approach and Archer suggested “I'm Gonna Love You” as the simple title.
The process, however, was time-consuming. “We wanted to make sure it wasn't just for your significant other,” Archer says, “but for your kids, whoever you love, your parents, whoever.”
They worked on it until at least 5:30 p.m., building it one after the other with steady and true focus. The first verse explored the reliability of the universe, with its stars, sun and moon. The second verse brought the story into Earth's atmosphere, with birds, snow and April rain. In its finale, they narrowed the lens even further to the song's couple, noting that even as the couple grays and outgrows, their bond will remain strong.
“Everything fell together like pieces of a puzzle,” says Archer. “One line led into the next line, which led into the next line, which led into the next line, and then we put a big old solo in the middle of it.”
Stevens developed the pulsating keyboard part, changing the harmonic tuning on the third note of each 3/4-and-4/4 couplet in a way that created a gospel tone. And Archer offered a baseline in the bridge-like chorus, “Stable and true as a Bible verse,” that reinforced that feeling.
“It brought another level of depth to what the message was in the song, and not necessarily religious,” says Denning. “Like, when I think of a Bible verse, I think of tradition. I'm thinking about the test of time.”
Denning sang the demo that day and played a boring guitar solo, imitating the melodic style of Vince Gill. “I don't know if anyone gets more out of the single notes in country music as a guitar player than he does,” Denning says. “It can slice. I mean, he can do it all. But I think when he does that emotional thing, there's no one who does it better.”
Once Archer added harmonies, Denning realized they had something special. Stevens realized this as he finished producing the demo that night. “I had a panic attack,” she says. “I got this adrenaline rush because it felt like there was a life in it. The song was coming to life as something that would be important in my career.”
“I'm Gonna Love You” was one of three songs Denning recorded for a demo that helped secure him a record deal the following year with Mercury Nashville. Early on, he boldly asked if Underwood would join him in a duet version—“They gave me the nicest no answer ever,” he says—and he was singled out for her, too.
“I thought it was a beautiful song,” Underwood recalls, “but I felt it would be better for a male artist to sing, plus it didn't really fit with the direction my new album was going at the time. ”
When Johnson was label-shopping in 2018, a Big Machine executive played it to him as an example of the kinds of songs they would bring him. He eventually signed with Warner Music Nashville (WMN), but periodically inquired about the song. Denning eventually recorded it, but felt he needed to get his career right before releasing it. The pandemic threw a wrench in his plans and in 2022, he finally let Johnson have it. Johnson had struck up a friendship with Underwood at the 2022 CMT Music Awards and thought she was the right vocal partner. She agreed.
Producer Trent Willmon (Granger Smith, Drake Milligan) cut it in two different keys in March 2023, and Underwood FaceTimed into the studio during the session to listen to it. She chose the lower key, a choice that would give her voice in a new way. “[Her] The voice has this sultry, Aretha Franklin-like quality in that key,” says Johnson. “I thought it was a part of Carrie we hadn't seen yet.”
The band played simply, framing the tune without drawing attention, and Johnson was present when Underwood later came into the studio to double her role. During the playback, Johnson felt that she was unhappy, and when asked, said that she would rather have them sing it together. “For me, the best possible situation is always when whoever I'm singing with, we have the luxury of recording our vocals together,” he says. “I think that's when the real magic happens.”
They each went into a vocal booth, able to see each other through the glass, and once locked inside, Willmon estimates that 95% of the vocals come from a single performance. “It just reiterated why I love making music for a living,” he says.
Willmon turned to Gill for the solo, and he gave him the same kind of melodic, inspired phrasing that Denning would expect. “He was on tour with the Eagles and it took him a minute to get to it,” Willmon recalled. “He played that solo and it's funny. He leaves this message: “Hey man, I just played what I felt was needed and if you don't use it I'm fine with it. It wouldn't be the first time Carrie Underwood fired me.' “
The duo was booked by Johnson's Skin The album since its release didn't fit Underwood's schedule. WMN released “The Painter” and “Dirt Cheap”, saving “I'm Gonna Love You” for Leather Deluxeexpected November 1. The duet was released on September 27 and is at No. 32 on Country Airplay and No. 21 on Hot Country Songs. Eight years after its creation and six years after Johnson first asked, “I'm Gonna Love You” is playing out just as he hoped.
“I've been waiting,” Johnson says. “I'm tired of it.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/country/cody-johnson-carrie-underwood-im-gonna-love-you-makin-tracks-1235815811/
