She Tried

Album: Deliverance (2003)
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Songfacts®:

  • This bluegrass-tinged tune is about a guy who finds the perfect girl, then cheats on her, ruining the relationship and also his life. When she won't come back, he starts drinking and goes into a downward spiral. Looking back, he sees that she tried to tell him to be strong, but he just couldn't. The song is part of Bubba Sparxxx' second album, Deliverance.
  • This song was co-written by and features Ryan Tedder. The OneRepublic frontman and hit songwriter received his first-ever royalty check ($7,500) for his contribution to this tune. His subsequent royalties for the likes of Leona Lewis ("Bleeding Love"), Beyoncé ("Halo") and Kelly Clarkson ("Already Gone") have made Tedder somewhat more dough.
  • Timbaland produced this song and wrote it with Sparxxx and Tedder. He produced Bubba's first two albums, giving the country rapper instant cachet in the hip-hop community and with radio and MTV. After those two albums, Sparxxx had a hard time controlling his addictions and parted ways with the super-producer. He had another hit on his next album with "Ms. New Booty," but had to spend the next several years getting his life together after years of overindulgence. He returned to music in 2013, releasing albums on smaller labels.
  • Ryan Tedder's cousins, Austin and Ashley Clark, play on this track, with Austin on fiddle and Ashley on steel guitar. Along with their brother Adam, the Clarks formed a group in 2007 called Sons of Sylvia.

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