Fill In The Blank

Album: Greg Bates (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Greg Bates co-penned this song with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne. He explained that their co-write started off slow so they went to lunch. It was when they came back, that things started to click. "That was one of the most fun days when I wrote that song," Bates said. "Josh was telling a story and he finished his story with, 'Well, you could just fill in the blank with what happens next,' and we all kind of looked at each other. We had - I call it a Nashville moment - where we had one of those moments where we all kind of looked at each other. And then within about forty-five minutes we had the song done."
  • Bates told Roughstock this was the first time he'd ever written with Shane McAnally and Josh Osbourne. "The only thing I knew about Shane was that he written 'Last Call' for LeeAnn Womack," he said. "I walked in the room, and I had this guitar part that was minor chords and groovy and vibey. We worked on that for maybe an hour or two, and we weren't really going anywhere with it. I was thinking I blew it ... it's over ... they'll never write with me again!
    "We went to lunch and came back," he continued. "Josh was telling a story, and it had nothing to do with what we were writing. At the end of the story, he goes, 'And you can just fill in the blank with how that ends.' We all looked at each other immediately, and like 30 minutes later, we had the song done. It was a lot of fun. Shane had the idea to leave a word out in the chorus, to make it have little innuendoes all the way through. It was a lot of fun to write. It was the first time I'd ever written a song with those guys, and I was so excited to play it for everybody as soon as it was done. I'm usually very close to my chest when it comes to my songs, until I feel that they are ready. That one was instantly. I was like it's done, let's go play it for everybody!"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Alice Cooper

Alice CooperFact or Fiction

How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Francis Rossi of Status Quo

Francis Rossi of Status QuoSongwriter Interviews

Doubt led to drive for Francis, who still isn't sure why one of Status Quo's biggest hits is so beloved.

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" Album

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" AlbumSong Writing

In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.

Art Alexakis of Everclear

Art Alexakis of EverclearSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.