Kiss You in the Morning

Album: Michael Ray (2015)
Charted: 55
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Songfacts®:

  • Florida native Michael Ray made an earlier impression with TV audiences as the winner of The CW's 2012 reality singing competition The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep, which he won. Ray was mentored by John Rich of Big & Rich on the show and he remained close to both Rich and Big Kenny, co-penning the duo's single "Run Away With You."
  • This sexy song about new love finds Ray kissing his girl at each and every opportunity. The song was written by the Florida native's songwriting partners Justin Wilson and Michael White and produced by Scott Hendricks.

    Michael Ray recalled in a Genius attribution: "Two of my buddies wrote this song, Justin Wilson and Michael White. They pushed it to Rebekah Gordon, part of the A&R staff team at Warner. She got the song, she sent it to me—the demo was so big, it was practically ready for radio. Justin Wilson was singing on the demo. He has a great voice.

    I'm a big fan of clever lyrics. I just loved the way the melody rolled, the steady climb of the song. Scott Hendricks was producing my record, and I knew that once we got to the studio and put a killer live band on it we could bring out the magic. Put a magnifying glass on it. When we finished I was like, 'We have to put this song out as the first single.'"
  • The video was shot in Bay's home town of Eustis, Florida. The singer recruited some family members and friends to feature in the clip. "That was brand new, I'd never shot a music video before," Ray told Radio.com. "It calmed my nerves that we shot it in Eustis, Florida, my hometown. We were able to do the whole thing on the main street of my town, and my grandmother was in it at the end."

    "My grandfather passed away earlier this year, in February, that's his name on the back of the airboat," Ray added. "We made a flag with his name on it. My thing was, this is my first video and I wanted to go back to where it all started. Your first song is your introduction, and I wanted the world to see where I come from."
  • Ray commented regarding the "I wanna kiss you in the morning" lyric: "You could meet somebody and it could be like 'let's go all night and hang out and keep this going.' Even if you're with your wife or your husband, or whoever that might be, I just wanna shut off the world and you'll get wild for a night."

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