Songfacts®:

• This pensive look back at a former relationship was penned by the Rascal Flatts trio with Sean McConnell back in 2013. It is the only song on Back to Us that the three band members wrote together.
• The song features the powerful voice of Lauren Alaina. However the American Idol finalist wasn't the first artist that Rascal Flatts asked to sing on the track.
  
  "We wrote the song four years ago and reached out to Taylor Swift, for the Rewind record," Jay DeMarcus told The Boot, "and she said no. And so, we put the song on the back burner for a long time and circled back around this time, cut a new track on it and sort of waited to see who we felt like would be the top of that list to go toe-to-toe with Gary [LeVox], because it's no easy task to find a singer to get in a booth with Gary and match his vocal prowess."
• DeMarcus told Billboard magazine that though the Rascal Flatts trio knew what Alaina could do vocally, they were still hugely impressed. "She did so fantastic. It's so difficult to find someone who can go toe to toe with Gary in the studio, and she was phenomenal," he said. "She got in there, hunkered down for about two hours, and knocked it all of the ballpark. She's so delightful to work for. It was awesome."
• Lauren Alaina admitted to reporters that she was terrified at the thought of performing with Rascal Flatts.
  "I was scared to death," she said. "When I went into the studio, right before I was going in, I called my manager, Trisha [McClanahan], and I was like, 'I don't even know what to say to these people when I get in here, much less how I [am] going to sing.' I was so nervous."
  
  Lead vocalist Gary LeVox had already recorded his part, a fact which did little to ease Alaina's nerves. "I had to hear him singing his part; it's very intimidating. He can sing; there's no denying that. And it's crazy, the runs he does and stuff," she explained. "I said, jokingly, 'Thank you guys for picking me,' and they were like, 'Oh, well, you were like the last on the list.' And I said, 'Well, I'm glad I just made the list!' And then they said they were kidding - clearly, they were joking. But it broke the ice for me, because I hide everything with humor - I like to crack a good joke at the wrong time - so that was perfect for me. And then I kind of settled in, and we listened through a few times... They were super encouraging to me."