Young Once

Album: Southside (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Propelled by a mandolin and a drum loop, this song finds Sam Hunt looking back on those good old days.

    We were young once
    We were gung-ho, singing in the sun once
    Backroads in the wild, on the run once
    Cheap thrills, doing things in the wheat fields
    We were young, we were young, we were young once


    Zach Crowell, Matt Jenkins and Josh Osborne helped Hunt write the nostalgic song. Osborne and Hunt also co-wrote for Billy Currington a similarly themed track about youthful nostalgia, "We Are Tonight."
  • When Hunt set out to write a song that reflects nostalgically on youth, he wanted to do so in an original way. He explained he was able to so with some divine help. "For some reason," Hunt said, "God has just put ideas in front of me that sometimes when these ideas come into a room, whether I come up with it or a co-writer, it's like 'How's this not been written yet?' And this is one of those ideas that I thought how has nobody flipped this hook and written this song this way before?"
  • The dramatic video is a mini-movie that follows a young couple escaping their troubled childhoods in search of freedom and excitement. Dashiell Connery (grandson to Sean Connery) and May Daniels play the leads; midway through we see Hunt sipping coffee at a diner as the pair pass by him.

    Tim Mattia ("Take Your Time," "Break Up In A Small Town," "Hard to Forget") directed the clip.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Don Felder

Don FelderSongwriter Interviews

Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Concert Disasters

Concert DisastersFact or Fiction

Ozzy biting a dove? Alice Cooper causing mayhem with a chicken? Creed so bad they were sued? See if you can spot the real concert mishaps.

Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles

Timothy B. Schmit of the EaglesSongwriter Interviews

Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple PilotsSongwriter Interviews

Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.