Songfacts®:

• The lead single from AJ McLean's country-influenced solo album, Long Road, is a love song with a beautiful message. "'Boy and a Man' is that growing-up story about finding that one true love even when you're super-young and never wanting to let that person go and really just hanging out for the long haul," the singer told People.
• The song was written by Rob Crosby and Dave Fenley. The Backstreet Boys singer instantly gravitated towards its portrayal of an old-fashioned romance.
  
  "It's that growing up type of story - a becoming of who you're going to become," McLean said. "For me, personally, I've always tried to be old-fashioned. I try to always be a gentleman especially when my wife is concerned, from opening the door for my wife to getting up to make her coffee in the morning - always putting my family first."
• AJ McLean married his wife Rochelle again as part of the song's music video. The couple filmed the pretend wedding ceremony in a romantic barn at Disney's Golden Oak Ranch in California. The clip shows a couple as they fall in love from childhood all the way until the end of their lives.