Chances Are by Garrett Hedlund

Album: Country Strong Soundtrack (2011)

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Songfacts®:

Garrett Hedlund is an American actor whom you might recall from the film Friday Night Lights, where he appeared alongside one of his boyhood musical heroes, Tim McGraw, and from Tron: Legacy where he played Sam Flynn. Hedlund learned to play the guitar for the role of up-and-coming singer-songwriter Beau Hutton in Country Strong, spending over four months honing his strumming and plucking skills. He performs "Chances Are" in the movie, and the song also appears on the soundtrack.
Hedlund explained in an interview with The Boot how performing the song to his dying grandfather enabled it to really connect to him on a personal level. Said the actor: "Nathan Chapman and Lori McKenna wrote it, and it is such a great song. My grandpa was in the hospital and I said, 'I'm going to come visit.' He said, 'I'm not making her through this one, feller.' And I said, 'Well Grandpa, I'm going to be there in two days.' He said, 'Naw, I ain't making her through this one.' So, the next day I called and he couldn't talk any more, so they put the phone on speakerphone and I sang 'Amanda' by Waylon Jennings, because it's my sister's name and she meant the world to him. I sang that once for him and once for the nurses. [laughs] He seemed to be trying to move his lips and his eyes, and the next day I called back and I played 'Chances Are' for him. And as soon as it got to the point 'I'm not the worst love that's making, but better at the breaking, a guy like me knows how to disappear,' he passed away. So now he's with me going through the journey. For me, every time I performed the song, it made me appreciate every time I got to sing it. Every time was meaningful."
According to Country Strong writer/director Shana Feste, the film's story of a fallen Country singer seeking an industry comeback was inspired by Michael Jackson and Britney Spears' career arcs. "We build these artists and celebrate them, then at the first sign of weakness, we rally around their downfall," she told Billboard Magazine. "Then we want to build them back up for a comeback. How difficult to live life like that in public."

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