Make Room at the Bottom

Album: Words (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Ashley Monroe co-wrote this heartbreaking song with Brett James and recorded it for her debut album Satisfied in 2006. Despite garnering good reviews, the record failed to trouble the charts. However, when this track was played to Sara Evans a decade later it made an impact – both with her and another certain family member.

    "I had never heard it, and didn't know it was an older song," she told Billboard magazine. "It was really awesome on the part of the song pluggers and the publishers to think about the song for me. I love it when publishers do that. They really do their jobs, and they dig in, and find songs that they think I would love and that I would deliver well. As soon as I heard it, I loved it. I wanted to hold it.

    "Then I took it home and played it for my kids," Evans continued. "My son Avery said 'Mom, if you don't cut this song, I will lose all hope in you.' He's seventeen, but very wise beyond his years. For him to say that about the song is huge to me. It's a deep, dark, depressing song. And, he still has faith in me."
  • Brett James, who co-wrote this song, was 57 when he died in a plane crash on September 18, 2025. "I am absolutely heartbroken at the loss of one of the best writers I've ever worked with and recorded," Evans posted. "He will be so missed."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.