Back When

Album: Live Like You Were Dying (2004)
Charted: 30
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This Stan Lynch, Stephony Smith and Jeff Stevens penned song was inspired by an incident when Smith went into the kitchen to make breakfast and saw a snake on the floor. The snake crawled into a tight space between the dishwasher and cabinets and she called Jeff Stevens and Stan Lynch to come and help her figure out how to get it out.

    "We couldn't find it," she recalled to The Boot. "We go to the office, and we're sitting there, and Jeff is real country, and he kinda started making fun of me for being a sissy about it. He said, "Back when 'a hoe' was a hoe, my mama woulda just chopped his head off." And he kept right on talking. I was gasping, like, "That's what we have to write today … you know, 'Back when 'a hoe' was a hoe and 'a coke' was a Coke.'" They were like, 'Oh, yeah, here we go.'"

Comments: 1

  • None from MarsCoke has been slang for cocaine since 1902. So a coke was never just a coke during Tim McGraw's lifetime.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Prince

PrinceFact or Fiction

Prince is shrouded in mystery, making him an excellent candidate for Fact or Fiction. Is he really a Scientologist? Does he own an exotic animal?

Alan Merrill of The Arrows

Alan Merrill of The ArrowsSongwriter Interviews

In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.

Van Dyke Parks

Van Dyke ParksSongwriter Interviews

U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside Story

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside StorySong Writing

The in-depth discussion about the making of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in the 1973 film.

Amy Grant

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New York

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.