Lookin' for That Girl

Album: Sundown Heaven Town (2014)
Charted: 85
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The first single from Tim McGraw's thirteenth album finds the singer looking for a good-time girl.

    "If you see her tell her I'm lookin' for that girl, that girl, that girl
    Hard to find, I'll be spending every night lookin' for that girl, that girl, that girl."

    McGraw said: "It was hard to choose a lead single off this project because I really felt like we had six or seven good options. I kept coming back to 'That Girl' because even though it may be a little different for me sonically, I couldn't get it out of my head!"
  • The song was written by James Slater (Rascal Flatts' "Unstoppable"), Chris Tompkins ( Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats") and Mark Irwin (Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift's "Highway Don't Care"). Slater recalled the day that the threesome penned the song. "I had never written with Chris Tompkins before, but I've always wanted to," he told Roughstock. "We're both piano players, and I've always loved his wit and his writing. Mark Irwin had been writing with him for a long time. Mark is a great guy, and he and I started writing together. He said, 'You need to write with Chris Tompkins and me.' I was like, 'Let's do it!' So I've got to give Mark credit for setting the three of us up. It was pretty much one of those magical days where we walked in and it all came together."

    "I think I had an idea, but it wasn't really fitting anything," Slater continued. "If I remember right, Chris had this loop going on his drum machine, and he goes, 'I've got an idea.' He had this thing called 'That Girl.' We started on that, and it was such a great idea. We worked on it and worked on it, and we finished it all that day. We really had fun with the lyrics. We were really trying to make it where someone like Tim could cut it. We wanted it to be really lyrically strong."

    "A couple of days later after we demoed it," added Slater, "Chris played it for Florida Georgia Line, and they liked it a lot. Then, somehow Tim heard it, and he wanted to cut it. Thanks to Byron Gallimore ... he produced the heck out of it, and Tim sang it great."
  • McGraw pulled the name of his Sundown Heaven Town 2014 Tour from the chorus of this song. "Sun down, heaven town, driving 'round hitting the bars, shooting the stars."
  • McGraw debuted the song during the televised Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Special on February 3, 2014, which aired on NBC.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

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.