“I Just Lost It”: Tim McGraw Wrote This Song Crying in the Car

The best, most authentic songs come straight from the heart, but these can also be the most painful to write—something country icon Tim McGraw learned the hard way in a song he wrote crying in the car. The emotional track appears toward the end of McGraw’s sixteenth studio album, Standing Room Only, which he released in August 2023.

While McGraw might have been able to write or perform similar songs at different points in his career, the country star likely would have never resonated with a track like “Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee” until that exact moment in his life.

The Song Tim McGraw Wrote After Crying in the Car

Even in the midst of personal upheavals, Tim McGraw has kept his music at the front of his mind. Such was the case in 2018 when McGraw helped his daughter, Gracie, move across the country from Nashville, Tennessee, to sunny Los Angeles, California. In a 2023 interview with USA Today, McGraw recalled standing with his daughter after the boxes were unloaded, unsure of what to do next.

“[Gracie] puts both hands on my shoulders and says, ‘Dad, I’ve got this,’” McGraw remembered. “She gave me a big hug, and I said I love her, and when I was driving back by myself, I called Bob [Minner], and we were swapping stories about our kids growing up, and he called Lori [McKenna], and we started working on the song. It’s not really spot on, but the inspiration came from moving my daughter.”

McGraw, Minner, and McKenna’s “Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee” is a heartwarming testament to McGraw’s creative approach to Standing Room Only. The country singer said this record’s songs were some of his most personal, telling USA Today, “I’m always looking for songs that are life-affirming because they’re therapeutic to me and remind me of how much of a better person I need to be.”

Gracie’s Journey Isn’t That Different From Her Father’s

Tim McGraw’s “Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee” might have originated in the deeply personal memory of crying in the car as he left his daughter in her new Los Angeles, California, home, but the song itself is undeniably universal. It’s a hard lesson in what distance can do, McGraw sings in the first verse, creating a mental image that anyone who lives far away from a loved one can easily relate to. If God made the two cities closer, I’d be right beside you.

Even if the song itself doesn’t match his situation with his daughter, Gracie, word for word, McGraw’s emotional connection to the song is clear. And despite how difficult it was for the country star—on an episode of the Rob + Holly podcast, he said he “lost it” and cried the entire long drive home—there’s a touching similarity between McGraw’s journey and his eldest daughter’s.

When a pre-fame McGraw was still working odd jobs in the roofing and service industry, he made a split decision to move from the deep South to Nashville to pursue his dreams. His daughter, a talented vocalist, did the same thing when she moved to Los Angeles, where the dreamers go, and the stars hang low, making “Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee” not only a touching tribute to his daughter but also to his family’s continuing legacy as successful performing artists.

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