Dan + Shay’s “Say So” is a Tribute to a Departed Friend: Makin’ Tracks

Nashville’s music neighborhood was emotionally leveled on Jan. 30, 2025, when native Warner Chappell president/CEO Ben Vaughn died.

The loss was palpable. Vaughn supplied an understanding ear for creators going via exhausting instances, and he was a cheerleader for the songwriters he labored with – together with Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Chris Stapleton and Dan + Shay – in addition to for executives at different firms with whom he had no monetary curiosity. In the next months, Vaughn’s demise certificates confirmed that he had died by suicide; As many as Music City music makers leaned on him, it was devastating to uncover that Vaughn hadn’t reached out to his pals and family members.

In the early going, the circumstances surrounding his passing have been publicly prevented, partly out of respect for his youngsters. But even after a memorial and a number of other different commemorations, folks wanted to course of it.

On Dec. 17, Dan + Shay lastly did in a format that Vaughn would have authorised: They wrote a tune. “This is,” says the duo’s Shay Mooney, “the most important song that we’ll ever do in our career.”

Writing about their buddy was not deliberate when Mooney, musical companion Dan Smyers and fellow songwriter David Hodges (“Because of You,” “See You Again”) met up on the house of Jimmy Robbins (“The Bones,” “half of my hometown”). No one had a particular agenda for the day – Christmas was coming, they have been all planning their vacation breaks, and so they began the day in a little bit of year-in-review mode. They every knew no less than two Music Row pals who had died that yr, and so they all realized they’d unprocessed grief over Vaughn.

“We were all feeling the heavy emotion in the room,” Smyers says. “It was just kind of cathartic to get to share those feelings and thoughts and emotions about Ben and share our mutual love for him. And it was like, ‘You know what? We owe it to Ben. We owe it to ourselves to at least see this one through to the finish line.'”

That end line wasn’t precisely clear. They did not have a title upfront, or a melody – simply a want, possibly even a responsibility, as songwriters to memorialize their buddy.

“We are the storytellers of culture, and I think our stories have a resonance, different than maybe laws that are passed or equations that are written,” Hodges says. “There is a truth in storytelling that feels – the older I get – more and more profound, because it gives you the context of the humanity around it.”

Hodges and Robbins created a pulsing acoustic guitar basis that made their tribute energetic as an alternative of turning into a dirge. Since they did not have a title in thoughts, they only wrote what they felt, starting with a gap line – “I got a call from a friend who doesn’t call very often” – that recounted the expertise of listening to about Vaughn’s demise. The remainder of that verse would mirror the preliminary feelings and disbelief that almost all within the nation music neighborhood had felt.

“The whole song is pretty conversational,” Robbins says. “It’s not crazy clever or a turn of phrase or anything. It’s just kind of honest.”

At the refrain, they raised the melody to a larger pitch and embraced extra emphatic phrasing. The lyrics vacillated between biting actuality and supportive optimism, whereas the foundational construction balanced the brighter topline towards darker, semi-droning chords. They did not speak about how to craft that symmetry, or work to discover it. It was simply there.

“It’s the right blend of weight and light,” Robbins acknowledges. “We were just kind of in it and not overthinking it.”

As they reached the top of the refrain, the affirming last setup and hook confirmed itself: “If you’re going through hell, you’re not alone/If you need somebody, say so.”

The second verse captured Music Row’s regrets over not understanding that Vaughn wanted assist, conducting his emotional job with out feeling helpless. That stanza’s last line, reflecting the general public celebration of life that honored Vaughn, is every of the writers’ favourite within the tune: “If there was a room full of people who cared it’d be crowded.”

They determined there was extra to say that they might slip into a bridge, which might additionally present a likelihood to shift the tune musically into motivational territory. “That bridge feels euphoric to me,” Smyers says.

Tomorrow, it guarantees, is a model new day. Whether it applies to Vaughn or to those that miss his presence is totally up to the listener.

“For those of us who are here, tomorrow is a brand new day,” Hodges causes. “The same is true – I mean, I can’t help but think of how sad and desperate [Ben] “He felt in those last moments here, and how much light and joy filled his eyes the moment that he opened them on the other side.”

Robbins completed producing many of the demo earlier than they left, leaving the “Say So” title uncovered a cappella on the finish of every refrain to spotlight its significance.

“It was a heavy day, just having those conversations,” Robbins remembers. “We left it feeling good.” Remarkably, they found that night time they’d penned “Say So” 50 years to the date after Vaughn’s beginning.

Smyers co-produced “Say So” with Scott Hendricks (Blake Shelton, Brooks & Dunn), recording at Ocean Way Studio on Music Row. Mooney sang the lead vocal forward of the session to ensure the musicians had a efficiency to work with that absolutely mirrored the tune’s feelings.

“It was a very different thing, there at Dan’s house, doing the vocal,” Mooney says. “It did get heavy, you know. You go and you do it, but with this song, I knew that moment was going to live in infamy. Once my vocal was on there, that’s it.”

Bryan Sutton replayed the foundational acoustic guitar half over a bubbly sound that Robbins had originated beneath on the demo. Sutton’s function was harder than it sounds.

“The acoustic part that Bryan is playing is aerobic,” Smyers says. “After we did the primary move, I used to be like, ‘Are your palms drained?’ He’s like, ‘Give me 30 seconds.’”

Smyers requested drummer Nir Z to strategy his half with the form of energy that Dave Grohl utilized to the recorded model of Foo Fighters’ “My Hero.” Derek Wells added a guitar solo that approximated an atmospheric Kings of Leon angle. Once Smyers’ harmonies have been blended in, the post-production course of was grueling, significantly for Hendricks, who gave Vaughn his first publishing job.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever put as much into making a record,” Hendricks says. “I can’t even count how many times we remixed it.”

It was an unconventional alternative for a single, however the subject had common potential, as well as to its private that means. Hendricks and Dan + Shay spoke with Vaughn’s household and acquired their blessing to commemorate Ben, and to share the tune’s troublesome background. Warner Records Nashville launched “Say So,” together with a highly effective video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuF6eZROXIw]on April 2. The social media suggestions is shattering.

“We all thought it could be powerful,” Hendricks says, “but I don’t think any of us were prepared for all those comments.”

It rose to No. 30 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay dated May 2 in simply its third week on the chart. It is, from all appearances, serving to folks course of feelings that may really feel unspeakable.

“We can’t be afraid to talk about it,” Mooney says. “If we’re afraid to talk about it, we’re going directly against what this song is about.”