Cole Swindell’s ‘Middle of a Memory’ Was Almost an Entirely Different Song
Cole Swindell's "Middle of a Memory" was almost an entirely different song, until a misunderstanding with a writer changed everything.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Cole Swindell released his very first single, “Chillin’ It,” to country radio. Since then, the Georgia native has notched six consecutive No.1 songs. On Tuesday, Feb 28, Swindell celebrated the success of his latest chart-topper, “Middle of a Memory,” with a party at his record label home, Warner Music Nashville. Prior to the event, Swindell and his co-writers recalled the day they wrote the song with Sounds Like Nashville and other media.
The track was co-written by Swindell and longtime collaborators Zach Crowell and Ashley Gorley, who have each amassed a significant number of No.1 songs in their own right. But this one was special… because it was almost an entirely different song. The three were originally in the middle of writing a song called “Kiss” when Crowell excused himself and left the other two to continue to brainstorm. They ended up starting another song while he was gone.
“We were writing the 2nd verse, I left the room to go to the bathroom. I come back in and they have written one little section,” Crowell explained to Sounds Like Nashville and other media during a press conference prior to the No. 1 party. “And they were like, ‘Hey what do you think about this?’ And they sang this line, that said, ‘Middle of a Melody’, is what they said. I misunderstood them and I was like, ‘Middle of a Memory line that’s pretty cool.’”
Swindell and Gorley both exchanged looks and immediately changed the song from “Melody” to “Memory.” The rest was history.
“I’ve said I’ve learned a lesson that day,” said Swindell. “Usually, most writers say, ‘Oh that’s good. Write that down. We’ll do that next time.’ But there was no damn next time, we’d stop right now and we did it. And I learned a lesson that I’ll never forget that day. When something hits you, you better go with it ‘cause we already had a good enough start on the other one and you don’t want to lose that magic.”
The writers went on to pen “Middle of a Memory,” and even went back to finish “Kiss,” the song they had originally been working on, which eventually landed on Swindell’s Down Home Sessions EP. “Middle of a Memory” went on to be Swindell’s sixth No.1 and likely not his last. Swindell is currently at Country radio with “Flatliner,” his duet with superstar Dierks Bentley.
