You

Album: Good Things (2021)
Charted: 87
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Dan Smyers penned this sweet piano ballad with his frequent writing partner Jordan Reynolds and singer-songwriter Dave Barnes. It's a simple love song where Dan + Shay tell their romantic partner how much she means to them.
  • When writing "You," Smyers drew on the unembellished '90s tunes of Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn. "I got into a nerd phase listening to those because they were so open and everything was sitting in the right place," he told Billboard. "There's just some magic in that minimalism."
  • Dan Smyers co-produced the track with Scott Hendricks. The instrumentation is by:

    Electric guitar: Derek Wells
    Acoustic guitar: Bryan Sutton
    Bass: Jimmie Lee Sloas
    Drums and percussion: Nir Z
    Piano and Hammond B3 organ: Gordon Mote
    Backing vocals: Jason Eskridge, Kyla Jade, Robert Bailey, Samson White, Vicki Hampton and Wendy Moten
  • Dan + Shay recorded "You" for their 2021 Good Things album. By the following year, it had taken off in the wedding circuit. "We've had big wedding songs, 'From the Ground Up' and 'Speechless,' but this one, our DMs, every weekend, it's so crazy," Smyers told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. "We see so many people saying, 'This was our first dance,' or, 'This was the song in our wedding.'"
  • Shay Mooney thinks "You" picks up where "Speechless" left off. "For us, I feel like this is kind of 'Speechless' part two," he told Taste of Country Nights' Evan Paul. "'Speechless' was about seeing your wife walk down the aisle for the first time and that moment, and this is that second part. This is forever love. This is down the road of, 'I've got you and only you for the rest of our life.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Music Video Director David Hogan

Music Video Director David HoganSong Writing

David talks about videos he made for Prince, Alabama, Big & Rich, Sheryl Crow, DMB, Melissa Etheridge and Sisters of Mercy.

Todd Rundgren

Todd RundgrenSongwriter Interviews

Todd Rundgren explains why he avoids "Hello It's Me," and what it was like producing Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album.

Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Kim Thayil of SoundgardenSongwriter Interviews

Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.

Real or Spinal Tap

Real or Spinal TapMusic Quiz

They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

Adam Young of Owl City

Adam Young of Owl CitySongwriter Interviews

Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.