Story Behind the Song: Jason Aldean, ‘Girl Like You’

Jason Aldean's blend of country twang, rock excitement and R&B sensitivity make a hit such as his 2018 single "Girl Like You" sound like it just naturally rolls off his tongue. However, per songwriters Jaron Boyer, Josh Mirenda and Michael Tyler, the song's smooth lyrics and universal themes didn't come so easy.

Ultimately, though, that long, seemingly fruitless co-write netted Boyer, Mirenda and Tyler a spot on Aldean's fourth consecutive No. 1 album, Rearview Town, and "Girl Like You" became the third No. 1 hit from that project. To hear how the song came to be, and how Aldean found the track, in Boyer, Mirenda, Tyler and Aldean's own words, read on.

Michael Tyler: It was Jaron, Josh and myself, and we started writing the song. We were probably into it about an hour, and we decided, "Yeah, this kind of sucks, so we’re going to start something else."

I can't remember who started singing the "Girl Like You" part -- it might’ve been Josh -- but he started singing that chorus. It was already about 5 o'clock, so we were like, "Let’s record this, get it down, and we'll come back and finish it." And normally, that never happens.

I went home, and I wrote the first verse to it, and I sent it to these guys, and they were like, "Dang, we need this." So, we got back together. We all got back in on it, wrote the song, and we just had a great time writing the song.

Josh Mirenda: That was super fun. That was the most fun I think we've had. We actually got to beatbox on it.

Tyler: They ended up actually using Josh and I's backgrounds on [the studio version of the song].

Jason Aldean: Michael Knox and I kinda -- when it comes to songs, most everything either comes through me or through him, and so that was one, I feel like he sent it to me ...

There’s just certain songs that kind of grab you right off the bat, you know? It’s hard to put a finger on what it is you like about it; it's just ear candy. When it's ear candy and the subject matter is cool, and it just feels like an effortless lyric to me, that's a cool thing ...

That was one that, right off the bat, the chorus kicks in, and it goes from this soft kind of thing to this big, heavy, rock 'n' roll chorus, which grabbed me right off the bat.

Mirenda: I was born and raised here in Nashville -- went to my first concert ever at Bridgestone Arena, which, it wasn't Bridgestone Arena back then, but it is now. And, um, I was standing on the side of the stage ... and he played "Girl Like You," and to see, like, my hometown freak out over that was -- that was really special, like a full-circle moment for me.

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