Florida Georgia Line, 'Sun Daze'

Sometimes the most random ideas make for great songs, as Florida Georgia Line found out with 'Sun Daze.'

The song came about toward the end of the process for the duo's sophomore album, 'Anything Goes.' It happened almost by accident, as songwriters Jesse Frasure and Cary Barlowe explain.

"I was out doing a DJ run with them on this Nelly tour," Frasure tells Taste of Country. "They did this tour with Nelly of minor league baseball parks, and I was opening up, emceeing the show and doing the DJ thing, and about halfway through that trip I called Cary and Sarah [Buxton]. We planned to take a bus out there and do some songwriting, and if the boys are in the mood to write, great."

Once the three writers got out on the road with FGL, the songs started coming fast.

"We emailed them one morning, they showed up, and that first day we wrote 'Good Good,' which is on the record," Frasure continues. "Then that night, we were hanging out with Brian [Kelley], and Brian was talking to Cary and I about wanting to do a reggae thing ..."

"He wanted to do something kinda crazy and out of the box," Barlowe adds, "and we were like, 'Oh man, we're in!' "

During an overnight drive to the next city, Frasure and Barlowe put together some musical and melodic ideas for a reggae-influenced track. When Buxton woke up the next day, she joined in on the song, which was still unpolished.

Their whole job, their whole kind of game plan is to let the fans forget about all the worst in life for one night, and that's what this song is for. It's just a good-time buzz.

"We didn't go far on it, because we wanted to wait until they got in the room, if they liked it," Barlowe relates of writing the 'Sun Daze' lyrics. "When Brian and Tyler [Hubbard] got in the room, we said, 'Hey, we started a little reggae track vibe last night.' We played it for them, and they just freaked out! They were like, 'Oh, man, this is dope, this is awesome.' And that's when Brian said, 'It's funny, this morning I wrote down a line that says, 'All I want to do today is wear my favorite shades and get stoned.'"

That took the writing process in a new direction.

"When he said that, we were like, 'Wow -- that's pretty much coming out and saying it!" Barlowe exclaims. "But we were like, 'Hey, ya'll are the artists -- we're in, let's do it."

The resulting track was one that they knew might not pass muster with country radio, with lyrics like, "If I'm lucky yeah I might get laid," and "All I wanna do is lace my Js and lace some Jack in my Coke."

"We did think that lyrically, if it were a single, we were thinking of what else we could say," Barlowe admits. "Like, 'All I wanna do today is wear my favorite shades and ...' -- we threw out a bunch of stuff, like 'let go,' and 'just roll.' I guess they ended up with 'stay home.' And then, instead of 'just get laid,' they changed it into 'paid,'" he adds with a laugh. "It worked out good."

The song has been yet another enormous hit for FGL, but it's not without its detractors. Some journalists and fans of classic country have roundly criticized the song for its themes -- which doesn't bother the writers one bit.

"It's funny when you read some of the reviews and stuff -- this is not a change-the-world song, or as prolific as a song like 'Dirt' was for them," Frasure says. "They create an atmosphere of fun; their whole job, their whole kind of game plan is to let the fans forget about all the worst in life for one night, and that's what this song is for. It's just a good-time buzz."

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NEXT: Listen to 'Sun Daze'