Tyler Hubbard Made an Awkward Mistake When Writing ‘5 Foot 9′
Tyler Hubbard's debut solo single, "5 Foot 9," is a sweet song about the love he has for his wife, Hayley. He describes her in detail in the lyrics, singing, "Five-foot-nine, brown eyes and a sundress," but there's one pretty important detail he got wrong.
As Hubbard explains to Taste of Country Nights' Evan Paul, Hayley Hubbard is not 5 ft, 9 in. tall.
"I actually missed it. My wife is actually 5' 10", so she’s even a little taller," the country star explains.
"I went home that night after writing that song, and I asked her, I said, 'Babe, how tall are you again exactly?' She said, 'Oh, I'm 5' 10",'" he says. "I was like, 'Oh boy. Here's a song I wrote today honey and part of it's about you. I might have missed it by an inch.'"
Hubbard explains that he and co-writers Jaren Johnston and Chase McGill chose to keep the song as "5 Foot 9" because her real height doesn't rhyme as well with the other words the chorus. The singer also says Hayley signed off on the track from the beginning, despite the slight height error.
"Typically I go home after writing a song and show her the demo from the day, and she’s very brutally honest with me and her reaction is usually not over the top, and I think that this one was a pretty high energy response," says Hubbard. "It was a good sign for sure. She’s got good ears."
To hear more from Tyler Hubbard — including what he's planning for his solo career, listen to the full Taste of Country Nights interview or read a transcript here.
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