This week on Backstage Country, Chris Lane joined Elaina Smith as guest co-host. Lane opened up about his brand-new album, Shade Tree. It’s safe to say: this one’s a little deeper, a little twangier, and a whole lot more personal. With his latest album, Lane’s showing a different side which includes a good ol’ fashioned breakup track.
Chris Lane Talks About “What Am I Supposed to Tell the Dog”
Smith shared that his song “What Am I Supposed to Tell the Dog” is the best take she’s heard in a while on a breakup song. We know what you’re thinking: Chris Lane? Writing a breakup song? Isn’t this the guy who gave us “Big, Big Plans” and made half the country sob during his proposal video? Yes, he is.
Chris Lane - What Am I Supposed To Tell The Dog (Official Video)
He continued, “I got outside, I was mowing the yard that day, and I really got to thinking about that. I'm like, ‘That could be a song. Why have I never heard that idea written before?’ So, I just wrote it down in my notes and tried to think about how to write it while I was mowing the yard. I just write down, ‘What am I supposed to tell the dog?’ Now, I didn't know that was going to end up being the title, but three years after I wrote that down, I was writing with Jameson Rogers, Seth Mosley, who also produced some songs on this record, and Lydia Vaughn. And through this idea, I've had this forever, but I feel like there could be something to it. I threw it out early in the riot, and everybody was like, ‘Ooh, I love that, but how do we write that?’ Like we really need to think about that. And then I threw out another song I did called ‘Problematic,’ which is on my record.”
A 30-Minute Song
Lane shared they almost forgot “What Am I Supposed to Tell the Dog,” if it weren’t for Rogers: “As we were about to leave, Jameson was like, ‘Hey, the 'What Am I Supposed to Tell the Dog' idea? I've got to be a songwriter on that. Can we at least just sit down and write a few words so I can know that we can come back to it?’ We sat down, and I swear, 30 minutes later, this song was done. It just fell out so fast. And by far one of my favorite songs, I've ever written.”
