Learn the Lyrics: Hard to Forget by Sam Hunt

“Hard to Forget” is a song by American country music singer Sam Hunt. It is the fourth single from his second studio album Southside. Hunt wrote the song with Ashley Gorley, Josh Osborne, Luke Laird, and Shane McAnally. The song contains a sample of Webb Pierce’s 1953 hit “There Stands the Glass”, whose writers Russ Hull, Audrey Grisham, and Mary Jean Shurtz are also credited.

The song’s concept began when Luke Laird presented Hunt with the idea of sampling older country music songs, something which Laird had done in his spare time but had never publicly released. Laird then heard “There Stands the Glass” and presented the idea to Hunt.

“It’s kinda funny how I can’t seem to get away from you
It’s almost like you don’t want me to

You’ve got a cold heart and the cold hard truth
I got a bottle of whiskey but I got no proof
That you showed up tonight in that dress
Just to mess with my head
So much for so long, out of sight, out of mind
Girl you’re lookin’ so good, it’s drivin’ me out of mine
Oh, you’re breakin’ my heart
Baby, you’re playin’ hard to forget”

The two had attempted to fit the sample to a song they were working on titled “One Whiskey Away”, but had no success. The two then presented the idea to Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, who were working with Hunt on a song titled “Hard to Forget”. All of the writers then took the partially-formed ideas from “One Whiskey Away” and “Hard to Forget”, and worked to incorporate new lyrics around the sample. Laird then assembled a demo which was given to Hunt’s producer Zach Crowell. Crowell adjusted the tempo of the song and added instrumentation from session musicians such as Ilya Toshinsky and Jenee Fleenor. The final recording also features vocal ad-libs from Hunt’s road band, as well as Gorley’s daughter and her friends.

Check out the music video for the track below:

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