Scotty McCreery puts his all into an emotional rendition of Jamey Johnson's nostalgic country music hit, "In Color." The song, co-written by James Otto and Lee Thomas Miller was Johnson's first top ten hit. It was originally set to be recorded by Trace Atkins until Johnson decided he loved the track so much he wanted to record it himself.
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According to The Boot, the concept of the song came to them from the phrase "in color."
"You look for the phrase that gives you a reason to write a song," says Miller. "And I was telling Jamey a story about some event that I'd been to, and it was a story ... about Nashville back in the '60s and some pictures in black and white ... I'm talking, and he's kind of zoned out ... and he said, 'There's your idea. You think that's somethin', you should've seen it in color.'" Miller added, "Those ideas are hard to come by ... At that point, just don't mess it up; just write it correctly."
Featured on Johnson's 2008 record That Lonesome Song, "In Color" went on to win Song of the Year Awards at both the 2008 ACM Awards and the 2009 CMA Awards. The track made a huge impact on McCreery, who is also known for his soulful, deep vocals.
"I picked 'In Color' by Jamey Johnson and always loved the song. This was actually a song I sang in my first competition singing-wise back in 2009, actually the first time I sang outside of church. So this song, in a weird sort of way, got me started singing out in public so I like this song really," McCreery told Sounds Like Nashville.
Watch his heartfelt performance below.
"In Color" Lyrics
I said grandpa whats this picture here
It's all black and white
It ain't real clear is that you there?
He said yeah I was eleven
Times were tough back in '35
That's me and uncle Joe just tryin' to survive
A cotton farm, in a great depression
If it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other
You should've seen it in color
Oh and this one here was taken overseas
In the middle of hell in 1943
In the winter time, you can almost see my breath
That was my tail gunner ole Johnny Magee
He was a high school teacher from New Orleans
And he had my back right through the day we left
If it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other
You should've seen it in color
A pictures worth a thousand words
But you can't see what those shades of gray keep covered
You should've seen it in colorThis one is my favorite one.
This is me and grandma in the summer sun
All dressed up the day we said our vows
You can't tell it here but it was hot that June
And that rose was red and her eyes were blue
And just look at that smile I was so proud
That's the story of my life right there in black and white
If it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other
You should've seen it in color
A pictures worth a thousand words
But you can't see what those shades of gray keep covered
You should have seen it in color
You should have seen it in color
Yeah a pictures worth a thousand words
But you can't see what those shades of gray keep covered
You should have seen it in color
This post was originally published on October 25, 2016.
