Tyler Hubbard Shares the Story Behind His Single, ‘Park,’ Reveals How His Songwriting Has Changed Since Becoming A Father

Tyler Hubbard recently took Country Now and other outlets into the writer’s room of his new single, “Park,” from his latest solo album, Strong. While discussing how the song came to be during a writer’s retreat in 30A Florida with Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley and Canaan Smith, Hubbard shared that the narrative brought him back to a particular memory from his teenage years and led him to reflect on his life now as a parent of three. 

These songwriters were hard at work on their retreat and ended up with around 12 songs in just three days. Hubbard admitted that among all the tunes they penned at that time, “Park” was one that stood out to him right from the start. 

“We started with the chorus and pretty quickly I was like, ‘man, this feels like a hit and just a fun song.’ We sat up there and probably wrote it in probably less than three hours, maybe even quicker if I know how Gorley works,” he shared.

The upbeat tune finds the country star illustrating the temptation between a couple who hopped in the car for a late-night drive. On one hand, they have the chance to travel from the dirt road to the city and explore their need for speed, but on the other, they could pull over and just enjoy time in each other’s arms while counting the “midnight windshield stars” and waiting for the sun to rise.  

While working through this storyline, Hubbard had a flashback to when he was 15 years old and got caught parked in a church parking lot with his girlfriend one night. 

“I do remember stopping and being like, ‘guys, this is so funny, but this has taken me back to being 15.’ I can really connect a personal story to this whole concept and just express that story a bit and how real it was for me and how probably everybody in some capacity had experienced that. If they haven’t, they certainly should. So we just dove in. It was a fun idea, it was cool, it was lighthearted and something we that I really felt like I wanted to play live and something that would make people happy and feel good,” he explained. 

Using Lessons From His Childhood To Teach His Own Kids

The “Dancin’ In the Country” singer went on to say that after being caught, he returned home to face his dad with a cop by his side. His father’s words have led him to reflect more deeply on his own parenting style.

“I’ll never forget one thing my dad did tell me that night, which at the time I was kind of like, ‘yeah, I guess you kind have a point,’ but when I got home, he was like, ‘son, next time you want to make out, just come home and do it in the driveway.’ And I was like, ‘oh, okay.’ That would’ve saved me a lot of trouble,” Hubbard joked before continuing. “I liked his approach on that, to be honest. He disciplined me, but also kind of just reminded me that home was a safe place and he’d rather me be home getting into anything that I was going to get into. So I’ll probably use that as well as my kids get older and just kind of encourage them to be around the house.”

Being More Conscious About The Kind Of Music He Makes

It’s safe to say that becoming a parent has changed Hubbard’s life in many different ways, including his approach to songwriting. He now takes into account the realization that as his kids get older, they will start to listen to his music more carefully, thus making him more mindful of how his songs will reflect on him. So while he is more conscious than ever of what he chooses to record, Hubbard assures that he plans to continue making music that’s authentic to him. 

“It’s funny because I do think about that quite a bit, especially songs that I record and what that’s going to mean for them and how that’s going to reflect as a parent and all those things go into consideration. Sometimes it may impact my decision, but ultimately, I want to stay true to the heart behind the music that I want to make. And a lot of it touches on things that could potentially be a bit inappropriate for a 4-year-old or a 6-year-old, obviously. It’s also opening doors for cool conversations that are real and necessary and good to have that you may not otherwise have.”

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STRONG World Tour Launches This Fall

Tyler Hubbard is also gearing up to kick off his STRONG World Tour on September 6 in Indianapolis. The trek will include dates across the U.S., Canada and Australia before Hubbard returns home to close things out with a show at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. 

Fans can expect this run to be really “intentional” as he aims to tell the story of his life, from childhood all the way up to the present day of his musical journey as a solo artist. 

“This being my first headline tour in the States, I’m really just taking a lot of pride in that and putting together the best show that I can and the band’s doing the same thing. They’ve really created lots of cool moments, lots of cool transitions and intros and just stuff that elevates the show…I’m excited to play these smaller venues and these clubs that I fell in love with playing live shows in the first time, and we’re going to make the most of it and make sure we don’t wish it away too quickly.”