Cole Swindell‘s new song, “Forever to Me,” is out now. The Georgia native wrote it about his fiancée, Courtney Little, marking new territory for Swindell with the romantic tune.
“The story behind ‘Forever to Me’ is pretty crazy,” Swindell tells iHeartCountry. “I had a show in Texas, before the National Championship, back in January. Before we left, I called my buddy, Greylan James, and said, ‘Man, I just kind of feel like writing this weekend. I have a show in Texas. We’ll go to the National Championship, if you’re cool with that,'”
James enlisted Rocky Block, the the three made their way to Texas on Swindell’s bus, unaware that they would write what will likely be one of the biggest songs of Swindell’s career.
“After the show, we were back on the bus, and it was getting pretty late,” Swindell remembers. “We were about to go to bed, and we were talking about me getting married this year. They were like, ‘We can’t believe that. That’s so awesome. We should write your wedding song.’ They were kind of joking. For some reason, they were asking me about Courtney. I said, ‘Man, she’s forever to me.’ I didn’t even really know what I was saying. They looked at each other, and they’re like, ‘Forever to Me.’ We have to write that.'”
By the time Swindell was up the next morning, James already had a riff for the song, and Rocky had a few lyrics.
“I was like, ‘Man, this could be really special,'” Swindell recalls. “So instead of going to tailgate for the National Championship, I knew when you’re on an idea, and it’s something that meant that much to me, that we had to finish it. It just went on and on and started flowing. Every line hit me. By the time we were finished, literally we were late for the game, I think, but I remember telling everybody at the game I saw, ‘We just wrote one of the best songs of my life.'”
Swindell has never been in love like he is with Little, and he is rightfully proud of his ability to put pen to paper and share his heart in “Forever to Me.”
“As a songwriter, you want to write stuff that’s personal,” Swindell reflects. “But you also want to write stuff that other people can relate to. And to write a song about something I’ve never been in, until now — I didn’t know if I’d ever get to write a song like this. I just can’t wait for the fans and everybody to hear it, and to see how they relate to it, and who the song makes them think of.
“For this to be a love song,” he adds, “and for this to be my wedding song, I don’t know how it gets any bigger than that for me.”
Swindell and Little have yet to reveal a wedding date, although the 40-year-old previously said it would happen in 2024. When Swindell released “Forever to Me,” he said he wanted a song that meant something to both him and his future bride.
“I wanted to write a song that’s special to me and also special to Courtney,” Swindell said. “And to be living in a moment and write about it, I don’t think it ever gets more real than that. Although I will say I can’t believe that this is me writing this, this is me singing it. But I know there are other people out there that feel the exact same, and I think that’s why we all love country music.”
Find “Forever to Me” and all of Swindell’s music and tour dates at ColeSwindell.com.