Chris Young loves a sad song in country music. Young includes “I Hope It’s Okay” on his latest I Didn’t Come Here To Leave record, a song he wrote with Dave Fenley, Davis Forney, and Austin Machado. The song says in part, “So I wish that you’d be there to walk her down / And I wasn’t talking to a stone right now / You’ll always be the first man in her eyes / You know you set that bar real high  But I promise that I’ll always keep her safe / I know you won’t be there to give her away / So I hope it’s okay.”

“I do feel like sometimes, when you have something that heavy, it’s like, ‘Okay, now onto a drinking song,’ Young tells Apple Music (via Entertainment Focus). “I do that during my live show after I play ‘Drowning,’ I just give it a beat. And everybody’s sad and …I actively say on the mic, sometimes I’ll be like, ‘Well, now half the crowd is sad. Sorry.’ But sad songs in country music go together like peanut butter and jelly. I think that one of my favorite things about country is, you can have a sad song, you can have a fun song, you can have a love song.

“You could have a love song to tequila,” he adds. “You could have whatever you want about life. As long as it resonates with people, it can come in whatever order you want.”

On I Didn’t Come Here To Leave, “I Hope It’s Okay” is followed by “I Feel A Cold One Coming On.” It’s an order that makes perfect sense to Young.

“I think that was why I put those two back to back was, ‘I Hope It’s Okay’ is really heavy, very gravity, meaningful song,” Young says. “And then I was like, ‘We’re going to get back to party mode now for just a second with [I Feel a Cold One Coming On].'”

The Story Behind Chris Young’s “I Hope It’s Okay”

“I Hope It’s Okay” is, heartbreakingly, based on a true story.

“‘I Hope It’s Okay’ is really special to me because I wrote that with a couple of guys,” Young says. “But one of the guys is Austin Machado who, him and his wife…I’m actually the godfather to their child. And when they got married, I sang at the reception for them, and all of my friend group was there. [His wife] … she brought this idea to him. She was like, ‘This could be cool. I want to share this,’ because that’s what she went through, as her dad wasn’t there when she got married. But I just thought that was such an amazing thing for her to trust us with in a room to write that song.”

What Chris Young Says About ‘I Didn’t Come Here To Leave’

I Didn’t Come Here To Leave is Young’s tenth studio album, and his first on Black River Entertainment. The Grand Ole Opry member chose the title track because of how it feels, and also the statement it makes about his future in country music.

“I think that definitely taps into that atmosphere, and just a good time vibe,” Young tells Apple Music / Today’s Country Radio. “And it’s a good way to kick the record off. So, that was a fun one to write and even more fun to sing. I want it, right out of the box, I want you having a good time listening to this record. And it goes a lot of places, obviously there’s breakup songs, there’s meaningful songs, there’s love songs, there’s all of those things in there. So it’s nice to come out swinging with something fun.”

All The Songs And Songwriters On Chris Young’s I Didn’t Come Here To Leave Album

1. Some Around Here (Chris Young/Chris DeStefano/Jason Duke/Josh Hoge)
2. I Didn’t Come Here To Leave (Chris Young/Kyle Fishman/Dallas Davidson)
3. Good As Yours (Chris Young/Jonathan Smith/Jordan Walker/Trannie Anderson)
4. I Hope It’s Okay (Chris Young/Dave Fenley/Davis Forney/Austin Machado)
5. I Feel A Cold One Coming On (Chris Young/Tyler Reeve/Trent Tomlinson/Josh Gleave)
6. ‘Til The Last One Dies (Ben Hayslip/Seth Mosley/Jordan Walker)
7. Pour Some Whiskey On It (Chris Young/Jessie Jo Dillon/Steven Lee Olsen/Jimmy Robbins)
8. Boots On The Ground (Chris Young/Chris DeStefano/Jason Duke/Josh Hoge)
9. Tin Roof (Ty Graham/Adam Wood/ Trenton Michael Fisher)
10. Dirt And Daisies (Chris Young/Casey Brown/Deric Ruttan/Parker Welling)
11. Just Keep Living (Chris Young/Chris DeStefano/Jason Duke/Josh Hoge)
12. Jesus, Momma, Country Radio (Chris Young/Chris DeStefano/Taylor Phillips/Josh Phillips)
13. What Would You Take (Doug Johnson/Steve Diamond)
14. Brake Lights (Chris Young/ Hillary Lindsey/Ty Graham/Jesse Frasure)