Cody Johnson‘s newest single, “The Fall,” is already getting close to the Top 40. The song, from his Leather Deluxe Edition album, was written by Bobby Pinson, Ray Fulcher and Jeremy Stover, and is the follow-up to his No. 1 hit, “I’m Gonna Love You,” with Carrie Underwood.

“’The Fall’ is one of those songs that I feel like should be on a movie soundtrack,” Johnson says. “It should be on a movie soundtrack because it paints that picture of — you can see the struggle to get to the success. And I think for me, I picture guys like Michael Jordan. You see all the work and all the tired and the angry and the tears and the blood, and you get to the successful moment. And you can even apply that to relationships too, but it has that that overall movie quality about it.”

Why Cody Johnson Recorded ‘The Fall’

Johnson is able to write plenty of his own songs. But he knew as soon as he heard “The Fall” that he wanted to include it on his latest album.

“When I heard the song, it sounded like the story of a lot of different people,” Johnson tells Billboard. “It is kind of cowboy, and it is authentic to me, as ‘The ride was worth the fall,’ you know. ‘I’d climb back on again.’ But it also has this relativity to a lot of other different people and their story. It’s a very unique thing that I couldn’t ignore.”

Johnson knew right away he liked “The Fall.” So it’s a bit surprising that it took Johnson’s producer, Trent Willmon, to convince him to record the song, since he was afraid the message was too similar to Johnson’s No. 1 hit, “‘Til You Can’t.”

“His exact words were, ‘You’re at a point in your career where, if you want to record songs to try them on, record them,'” Johnson recalls. “Try them on, and if you don’t like them afterward, we’re good. We just wasted a little time in the studio, and it’s okay.'”

How Cody Johnson Recorded ‘The Fall’

Johnson recalls the demo sounding a bit more polished than the finished product, an intentional decision on his part.

“It needed that kind of ‘pump your chest out and be proud’ aspect,” Johnson says. “When we explained that to the band, I’d been kind of playing with the little acoustic riff at the beginning. Obviously, the players that played on the track were better than me, so they took it and ran with it.”

After the success of “I’m Gonna Love You,” Johnson wasn’t sure what he wanted to release as his next single. Fortunately, his fans knew.

“It was not a single,” Johnson shares. “We hadn’t pushed it, and I started noticing when I played ‘The Fall,’ as soon as I started playing the guitar [intro], every cell phone in the audience came up. After the first chorus, when I sing ‘The ride was worth the fall,’ the crowd goes insane.”

Photo Credit: CMA / Acacia Evans