Story Behind the Song: Tim McGraw, ‘Kristofferson’

In March of 2008, Tim McGraw released "Kristofferson" as the fifth single from his 2007 album, Let It Go. Written by Reed Nielsen and Anthony Smith, the song tells the story of a man who returns home to find his love gone, and only a short note explaining the split -- so the man opts to "open a bottle of 90 proof and write a song for you, like Kristofferson would do."

"Kristofferson" earned a spot in the Top 20 on the country charts (No. 16) following its release. Below, McGraw tells The Boot about why he selected to record the tune.

Kris Kristofferson is one of my heroes. He's one of the most talented songwriters that ever, ever put pen to paper, and he's also one of the coolest guys around. I mean, my wife [Faith Hill] just swoons over him! [Laughs]

So he's just a great, cool guy, and when the song came around, I knew I wanted to record it. Plus, it's sort of tongue-in-cheek, and it's a lot of fun.

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