I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight

In 1997 Scotty Emerick met Toby Keith, and in 2001 they enjoyed their first collaborative #1 Country hit with this song. "That was one of the first songs Toby and I wrote together," says Scotty. "We've spent a lot of time together the last few years, and it's kind of like your roommate, because we've traveled everywhere, same old bus. And I've always got a guitar around me, so I'm always playing, and we're always trying to find a good idea musically or lyrically, and just build it. I guess we're constantly doing it. There's a bunch of songs that you don't hear that were half finished, or just have one verse and that's it." The collaboration is something that comes naturally to Scotty, who is as easy-going and good-natured as one is likely to find. He says when he or Toby gets a good idea for a song, "We kind of just discuss it amongst ourselves, lyrically discuss the idea, and how to write it, how to go about it. Like a rough draft. And then we try to start the music to it, and usually start a chorus and write the chorus. And then we kind of back up and start a four- or five-line verse. Sometimes the music comes at the same time that the lyrics do, and then we kind of work on them together. Sometimes it falls out of the sky, sometimes we really have to chase after what we're trying to get. Sometimes it doesn't work at all. It's really hard to explain, because there's so many different variables that spark something. But having the idea really is one of the keys. Having the idea first, and getting a chorus of it."

On his website, Toby Keith says, "I used to make my living in clubs, so I had ample opportunity to watch a lot of 'tomcats' hit on the ladies. The woman in this song says, 'Well, I don't like bars and I don't usually do this.' It's not saying go and get into bed; it's saying skip the B.S. and all the other chapters and the heck with why we're here; let's have an understanding - this is about right this minute. We're lonely; let's talk. It may not be politically correct, but it's honest, so in that regard, it's very representative of who I am. Scotty Emerick, Toby Keith's writing partner, backs that up, saying, "We were just trying to make fun of this guy. It's just about a guy running from commitment."

Although a lot of the songs that Scotty writes are set in a bar situation, it doesn't necessarily mean he frequents bars. He writes those types of songs, he says with a laugh, "because they're easy. There's just such a game atmosphere to doing songs in a bar atmosphere, because there's so many things to pick apart and write about. And it makes for a cool song. And everybody knows that everybody goes into them sooner or later, whether it's a bar/restaurant or whatever." This song was written with the humorous flair that has become an identifying trait with Toby's and Scotty's music. "We just wanted to try to make it cute, but not too cute, just funny," says Scotty. "Just about this guy goin', 'Listen, I'm just here for... you know..." (Check out our interview with Scotty Emerick.)