Country Strong

This is the first single and title track from the movie Country Strong. The song is performed by the film's star, Gwyneth Paltrow, and it was written by the husband and wife songwriting team of Jennifer Hanson and Mark Nesler plus Nashville songwriter Tony Martin.

Paltrow explained in an interview with The Boot how she related to the song: "When I first heard the demo, I felt very connected to it. I'm not from the South, and I'm not from the country, but my father, who I was incredibly close to - 'I'm country strong like the ground I grew up on' - that, to me, is the foundation that my father [late producer Bruce Paltrow] laid for me. He passed away, but I think of my father every day, in every decision that I make. I feel like I'm an independent, capable person because of the foundation he gave me, and of the values he imparted to me, and we had such a strong family. So I thought of my dad when I heard it. The lyrics are very empowering and especially in the context of the story of the movie."

Paltrow told The Boot how the message of the song helped her overcome nerves during the recording sessions: "I felt very liberated when I was singing it, because I was petrified! It was the first track that I cut, and I worked on it with my singing teacher in London for months before I flew here and was recording it with Byron Gallimore [Tim McGraw's longtime producer]. I felt, 'I don't know if I can pull this off, this music, it's serious. It's great. It's hard to sing.' But when I first started doing it, I felt very liberated by it, like, 'No, I can do this. I have to find it within myself.' And that's 'Country Strong.' It's like, 'You can rise above it and you can do it. It's a challenge. It's not your comfort zone.' I was really happy with the way it turned out. It's been such a surprise for me; just the idea that I could hear myself on country radio, especially now that I'm such a fan of country music, and it's come later in my life. It's like a dream. It's surreal."