Beat This Summer

Brad Paisley penned this song for his Wheelhouse album in the early hours with Luke Laird and Chris DuBois. "That song we literally wrote at one o'clock in the morning," Laird told Roughstock: "For me, I've already been asleep for a few hours by then! Brad and many artists are on different schedules. They play shows, and then they stay up late. We actually wrote that out at Brad's house. Chris DuBois, who I've written with before, was like, 'Hey man, what do you think about maybe writing with me and Brad?' I was like, 'I'd be honored to do it if he wants to do it!'

"I drove out there to his house," continued Laird. "It was Chris DuBois, Brad and me. We were sitting there for a little while, playing around on some different things. He's got his guest house set up as a studio. He cut his whole album out there. So we went upstairs to the studio, and I had this track started. He and Chris had that title. One of them had that, and he was like this music is perfect for that. After banging our heads for a few hours, we got on that song, and he really took to it."

Regarding the song's meaning, Laird told Roughstock: "I thought it was cool because I've never really heard him do a song musically like this, but it sounds very authentic to him. The song lets me think of different relationships you have ... like summertime things that you have growing up or a summer fling type deal. The song really captures that. It's got great lyrics with a Brad Paisley vibe."

Paisley explained, the song, "is meant to look at one of those love affairs that happens over the course of a summer. Where a guy and a girl fall in love and realize that this is going to be the best summer of their lives. I've thought that many a different summer in my lifetime that 'I'm never going to beat this one.'"