Nate Ruess was inspired by his hero Van Morrison when recording his vocals for this song. He told Rolling Stone: "Jeff (Bhasker, producer) just did an amazing string arrangement, and to me it had a Van Morrison vibe to it. That part where I say, 'I just wanted you so bad' was supposed to be much shorter and was a bridge in the original 'Grand Romantic,' and then Jeff had stretched it out and turned it into this beautiful piece of music so I just freestyled over it with my best Van Morrison impression."
Asked by Digital Spy why he titled the album after this song, Ruess replied: "I just thought that it encompassed the album. I think it feels like myself or maybe how you always see the best version of yourself - so I see myself as a grand romantic in my relationships or even just the way that I want to have a positive outlook about the world."
Ruess explained the inspiration for the album artwork during a Reddit AMA. "I always thought it'd be cool to do a portrait," he said. "So I google-searched just the word 'portrait.'" "And I was blown away by the paintings of an artist named Teresa Oaxaca," Ruess continued. "So I reached out and by the end of the week, was on a plane to DC so that she could put me into her weird magical world. And paint me."
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