Jerrod Niemann on How New Ballad Rethinks Country’s ‘Hey Girl’ Songs
Jerrod Niemann‘s new song “God Made a Woman” seems to reflect an evolution for both the country singer and the genre itself. A mature declaration of love, Niemann’s first single off his upcoming album for Curb Records makes the point of not addressing the object of his affection with the lyrically overused “girl.”
“There is that moment when you’re in high school or college where you might define a girl as ‘damn, she’s fine,’ in three words, but now you become a man and you can define her as ‘good job, God,'” says Niemann. “There’s that spectrum between a boy and a man and this song is the 2.0 of me evolving from a boy to a man.”
Niemann, who has scored Number Ones with “Lover, Lover” and “Drink to That All Night,” says that “God Made a Woman” also dovetails with his role of husband. He married wife Morgan Petek in 2014.
“I was definitely one of those guys who swore off marriage and thought it was a trick, a trap, you’re going get duped,” he says, “but I’m the first to say, ‘I’m wrong.'”
Written by Michael Ray, Joel Shewmake and Jeff Hyde, the ballad is a bit of a wild card for a first single in an era where up-tempo songs rule on radio. But Niemann says that’s what makes “God Made a Woman” such a breath of fresh air.
“I’ve gotten to know a lot of guys and girls at radio and they prefer faster, up-tempo songs so when you’re driving down the road, you crank it up and roll down the windows and have a good time,” he says. “I’ve released nothing but fast party songs for the last five years and there are more layers to the onion than just that.”