Ryan Hurd Explains Why He Opted Not to Record ‘What If I Never Get Over You’

At a No. 1 party celebrating the success of Lady Antebellum's chart-topping hit "What If I Never Get Over You," the song's writers -- Laura Veltz, Ryan Hurd, Sam Ellis and Jon Green -- reflected on the process of penning the track, and explained how it ultimately landed in the country trio's laps.

"When we were writing, I don't think any of us were like, 'Lady A, this is the one for them,'" reveals Veltz. "Honestly, I think all of us were secretly trying to write this for Ryan."

In addition to his work as a songwriter, Hurd has a busy career as a recording artist, so it makes sense that any time he's in a writers' room, his colleagues consider the possibility that he might cut the track they end up writing. "What If I Never Get Over You" was no exception -- but Hurd says he's got no regrets about his decision to pass the song along to another artist.

"The easiest answer is that I don't feel like I have a platform at the moment for a song like this, the way Lady A does," he explains of his decision not to record "What If I Never Get Over You." "They've recorded a couple of my songs where they kind of looked at me and said, 'Why didn't you do do this?' [And I said], 'Well, because you can make it a hit.'"

A mid-tempo, harmony-rich ballad, "What If I Never Get Over You" was far from a sure thing at country radio. In fact, when he and his co-writers finished the track, Hurd remembers thinking that he loved the song, but also that it would likely never be a huge success.

"I remember thinking that it was a really powerful song, and thinking, 'No one will ever record that,'" he recalls. "And I was very wrong. Everybody else in this room believed in it before I did, because it's not the kind of song that you generally get on the radio, right? But I'm very thankful that I was not correct."

Plus, Hurd adds, he'll always want to write songs for other country singers to perform, no matter how successful he gets as an artist in his own right. "I've always loved writing. I came [to Nashville] to write songs for other artists and be a songwriter," he offers.

"I think about what I do as two feet, two shoes, right? You've got a left and a right," Hurd continues. "I can't imagine being an artist without being a writer."