Here’s How Sam Hunt Wriggled Out of a “Rhyming Straightjacket”

Sam Hunt Felt Like He Got Strapped in an Unexpected “Rhyming Straightjacket” While Writing “Outskirts”

Sam Hunt shares some awkward “behind-the-scenes” moments, from the time he was writing “Outskirts” – which is climbing the charts.

Sam had the song idea for a while.  But it wasn’t until he focused on making new music that it was written and ready for recording.  But no one knew it would take four guys to find two words.

Sam and Josh Osborne, who co-wrote the track with Jerry Flowers and Zach Crowell, faced an unexpected conundrum.  While they were chatting on the phone, Sam and Josh realized they unintentionally wrote themselves into a “rhyming straightjacket.”  That’s a term coined by Bob Regan, one of Sam’s co-writers.  “I was missing one line,” Sam recalls.

“We needed one line; the rhyme was so unique that we could not find a rhyme.”  The word was “outskirts,” to which he rhymed the phrase “house first,” in the chorus.

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