How Faith Hill's 'The Way You Love Me' came to be written: Story Behind The Song

Songwriters Keith Follese and Michael Dulaney may have written a No. 1 hit song recorded by Faith Hill, but prior to the writing session that produced "The Way You Love Me," the two didn't even know each other.

In this week's Story Behind the Song, Nashville Songwriters Association International Executive Director Bart Herbison, asks the two hit writers how the song came to be and how it landed in the hands of Faith Hill's team. It took an unlikely connection for the two writers to end up in a writing room together.

Follese was coaching the son of Dulaney's publisher Pat Finch (of Famous Music) in Little League.

"Pat came up to me and said, 'I got this guy I want you to write with,' Follese said. "And in those days and even probably still, publishers love to mix writers up and see what the brew turns into. He asked if I would do it and I said 'absolutely' so he set up the appointment and I think that was the first day we met."

Tim McGraw sings to his wife, Faith Hill, during the New Year's Eve concert on Dec. 31, 1999 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

But the creative process began way before the writers' room: It began when the two met for lunch prior to their write to get to know each other a bit and remove any awkwardness that might creep in.

"We didn't know each other, but we're used to that," Dulaney added. "That's our job description. You walk in and meet a stranger and go into a room, shut the door and hopefully a song comes out. And it sure did that day. People ask if you have to live in Nashville to be a songwriter and my answer is yes, because of days like me and Keith writing 'The Way You Love Me. We didn't know each other until we met for lunch."

'I either wrote one of the best songs we ever wrote or it's the worst thing I've ever done'

Follese said he had listened to some of Dulaney's songs prior to meeting him and felt they were very deep and introspective.

"I still got nervous and I still even to this day, can get a little nervous walking into a room," he said. "I didn't know what we were going to write and I think the reason that song changes key so often is I just got nervous and kept writing and asking, 'is this any good?'"

He added that when he got home, his wife asked how the write went.

"And I said, 'well, I either wrote one of the best songs we ever wrote or it's the worst thing I've ever done,'" he said. "And I really didn't know."

The song was released in February of 2000 by country superstar Faith Hill and spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The song was on Hill's "Breathe" album which won a Grammy Award for Best Country Album.

It's all about perspective

The song flips the narrative a bit coming from the perspective of the female wishing the man could see what the relationship is like from her perspective, saying:

If I could grant you one wishI'd wish you could see the way you kissOoh, I love watching you, babyWhen you're driving me crazy

"I'd never heard a song about somebody saying they love the way somebody loves them and watching them love them back," Follese said. "I'd never heard that said in a song. It's simple lyrics, but I thought the hook was really interesting."

The song definitely resonated because it crossed over from country to pop and even into dance music, eliciting several dance remixes making it to the top five of charts across the world.

About the series 

In partnership with Nashville Songwriters Association International, the "Story Behind the Song" video interview series features Nashville-connected songwriters discussing one of their compositions. For full video interviews with all our subjects, visit www.tennessean.com/music. 

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Faith Hill's 'The Way You Love Me' came to be written: Story Behind The Song