Darius Rucker reflected on his “first love,” and how that story inspired a song that appears on his most recent full-length record. The country star teamed up with pop hitmaker Ed Sheeran to write “Sara.”
“Sara” appears on Carolyn’s Boy, Rucker’s 14-track album that serves as a tribute to his late mother. The album arrived one year ago. Rucker marked the occasion by telling the story about the day he and Sheeran wrote “Sara” in a video shared on Instagram on Monday (October 7). Rucker said:
“One of the songs that a lot of people don’t know about, but it’s a song I love on the record, is ‘Sara.’ And I wrote that with Ed Sheeran. I’ve known Ed since he was on tour with Taylor [Swift] 12 years ago, (or) whatever it’s been now. I was writing with him and he asked me who my first love was, and I said my fifth grade girlfriend. We wrote all day, and he asked me a million questions about her, and then when I thought we were done, he was like, ‘I got this idea and we wrote ‘Sara.’ And it’s just a wonderful song. And that kid is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever been around.”
Carolyn’s Boy also included “Beers And Sunshine,” “Fires Don’t Start Themselves,” “‘Ol Church Hymn” featuring Chapel Hart, and more. The album artwork is a photo of Rucker’s mom, who was a nurse at Medical University of South Carolina. Rucker explained last year, per his record label, that he “wanted to name the record Carolyn’s Boy because Mom never got to see any of my success. She died before any of this happened, so it’s just another homage to the greatest woman I’ve ever known.”
1. Beers And Sunshine (Darius Rucker, JT Harding, Josh Osborne, Ross Copperman)
2. In This Together (Darius Rucker, Derek George, Bobby Hamrick, Joy Williams)
3. Never Been Over (Darius Rucker, Lee Thomas Miller, John Osborne)
4. Fires Don’t Start Themselves (Ben Hayslip, Jacob Rice, Dan Isbell)
5. Ol’ Church Hymn feat. Chapel Hart (Darius Rucker, Greylan James, Ben Hayslip, Josh Miller)
6. 7 Days (Darius Rucker, Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley, Charles Kelley)
7. Same Beer Different Problem (Darius Rucker, Topher Brown, Sarah Buxton, Brad Tursi)
8. Sara (Darius Rucker, Joel Crouse, Kyle Rife, Ed Sheeran)
9. Have A Good Time (Darius Rucker, Monty Criswell, Derek George, Bobby Hamrick)
10. Sure Would Have Loved Her (Darius Rucker, Wyatt Durrette, Levi Lowrey)
11. Southern Comfort (Chris LaCorte, Matt Rogers, Josh Osborne)
12. 3am in Carolina (Darius Rucker, Ross Copperman, Michael Hardy)
13. Lift Me Up (Temilade Openiyi, Robyn Fenty, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Goransson)
14. Stargazing (Darius Rucker, Brinley Addington, Jess Cayne, Matt Morrisey)