For a brief moment in her career, Lainey Wilson writing a song like “4x4xU” seemed unlikely. The country star and actor didn’t typically dabble in sappy love songs, and she especially hasn’t been one to make her personal life available to the public eye. But things changed for Wilson while she was writing and recording her 2024 album, Whirlwind.
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The songwriting and talent, of course, have always been there. It’s her love life that changed. Inspired by her years-long relationship with former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodgins, Wilson said her sentimental song rolled out of her in a matter of minutes.
Lainey Wilson Describes Songwriting Process Behind “4x4xU”
A songwriter rarely knows exactly how a new song will shake out. Some songs take minutes to write. Others take years. And while following the muse’s timeline is part of the mysticism of the songwriting craft, most songwriters would agree that it’s hard to beat the feeling of a song falling out of you in one fell swoop. Such was the case for Lainey Wilson’s “4x4xU,” which she released as a single in September 2024. The song is also on her full-length album, Whirlwind, released one month earlier.
“That one feels right,” Wilson explained during an October 2024 appearance on the Broken Record Podcast. “I guess that’s the word. We wrote that song in 30 minutes. I don’t normally write songs in 30 minutes. I’ll write for six hours and maybe come back to it the next day cause I just want to go through it with a fine-tooth comb. But this was not one that I feel like I needed to do that. I feel like it just was what it was. When we got into the studio, [producer] Jay Joyce does his thing…makes it country but makes it broad.”
“When we went in to cut the record,” Wilson continued, “I said before we went in, ‘I want to feel that thump. These are the songs that I wrote for arenas and stadiums. Think about that when you pick up your guitar and when you’re playing your drums. Think about that. I want to feel that thing.”
The Country Star Didn’t Always Think She’d Write A Song Like That
Ever since she first broke onto the scene, Lainey Wilson has presented herself as a strong, independent woman who didn’t need to rely on the “lovesick and forlorn woman” routine to make people hear her voice. But the love bug tends to bite us when we least expect it, and that’s precisely what happened when the country star began her relationship with former NFL quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges. Suddenly, love songs didn’t seem so far outside of the realm of possibility for Wilson.
During a 2024 concert in Nashville, Wilson shared this change of heart with the crowd while introducing “4x4xU.” “The truth is, I write what I know, and I finally found a man worth writing about,” Wilson said. “So, you know, it’s a love song because y’all probably thought, ‘Dang, she ain’t got it in her, she ain’t got it in her.’ But I do. I got me a cheerleader.”
Indeed, when you have the right cheerleader on your sideline, anything feels possible—even writing a hit country song in half an hour.
Photo by Rich Polk/Billboard via Getty Images
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