Why George Strait's 'Easy Come East Go' wasn't initially an easy song to write

Songwriter Aaron Barker had two No. 1 hits under his belt as a solo songwriter, so when a publisher suggested to him a "co-write" with another writer, he wasn't sure what to make of it. Thankfully, his first co-write was with Dean Dillon and the two cranked out "Easy Come East Go," which would become a George Strait cut. Barker sat down with Nashville Songwriters Association International Executive Director Bart Herbison to talk about how it all came together.

Aaron Barker: "The publisher called and said 'You need to be doing some co-writing.' And Bart, I did not know what that term meant. I had never heard of that and I had always thought of my writing as my version of visual art, but using words instead of colors and paints and trying to paint pictures with words. And I just thought of it that way. And when they said 'co-writing,' I said what is that? They told me that it was, you know, you take a writer like yourself that's had some hits, we get another writer that's had some hits, we put you in a room together and you write us a hit. And my response was, 'Well, I have never bought a painting with two names on the bottom of it."

But Barker decided to give it a try and met Dillon at a hotel outside of San Antonio.

AB: "So he shows up at this crazy hotel and we go in and we don't know each other. We knew of each other because we'd had George Strait songs, but we didn't know each other. So here he is, he shows up, and we sit opposite each other and in the hotel room on the floor with our backs against the wall facing each other and we do this thing called, well now I call it 'co-staring' because it's just awkward."

To break the ice and end the 'co-staring', Dillon and Barker go for a ride in Dillon's old Pontiac convertible. Dillon begins to open up to Barker about going through a hard divorce and Barker thinks maybe there won't be a co-write that day since Dillon seems down and out. Instead, he offers up to write about what Dillon is experiencing.

AB: "As we talked about it, it kind of just evolved into this 'well, why don't we write about how it could be instead of how it is or should be or the way we wish it was?' A different take on this breakup thing, you know, whether it's a breakup or divorce or whatever it is... We went back to the cheap hotel and sat in the room and grabbed our guitars and started playing and and Dean just he came up with this easy come, easy go thing. And boy, what a way to look at a breakup, you know?"

BH: "So professionals know you can sit down and write a song for an artist, even Dean writing for Strait. And they don't always cut it and usually they never cut it. But man, what a prototypical Strait song. Did y'all sit down with George in mind that day?"

AB: "I think Dean always has George in mind. I'm like you said, I had not had much luck targeting any of, 'they're looking for this. Let's write that again.' I'm a student. Dean is just an absolute pro. He's a great writer. I'm always learning and I was learning that day as well and I'm still learning. But he, I think he had George in mind because that was just such a natural fit for him. They're great friends and so I got to be there for this."

BH: "So tell me about hearing George was going to cut it and tell me the first time you heard it, Aaron."

AB: "First of all, if I can tell you a funny story… In that song there's 'vaya con Dios' which means 'Go with God' in Spanish. Well, Dean didn't know that. And he asked me, in the write, he said, 'You speak a little Spanish, right?' I did. I grew up in South Texas... I knew enough to get me in trouble. Dean asked me, he said, 'What are some good ways to say goodbye?'... "I said 'vaya con Dios' and he goes, 'Is that something bad in Spanish?' I said 'No, Dean.' I didn't tell him what it meant. So this is getting to your point. So we discussed that and and he called me two weeks later he said, 'Look Aaron, I'm going to demo this thing. Is 'vaya con Dios' something bad? Is it going to make anybody mad? Because George Strait knows Spanish, he's going to know this here.' And I said, no, it's not anything bad. It's a great way to say goodbye. So he demoed it, but he worried about that so much."

Backstory: Story Behind the Song: George Strait's 'Baby Blue'

Barker would go on to write more hits for George Strait, including the No. 1 hit "Baby Blue" which would lead to a working relationship with Blue Bell Ice Cream.

AB: "They called me right after 'Baby Blue' and said 'Do you think you could write a love song about our ice cream?' They just give me a concept and they turn me loose. Let me write. I've probably done 10 or 12 over the last 30 years. About every three or four years they'll update it. It has been such a privilege. They're such a great company."

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 of our subjects, visit www.tennessean.com/music.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why George Strait's 'Easy Come East Go' wasn't an easy song to write