Do n't take the girl - wikipedia Do n't take the girl `` Do n't Take the Girl '' Single by Tim McGraw from the album Not a Moment Too Soon B - side `` Welcome to the Club '' Released March 28, 1994 Format CD Single Recorded Genre Country Length 4 : 09 Label Curb Songwriter ( s ) Craig Martin Larry W. Johnson Producer ( s ) Byron Gallimore James Stroud Tim McGraw singles chronology `` Indian Outlaw '' ( 1994 ) `` Do n't Take the Girl '' ( 1994 ) `` Down on the Farm '' ( 1994 ) `` Indian Outlaw '' ( 1994 ) `` Do n't Take the Girl '' ( 1994 ) `` Down on the Farm '' ( 1994 ) `` Do n't Take The Girl '' is a song written by Craig Martin and Larry W. Johnson, and recorded by American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released in March 1994 as the second single from his album Not a Moment Too Soon. The song was McGraw 's fifth single overall, and his first number - one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. It reached number one on the Canadian country charts as well and it was also a successful pop song, reaching number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. Contents 1 Content 2 Critical reception 3 Music video 4 Charts and certifications 4.1 Peak positions 4.1. 1 End of year charts 4.2 Certifications 5 Parodies 6 References 7 External links Content The song tells the story of two young lovers dealing with difficult scenarios at three different stages in their lives. In each situation, the man does all he can to make sure that different people `` do n't take the girl. '' In the first verse, the young man ( Johnny ) is eight years old, about to go on a fishing trip with his father. A young, unnamed girl, apparently Johnny 's age, is also present, with a fishing pole in her hand. Johnny does n't want the girl to come fishing with them. So he begs his father to `` take any boy in the world / Daddy please, do n't take the girl ''. The song 's second verse finds Johnny and the girl ten years later, now as teenagers -- the two have since fallen in love and are now dating. As Johnny and his girlfriend are on a date at the `` picture show '' ( i.e., the movie theater ), they encounter a lone robber with a gun. The robber grabs the girl and tells Johnny to give in to his demands. Johnny surrenders his money, wallet, credit cards, a watch that his grandfather gave him, and even his car keys so that the girl would be safe ( in the music video, the crook 's only seen running away with the wallet ). Verse three takes place five years after the second verse. At this point, Johnny and the girl are now ( presumably ) married and expecting their first child, and the girl is eventually rushed to the hospital to have her baby delivered. The baby ( a boy ) is safely delivered, but the doctor informs Johnny that his wife is `` fading fast '' ( presumably dying of childbirth complications ). Johnny then collapses to his knees and prays to God that his wife survives, even asking that his own life be taken instead of his wife 's as long as she 's okay. The music video shows that Johnny 's wife does indeed survive. The song ends with a repeat of the song 's opening line : `` Johnny 's daddy was taking him fishin ' when he was eight years old ''. Critical reception Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that the song has the listeners `` crying in their beer in the dancehalls down in Texas. '' Price goes on to say that once radio gets a hold of it, the song will take off. Music video This was McGraw 's second music video. It was directed by Sherman Halsey. It shows 5 actors, playing Johnny, his dad, the girl, the robber & the doctor. Intercut with McGraw, performing in front of dark blue lights. Charts and certifications `` Do n't Take the Girl '' debuted at number 17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of April 2, 1994. Peak positions Chart ( 1994 ) Peak position Canada Country Tracks ( RPM ) US Billboard Hot 100 17 US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) End of year charts End of year chart ( 1994 ) Position Canada Country Tracks ( RPM ) 67 US Billboard Hot 100 87 US Country Songs ( Billboard ) 30 Certifications Region Certification Certified units / Sales United States ( RIAA ) ( physical ) Gold 700,000 United States ( RIAA ) ( digital ) 2 × Platinum 2,000,000 sales figures based on certification alone Parodies Country music parodist Cledus T. Judd recorded a parody of the song, called `` Please Take the Girl '', on his 1995 debut album Cledus T. Judd ( No Relation ). References Jump up ^ Billboard, April 30, 1994 Jump up ^ `` Top RPM Country Tracks : Issue 2506. '' RPM. Library and Archives Canada. June 20, 1994. Retrieved August 4, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Tim McGraw Chart History ( Hot 100 ) ''. Billboard. Jump up ^ `` Tim McGraw Chart History ( Hot Country Songs ) ''. Billboard. Jump up ^ `` RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1994 ''. RPM. December 12, 1994. Retrieved August 4, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Billboard Top 100 - 1994 ''. Archived from the original on 2009 - 03 - 01. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 27. Jump up ^ `` Best of 1994 : Country Songs ''. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 1994. Retrieved August 4, 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` American single certifications -- McGraw, Tim -- Don % 27t Take The Girl ''. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 5, 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH Jump up ^ `` Best - Selling Records of 1994 ''. Billboard. BPI Communications. 107 ( 3 ) : 57. January 21, 1995. ISSN 0006 - 2510. Retrieved May 5, 2015. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Tim McGraw singles Discography Not a Moment Too Soon `` Indian Outlaw '' `` Do n't Take the Girl '' `` Down on the Farm '' `` Not a Moment Too Soon '' `` Refried Dreams '' All I Want `` I Like It, I Love It '' `` Ca n't Be Really Gone '' `` All I Want Is a Life '' `` She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart '' `` Maybe We Should Just Sleep on It '' Everywhere `` It 's Your Love '' ( with Faith Hill ) `` Everywhere '' `` Just to See You Smile '' `` One of These Days '' `` Where the Green Grass Grows '' `` For a Little While '' A Place in the Sun `` Please Remember Me '' `` Something Like That '' `` My Best Friend '' `` Some Things Never Change '' `` My Next Thirty Years '' Set This Circus Down `` Grown Men Do n't Cry '' `` Angry All the Time '' `` The Cowboy in Me '' `` Unbroken '' Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors `` Red Rag Top '' `` Tiny Dancer '' `` She 's My Kind of Rain '' `` Real Good Man '' `` Watch the Wind Blow By '' Live Like You Were Dying `` Live Like You Were Dying '' `` Back When '' `` Drugs or Jesus '' `` Do You Want Fries with That '' `` My Old Friend '' Reflected : Greatest Hits Vol. 2 `` When the Stars Go Blue '' `` My Little Girl '' Let It Go `` Last Dollar ( Fly Away ) '' `` I Need You '' ( with Faith Hill ) `` If You 're Reading This '' `` Suspicions '' `` Kristofferson '' `` Let It Go '' `` Nothin ' to Die For '' Southern Voice `` It 's a Business Doing Pleasure with You '' `` Southern Voice '' `` Still '' Number One Hits `` Felt Good on My Lips '' Country Strong `` Me and Tennessee '' ( with Gwyneth Paltrow ) Emotional Traffic `` Better Than I Used to Be '' Two Lanes of Freedom `` Truck Yeah '' `` One of Those Nights '' `` Highway Do n't Care '' ( with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban ) `` Southern Girl '' Sundown Heaven Town `` Lookin ' for That Girl '' `` Meanwhile Back at Mama 's '' ( with Faith Hill ) `` Shotgun Rider '' `` Diamond Rings and Old Barstools '' ( with Catherine Dunn ) Damn Country Music `` Top of the World '' `` Humble and Kind '' `` How I 'll Always Be '' The Rest of Our Life ( with Faith Hill ) `` Speak to a Girl '' `` The Rest of Our Life '' Guest singles `` Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me '' ( with Faith Hill ) `` Let 's Make Love '' ( with Faith Hill ) `` Bring On the Rain '' ( with Jo Dee Messina ) `` Over and Over '' ( with Nelly ) `` Like We Never Loved at All '' ( with Faith Hill ) `` Find Out Who Your Friends Are '' ( with Tracy Lawrence and Kenny Chesney ) `` Nine Lives '' ( with Def Leppard ) `` Feel Like a Rock Star '' ( with Kenny Chesney ) `` Lovin ' Lately '' ( with Big & Rich ) `` May We All '' ( with Florida Georgia Line ) Other songs `` City Lights '' `` The Ride '' `` California '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don%27t_Take_the_Girl&oldid=855316071 '' Categories : 1994 singles 1994 songs Tim McGraw songs Billboard Hot Country Songs number - one singles RPM Country Tracks number - one singles Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Song recordings produced by James Stroud Country ballads Music videos directed by Sherman Halsey Curb Records singles Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats Singlechart usages for Canadacountry Singlechart called without artist Singlechart called without song Singlechart usages for Billboardhot100 Singlechart usages for Billboardcountrysongs Certification Table Entry usages for United States Talk Contents About Wikipedia Português Edit links This page was last edited on 17 August 2018, at 12 : 15 ( UTC ). 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Question: who wrote the song don't take the girl
Answer: Craig Martin