The song was inspired by the Tucson, Arizona shooting that killed six people and critically injured U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords in January 2011. Bentley told "The Desert Sun" that right after the shooting incident occurred, he was sitting with the song's two other writers, Dan Wilson and Brett Beavers and they were trying to make sense of the tragedy. He also points out that "the song's about a sense of being and memories of the country. Everybody's idea of America is a little different."