Chris Young wrote "Think of You," a duet with Cassadee Pope from his I'm Comin' Over album with hit songwriters Corey Crowder and Josh Hoge; the song is one of five they penned together for the record and was inspired by Crowder's love for his wife. "Think of You" was released as a single in January of 2016 ... and became a smash hit. Below, Young, Crowder and Hoge recall to The Boot and other reporters the day they wrote the chart-topping tune, while Pope shares why she immediately wanted to be part of the song.

Corey Crowder: My wife and I have been together since I was 16, so it’s over half of my life. I started thinking about how awkward it would be for all of our friends [if we broke up, because] a lot of our friends are the same; we hang out with the same people. I just started thinking about how crazy it would be if we were to ever split up, how it would be for our friends, going out. Who would get to go where? Who would get to hang out with who? It just kind of came to me, and I brought that to the guys, and they loved it, and here we are.

Chris Young: We did debate making this a duet, because duets are hard; they are. You have to have the right person on the song. That’s one of the reasons I was very, very glad, when we asked Cassadee to be on it, that she wanted to be a part of the song.

Cassadee Pope: They asked me to be a part of a Chris Young song, and I said, "Yep!" But then, of course, after agreeing, I heard the song, and I immediately was like, "Gosh, this is such a relatable song." I  can see people listening to that and relating to it, and that’s what a hit song is. Every part of that song just grabbed me, especially when that verse came in with Emily Shackleton, who was singing on the demo. When she came in and had her own verse, I was like, "Oh my gosh, a girl gets her own verse! That’s so cool ... That’s like a real duet." So, of course, it just made me love it even more.

Young: One of my favorite things about this song is having Cassadee Pope on it. This song would not be the same without her voice on it. She is absolutely one of the most stunningly talented vocalists that I’ve ever gotten to be around, much less get to work and tour with ... Duets are hard, because there’s that one more extra piece that has to be correct to make the song what it’s supposed to be, and I truly just look up and say, "Thank you that we got this one right."

Josh Hoge: Probably 98 percent of the time, before we go in, whether it’s "I’m Comin’ Over" or "Think of You" or whatever, one of us texts the other two and says, "I’ve got this idea I want to write." We’re already kind of building on it as it goes.

To me, the magic is made when we’re not just co-workers, we’re co-best friends. We’re all pals; we hang out outside of work. It’s not just a nine-to-five for us. I’ll say it a million times, but that’s what’s special about it, to me, is I get to work with two of my best friends. And I get to add Cassadee, a really hot chick, to the mix.

Young: If you really asked me to put my finger on what it is that makes it work, I don’t know. I just know that it does, and it’s a really, really great feeling being in a room with these two guys and creating something out of nothing and actually getting to a point where now we’re having to sit at a table answering questions because it’s been this successful. It just makes it that much more fun.

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