4 Songs You Didn’t Know Joe Diffie Wrote For Other Artists

Acclaimed country singer-songwriter Joe Diffie passed away on this day (March 29) three years ago when he left behind a catalog of country favorites and a legacy no star could match.

[RELATED: Country Artists Reflect on Passing of Joe Diffie]

He made a name for himself in Nashville during the 1990s as a regular hitmaker with slam-dunk songs like “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)” and “John Deere Green.” But he also shared the wealth, making other musicians chart-toppers with the songs he penned. Below are 4 songs you didn’t know Joe Diffie wrote for other artists.

1. “I’m the Only Thing (I’ll Hold Against You)” – Conway Twitty

Written by Joe Diffie, Kim Williams, Lonnie Wilson

I’m the only thing I’ll hold against you / Let my loving arms show you the truth / There’ll be no I told you sos / No matter how much heartache we go through / I love you, and I’m the only thing I’ll hold against you, sings Twitty in the heartbreak ballad, “I’m the Only Thing (I’ll Hold Against You).”

Written by Diffie alongside Kim Williams and Lonnie Wilson, the song became a deep cut for Twitty when he first released it in 1993. Diffie would release his own version in 1999.

2. “Memory Lane” – Keith Palmer

Written by Joe Diffie, Lonnie Wilson

I’m still walkin’ down memory lane / ‘Cause I know I’ll be runnin’ into you / Reminiscin’ through the pain / Recallin’ things that we used to do, plays Keith Palmer’s “Memory Lane.”

Another songwriting collaboration between Diffie and Lonnie Wilson, “Memory Lane” didn’t become a hit for Palmer when he released the song in 1991. However, soon-to-be-country star Tim McGraw’s 1993 cover of the song was met with a different outcome.

3. “Tears in the Rain” – Tim McGraw

Written by Joe Diffie, Wayne Perry, Lonnie Wilson

Tears in the rain, hidin’ the pain / Maybe she’d come back if she could see me cry / She thinks I’m so strong, oh, but she’s so wrong / She just couldn’t see these tears in the rain, sings McGraw.

McGraw’s 1993 self-titled debut album featured two Diffie co-penned works, the aforementioned “Memory Lane” and “Tears in the Rain.” Diffie would record his own rendition of the latter, releasing it in 1995.

4. “I Got a Feelin’” – Tracy Lawrence

Written by Joe Diffie, Lonnie Wilson

And I’ve got a feelin’ she ain’t feelin’ what I’m feelin’ anymore / I got a sneakin’ suspicion love is walkin’ out the door / Now I’m dealin’ with a heartache, like I’ve never dealt before / And I got a feelin’ she ain’t feelin’ what I’m feelin’ anymore, sings Lawrence on “I Got a Feelin.’”

Another Diffie-Wilson work, “I Got a Feelin’” was originally recorded and released by Lawrence in 1994. Diffie released the song himself in 1997.

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