Songwriter Chris Wallin Plays “Song Title Challenge” on ‘The C.L.I.M.B.’

Differing from the usual Q&A format of most podcasts, hosts Johnny Dwinell and Brent Baxter are doing another round of the “Song Title Challenge,” but this time with a special guest. After 99 episodes, The C.L.I.M.B. podcast finally welcomes their third guest, one of Nashville’s most sought-after songwriters, Chris Wallin. 

The concept of the challenge is to brainstorm ideas for a song based solely on a song title. Thinking about lyrical concepts and song structures, these kinds of episodes serve as an insightful way for listeners to see the different possibilities that can come about from a simple theme. 

Receiving submissions from fellow “CLIMBers,” Dwinell chose the title “No Girl, No Work” for the three of them to toy with. Going through differing paths for the song, there was one idea that snowballed and caught the group’s attention at one point. 

“What it also makes me think about was when I was 12. No girl, no work, no problems. I mean, that’s playing off [Kenny] Chesney’s ‘No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,’ but it makes me think about when you’re a young boy you don’t have anything to do with girls and you don’t have any work except maybe a little bit of homework. It’s like, no girl, no work, and no perspective on how good you got it right now,” Baxter says. 

Spinning off that idea, Dwinell adds his thoughts saying, “What if you kind of go down that road lyrically? Like, he sees that kid, that kid’s got no girl, no work, no worries, but it’s from the perspective of adult artists who all of a sudden sort of look at life in a positional way. Like, I remember when I used to be no girl, no work, no worries and I did this, this, and this, but then again it’s back to how good you got it kind of a thing.”

To give the concept more structure, Wallin offers an idea to tie it all together. “All the way through it you could do that, talk about this kid. Maybe even rhyme something with the kid. He says what he wants to say, goes where he wants to go, now you’re saying no girl, no work, no way I’m gonna go back to that again. Maybe add a bridge or something, ‘No way I’m gonna go back to that again.’ You don’t know what’s coming.” 

Feeding off each other, the group goes through a slew of other ideas all around that same “No Girl, No Work” theme. To listen to the rest of their creative brainstorming and to find out how you can be a part of future Song Title Challenges, check out The C.L.I.M.B.