"You Look Like You Love Me" felt destined to be a hit song. I remember when I first heard the Ella Langley and Riley Green duet and knew immediately that it would be everywhere. For starters, it's not a carbon copy of everything else we hear in country music. I often lament the fact that so many stars register more as glorified Levis models, shiny Nashville products over the real deal. The song is two people that come off truly organic in a system that doesn't always favor that.
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Additionally, the song is wholly distinct. The hook from Ella and Riley is as catchy as you can get, the kind of record you catch yourself humming in your most mundane moments. Not to mention, the spoken word verses change up the standard structure we're used to. There's no mistaking "You Look Like You Love Me" for anything else and that's what makes it shine so bright. However, Green wasn't totally certain that the record would take off the way that it did. Why? It was more traditional than the modern Nashville standard.
Riley Green Thought His Big Hit Song With Ella Langley Was Too Traditional to Succeed
Recently, Green spoke with Billboard after they named him their Country Power Players Groundbreaker. There, he admits that one aspect of the song wouldn't totally translate to country radio. Obviously, he's happy he wasn't right. "I thought the talking verses were probably too traditional to be a big hit on country radio. and I'm so glad I was wrong," Riley says.
Considering where country was in the 2010s, I can't fault his thinking. Now, the song and its music video sees Green eyeballing an acting career on the horizon. Scott Borchetta, CEO and founder of Big Machine Label Group, tells Billboard how his big star wanted to try his hand in film or television. "Riley called me about a year ago and asked about Tim McGraw and how did Tim [get into acting]. That's something that he is going to spend some energy on, and I think we could see another gear with him in that space," Borchetta says.
