Diamond Rio<\/a> single, and I hope you hear it so much you get tired of hearing it,\u2019\u201d Jones recalls.<\/p>\n\n\tTwenty-five years since the song\u2019s Oct. 27, 2000, release, \u201cOne More Day\u201d has been heard more than 5.5 million times on the radio, according to BMI, putting it in league with such titles as The Beatles\u2019 \u201cPenny Lane,\u201d Dolly Parton\u2019s \u201c9 to 5,\u201d Eric Clapton\u2019s \u201cTears in Heaven\u201d and Marvin Gaye\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDiamond Rio has never been a band that commands constant media attention, so \u201cOne More Day\u201d reached that level through a workman-like route, finding its place in people\u2019s lives through its utilitarian value: the harmony-drenched chorus has ideal sing-along qualities, it\u2019s an attractive wedding song and even more suited for funerals. The song \u2013 and the band \u2013 stealthily established a place in culture by assisting people through big personal moments, both in solitude and with company.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI can never explain it exactly,\u201d Diamond Rio frontman Marty Roe reflects. \u201cYou understand why in hindsight. You never expect it, never want it, but there it is, and it\u2019s a blessing that something we did has helped people through all that. It\u2019s a sobering thing to go, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s impactful. And I didn\u2019t have anything to do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMore accurately, everyone who had a role in \u201cOne More Day\u201d seems to have allowed the song to find its way. Its path has proven quite timely, too, helping the country process its grief in the aftermath of a plane crash in 2001, the death of NASCAR Dale Earnhardt and the tragic loss of life in the 9\/11 terrorist attacks. Even now, its 25th<\/sup> anniversary coincides with developments for songwriter Bobby Tomberlin (\u201cA Good Day To Run,\u201d \u201cSomeday It\u2019ll All Make Sense\u201d): he\u2019s been affiliated with Curb | Word Publishing for 30 years, and he just published his autobiography, I\u2019ve Lived Country Music<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cHow wild is that,\u201d Tomberlin says. \u201cYou know, none of that was planned.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tTomberlin wasn\u2019t planned either. He was given up for adoption after his birth in Mobile, Ala., but was fortunate enough to be taken into a safe, nurturing home at just four months. \u201cThe first thing the foster parent told them when they picked me up in Montgomery was \u2018The only time this baby cries is when the radio is turned off,\u2019\u201d Tomberlin notes. \u201cSo it was like I was consumed with music from the very beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tTomberlin got into radio, and when he picked up a gig at WLAY Muscle Shoals, he met Jones, a loan officer at a local bank, on his second day in town. A decade later, both of them had relocated in Nashville, and in late-1998, Tomberlin was missing some loved ones during the holidays. He wrote part of an opening verse, concluding it with a wish for \u201cone more day with you.\u201d The next day, he presented it to Jones at a writing appointment, and Jones immediately linked it to a three-note melody he\u2019d been carrying that fit the \u201cOne More Day\u201d title. Jones shifted from his usual guitar to piano, a move that forced him to keep the song simple.<\/p>\n
\n\tThey finished it that day, and Jones turned in a quick demo, and got a quick response. The Clark Family Experience put it on hold, though they let it go a short time later. Alabama considered it for about three days, then Mark Wills, and finally it got pitched to Brooks & Dunn, though Ronnie Dunn thought it sounded like it was best-suited for Diamond Rio.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe band heard it on the bus among a slew of potential songs, and they were fatigued enough from listening that nobody made a big deal about it. Although they all quietly agreed it was a song they should take it seriously.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere was none of this \u2018We know it\u2019s going to be a hit,\u2019\u201d keyboardist Dan Truman suggests. \u201cThere was none of this super-excited stuff that you hear these stories about. It\u2019s so subtle, and it\u2019s so simple, but we were all luckily in agreement: \u2018Let\u2019s put that one on hold.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n