Ella Langley Says The Truth Behind “Girl You’re Taking Home” Is A Story That’s “Never Fun For Me To Tell”

One of the saddest songs on Still Hungover.

Fans are going to have to wait a while until they get a full-length album from Ella Langley, who just released her debut album Hungover, and then the deluxe edition Still Hungover, in 2024. She revealed during an interview today with Katie & Company today that she is taking her time and wants to make sure Hungover has all the time it deserves to be loved before the next project, and fans can expect her sophomore record in 2026.

But she was also asked about one song in particular called “Girl You’re Taking Home,” which Ella wrote with Zach Kale, Jon Nite and Joybeth Taylor. It was about the one that got away, so to speak, and Ella recalled being heartbroken during a writer’s retreat and feeling very down over the end of this relationship.

She recalled Joybeth coming into her room during the first night they were there and telling her they’d write something so good that the guy would regret it forever, and even though Ella was laying there sad in a bed of Starbursts, she went along with the idea.

The next day, Joybeth came in with a song title and the writing was easy from there:

“So ‘Girl You’re Taking Home” I wrote with Zach Kale, Jon Nite and Joybeth Taylor. And we wrote that on the same retreat we wrote ‘Nicotine’ on as well. And so ‘Girl You’re Taking Home,’ this story is never fun for me to tell… Well, it’s just one of those, it’s just, you know, it’s like imagine that one heartbreak that got you. Like everyone I think has that one heartbreak like, you’re like, I don’t really wanna think about that all that much.

That’s just how I write my songs, you know, I just write what comes out and that’s how I work through a lot of the emotions. So I was down on this writer’s retreat with them, and my girlfriend Joy Beth Taylor, I was just so bummed out riding the whole way there. and she came in my room, and we were talking about it that night, and she’s like, ‘You know what, we’re gonna write a song that just makes him regret it one day’ We’re gonna get you over it with this song.

And I was like, ‘Okay,’ and I just rolled over in my bed of Starbursts. And the next morning she came in, and she’s like, I’ve got the title. “Girl You’re Taking Home.” Immediately I was like, ‘Oh.’ And it just kind of fell out, and I really just worked through all those emotions when I was writing that song. Just to see the people out in the crowd, guys and girls, the amount of guys that sing this song with like all of their heart, I’m like, same. Freaking same.”

The song finds her wondering why she was treated differently than the girl her ex is in a relationship is now and she can’t figure out why their relationship was so different.

Ella says she has loved getting to see both guys and girls singing their hearts out to it, because not only is it so personal to her, but she knows it’s really about the emotion behind a song that connects with people and not so much the details:

“Because it is more about the emotion, you know, and that is what I think is so cool. What I’m learning about my fan base is, and what they’re getting from me, it’s not as much always about, you know, girl, guy…

I just think that’s what’s cool about music is, you can pull what emotion you want from that and just make it for you. Give you words to sing when you don’t have them to speak.”

I think that’s a beautiful way to put it, and she’s completely right. If a song has real emotion and truth, people are going to connect with it even if it isn’t their exact story, and I can’t wait to see how Ella uses all of these experiences from the last year or so that her career has really taken off in her next record.

You can watch the interview here:

“girl you’re taking home”

Ella is currently out on the road with Riley Green serving as direct support on his Damn Country Music tour.

Riley Green Tour Dates:

July 10th, 2025 – Winnipeg, Canada – Country Thunder %
July 12th, 2025 – Pendleton, OR – Pendleton Whisky Music Festival %
July 13th, 2025 – Chicago, IL – Windy City Smokeout %
July 18th, 2025 – Kettering, OH – Fraze Pavilion *-
July 19th, 2025 – Harrington, DE – Delaware State Fair %
July 20th, 2025 – York, PA – York State Fair %
July 24th, 2025 – New York, NY – The Rooftop at Pier 17 *@&
July 25th, 2025 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway *@&
July 26th, 2025 – Gilford, NH – Bank of NH Pavilion *@&
August 1st, 2025 – Bethlehem, PA – Musikfest %
August 2nd, 2025 – Richmond, VA – Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront
August 7th, 2025 – Estero, FL – Hertz Arena *@&›
August 8th, 2025 – Jacksonville, FL – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena *@&
August 9th, 2025 – Birmingham, AL – Coca-Cola Amphitheater *$-
August 16th, 2025 – Sainte-Hélène-de-Kamouraska, Canada – Lasso 2025 %
August 17th, 2025 – Calgary, Canada – Country Thunder Calgary %
August 21st, 2025 – Bonner, MT – KettleHouse Amphitheater *?-
August 22nd, 2025 – Idaho Falls, ID – Mountain America Center *?-
August 23rd, 2025 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater *?-
August 25th, 2025 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre *?-
August 28th, 2025 – Corning, CA – Obsidian Spirits Amphitheater *@-
August 30th, 2025 – Puyallup, WA – Puyallup Fairgrounds at Washington State Fair %•
September 6th, 2025 – Niagara Falls, Canada – Misty City Music Festival %
September 10th, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town /
September 11th, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town /
September 12th, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town /
September 13th, 2025 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Academy Birmingham /
September 15th, 2025 – Manchester, England – O2 Victoria Warehouse /
September 16th, 2025 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy Glasgow /
September 18th, 2025 – Belfast, UK – Waterfront Hall /
September 19th, 2025 – Dublin, Ireland – Olympia Theatre /
September 26th, 2025 – Washington, DC – Washington Nationals Park
October 4th, 2025 – Winnsboro, SC – Field & Stream Festival %
October 10th, 2025 – North Charleston, SC – Riverfront Revival %
November 1st, 2025 – Gonzales, LA – Boots on the Bayou %
November 6th, 2025 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena #~/
November 7th, 2025 – St Louis, MO – Chaifetz Arena #~/
November 8th, 2025 – Kansas City, MO – TMobile Center #~/
November 9th, 2025 – Phoenix, AZ – The Hondo Rodeo Fest %
November 13th, 2025 – University Park, PA – Bryce Jordan Center #~/
November 14th, 2025 – Toledo, OH – The Huntington Center #~/
November 15th, 2025 – Peoria, IL – Peoria Civic Center Arena #~/
November 20th, 2025 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena #~/
November 21st, 2025 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center #~/
November 22nd, 2025 – Little Rock, AR – Simmons Bank Arena#^$
December 12th, 2025 – Las Vegas, NV – Resorts World
December 13th, 2025 – Las Vegas, NV – Resorts World
May 30th, 2026 – Panama City Beach, FL – Gulf Coast Jam %

*Ella Langley
@Vincent Mason
#Jamey Johnson
~Drake White
$Lauren Watkins
-Preston Cooper
!Erik Dylan
&Wyatt McCubbin
?Mike Ryan
•Josh Ross
/Hannah McFarland
^Dustin Lynch
%Festival dateThe post Ella Langley Says The Truth Behind “Girl You’re Taking Home” Is A Story That’s “Never Fun For Me To Tell” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.