McDill treated songwriting as a vocation somewhat differently than other composers did. He worked at it as most of us would toil at our own jobs. Bob had an office on Nashville’s Music Row and would appear there daily from 9 to 5 to write. His goal was to compose at least one song per week. Some tunesmiths have vivid recollections about the individual songs in their catalog and what thoughts inspired them, but any memories about specific ones that McDill wrote have blurred among the hundreds of songs he composed.
His efforts have been well-rewarded and not just in a financial sense. Discussions of Music City’s best songwriters invariably include the name of Bob McDill. At the height of Bob’s career in the 1980s, music industry personnel in Nashville joked that “BMI” (“Broadcast Music Incorporated”), the music performing-rights organization that collects royalties for writers and artists, stood for “Bob McDill Incorporated.” In 1985, Bob was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame.
