Cody Johnson recalls his first time hearing “Dirt Cheap”: “I almost started tearing up and crying”

If “Dirt Cheap” has tugged at your heartstrings, you’re not alone.

Cody Johnson, too, recalled tears welling up the first time he heard the song.

“It was so incredible the first time I heard it [that] I almost started tearing up and crying. And I’m going, ‘Where did this song come from?”” Cody tells ABC Audio.

“[Josh Phillips] wrote it about his life. He sat on it and waited until he felt like they found an artist that could really sing it properly. And I’m going, ‘Man, I’m so thankful to have this,”” he says.

“Dirt Cheap,” as Cody recounts, naturally raised its hands as a single contender.

“I’m so thankful to have this song as a single. It started charting while ‘The Painter’ was going for number one,” shares Cody. “I’m going, ‘Guys, stop pushing it.’ And Warner Music Nashville says, ‘We haven’t even pushed it yet.’ So thank you to country music radio for playing it.”

You can find “Dirt Cheap” and “The Painter” on Cody’s latest album, Leather, out now.