Don't Take the Girl

"Don't Take the Girl"
Single by Tim McGraw
from the album Not a Moment Too Soon
B-side	"Welcome to the Club"
Released	March 28, 1994
Recorded	1993
Genre	Country
Length	4:09
Label	Curb
Songwriter(s)	Craig Martin Larry W. Johnson
Producer(s)	Byron Gallimore James Stroud
Tim McGraw singles chronology
"Indian Outlaw" (1994) "Don't Take the Girl" (1994) "Down on the Farm" (1994)

"Don't Take The Girl" is a song written by Craig Martin and Larry W. Johnson, and recorded by the American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released in March 1994 as the second single from his album Not a Moment Too Soon. It was McGraw's fifth single overall, and his first number-one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. It also reached number one on the Canadian country charts and it was a successful pop song, reaching number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song tells the story of two young lovers encountering difficulties across three periods of their lives, with the male lead consistently trying to ensure that various entities "don't take the girl". The first verse introduces an eight-year-old boy, Johnny, preparing to go fishing with his father. An unnamed girl, seemingly of a similar age, is present, also holding a fishing rod. Johnny does not want her to join them, and he pleads with his father, "take any boy in the world / Daddy, please, don't take the girl". In the second verse, ten years later, the pair have fallen in love and are dating. While attending a "picture show" (movie theater), they encounter a stranger with a gun. The man grabs the girl's arm and demands Johnny comply. Johnny surrenders his money, wallet, credit cards, a watch his grandfather gave him, and his car keys to ensure the girl's safety (in the music video, the perpetrator is only seen running away with the wallet). In the third and final verse, five years later, Johnny and the girl are now (presumably) married and expecting their first child. She is rushed to the hospital to give birth. The baby, a boy, is born safely, but the doctor tells Johnny that his wife is "fading fast." Johnny falls to his knees and prays to God, pleading for his wife's survival, even offering his own life in her place.

The song ends with a repetition of its opening line: "Johnny's daddy was taking him fishin' when he was eight years old". Although the song's ending is ambiguous regarding the wife's fate, the music video depicts her survival, as she is shown fishing with her husband and son, Johnny Jr., at the end.

The song was recorded by Brett Young on his 2023 album Across the Sheets.

Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, writing that it had the listeners "crying in their beer in the dancehalls down in Texas". She continues, that once radio has it, the song will take off.^[1]

The southern sports personality, Brandon Walker, included the song as his top country hit of the 1990s.^[2]

"Don't Take the Girl" debuted at number 71 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of April 2, 1994.

• The country music parodist Cledus T. Judd recorded a parody of the song, called "Please Take the Girl", on his 1995 debut album Cledus T. Judd (No Relation).^[11]