In 1994, country band BlackHawk took their second single, "Every Once in a While," to No. 2 on the charts. Written by the trio's Henry Paul, Dave Robbins and Van Stephenson, the song was one of BlackHawk's earliest compositions together: one that Robbins says helped them know they were doing something right.

Below, Paul and Robbins share the story behind "Every Once in a While," in their own words.

Henry Paul: This was part of a group of songs we wrote before we recorded our first album. It wound up being our second single ...

We wrote it about our respective girlfriends that we used to go steady with in high school [laughs]. We know that they're all back there still, closing their eyes and thinking about us with a smile!

Dave Robbins: The first year and a half we started writing, we wrote about 30 songs. That was one of the three or four that made our record.

It was an early, early song for us. Once we hit on that song, we started thinking that we were going in the right direction with this band, so that was a pivotal song in our career.

Paul: And it still is.

This story was originally written by Alanna Conaway, and revised by Angela Stefano.

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