'American Idol' Winner Hannah Harper Has a Song She's Been Writing for Years. Here's Why She Can't Finish It (Exclusive)

American Idolwinner Hannah Harper won her Golden Ticket to Hollywood with an original song she wrote about postpartum depression called “String Cheese,” and it made her an early favorite of judge Carrie Underwood, but also America.

She later performed another original, “Married to This Town,” which she co-wrote, but she exclusively explained to Parade why she prefers solo writing.

“Writing is like speed dating,” Hannah said. “You go in, you meet people, and you have to hurry up and tell them all about yourself. So when we got [to Nashville], they were like, ‘What’s your name, where you from?’ and I was doing all the things, I said, ‘I wasn’t born into that town. I was married into it.’ He was like, ‘That’s our song.’”

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So, Hannah and Nashville songwriters Scott Stepakoff and Chris Mackey stopped sharing personal information and wrote that song, and it was fine, but it made Hannah realize that she prefers writing alone, because the whole speed dating aspect of it doesn’t really give her enough time to get to know someone on a level that is conducive to the kinds of songs she wants to write.

“I want to write songs that are sentimental and mean a lot to me, so maybe writing alone is what I prefer unless it’s with a group of people that I write with consistently,” she continued. “If I found a couple of people that I wrote with and wrote with them long term, I think I would really enjoy it rather than we’re going to put you with these people and then over here, and then over here. It’s a relationship and it’s somewhat intimate, so I want to be able to maintain the sentimental establishment of the song and how it’s written.”

And speaking of sentimental songs, Hannah says she has had a song in the works for a long time that she wants to dedicate to her husband Devon Mendenhall, but finding the words has been difficult.

“That has been in the works for so long, but it just feels like words aren’t enough if that makes sense,” Hannah explained. “I have like six verses, different tunes, none of them have been finished, so I’m hoping that now that we’re out of [American Idol], because that put us to the test. We were both so exhausted mentally, physically, all the things, so it definitely needs to happen and I know that it will. It’s just it’s one of those that I feel like I can’t even begin to scratch the surface on a love song that is ours.”

Related: Hannah Harper Reveals What Carrie Underwood Advised Her After American Idol Win (Exclusive)

Some people may think that “Married to This Town” is a song dedicated to Devon, but it’s not.

“It was influenced definitely by our relationship, but it’s not as much of a love song for him; it’s more of a love song about the town, so I’ll get there,” she said. Then added, “He needs a whole catalog of songs, but as I said, it just doesn’t feel like I can ever put words to even scratch the surface of what he means to me.”

Also on the songwriting agenda for Hannah are songs inspired by her Idol experience.

“Being there definitely sparked a lot of creativity, but I didn’t have any time to slow down and put pen to paper, so I haven’t written anything since I’ve been in the competition,” she said. “It was more so just developing who I wanted to be as an artist rather than songwriting. That was my focus. Now that I’m out, I’ll definitely be writing some songs about it. There’s a lot more Mama songs. I don’t know if I need to just hold on to those and do a full album one day, or like trickle them in throughout, but yeah, there’s so much to be said about the Idol experience. But as I said, time hasn’t slowed down long enough for me to focus and even try to put it into words.”

Next, Will American Idol Return in 2027 for its 25th Season? Auditions Are Open Now