"Tough" is a song written by Joe Leathers and Monty Criswell, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Craig Morgan Craig Morgan Greer (born July 17, 1964) is an American country music artist. A veteran of the United States Army as a forward observer, Morgan began his musical career in 2000 on Atlantic Records, releasing his self-titled debut album for that ...

. It was released in March 2007 as the second single from Morgan's album ''

Little Bit of Life ''Little Bit of Life'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Craig Morgan. Released in late 2006 on the independent Broken Bow Records label, the album produced three singles for him on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs ch ...

''. The song peaked at number 11 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart.

Content

The song is about a hardworking wife and mother who survives

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

, serving as an inspiration to her husband, who sings, "There was a time / Back before she was mine / When I thought I was tough."

Music video

The video for "Tough" premiered on June 4, 2007. Directed by

Peter Zavadil Peter Zavadil is an American music video director who works primarily in the field of country music. He has directed many music videos since the late 1990s. He has won the Country Music Association Award for Video of the Year twice from seven nomin ...

, it features Morgan singing the song in a dimly lit room by a window, alongside film clips of a woman depicting the events in the song.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

References

2007 singles 2006 songs Craig Morgan songs Music videos directed by Peter Zavadil BBR Music Group singles Song recordings produced by Keith Stegall Songs written by Monty Criswell Songs written by Joe Leathers {{2000s-country-song-stub