▁Com position ▁and ▁insp iration ▁ ▁Sher iff ' s ▁keyboard ist ▁Arnold ▁L anni ▁wrote ▁the ▁song ▁after ▁meeting ▁Val eri ▁Brown ▁and ▁falling ▁in ▁love ▁with ▁her . ▁' I ▁sat ▁down , ▁put ▁my ▁coffee ▁on ▁the ▁piano , ▁t ink led ▁some ▁iv ories , ▁and ▁four ▁minutes ▁later ▁ 8 0 ▁percent ▁of ▁the ▁song ▁was ▁written . ▁On ▁Valent ine ' s ▁Day ▁I ▁played ▁the ▁song ▁for ▁Val erie ▁and ▁said , ▁" I ▁don ' t ▁have ▁anything , ▁this ▁is ▁all ▁I ▁can ▁give ▁you ▁right ▁now . ▁It ' s ▁yours ." ▁Val eri ▁loved ▁the ▁song ; ▁two ▁years ▁later ▁she ▁married ▁me .' ▁ ▁L anni ▁also ▁played ▁the ▁song ▁to ▁his ▁band m ates ▁in ▁Sher iff . ▁" The ▁band ▁really ▁liked ▁it , ▁so ▁we ▁started ▁playing ▁it ▁live . ▁That ▁was ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁last ▁songs ▁we ▁recorded ▁when ▁we ▁did ▁the ▁record . ▁The ▁producer ▁said , ▁' Is ▁there ▁anything ▁else ?' ▁I ▁said , ▁' There ' s ▁this ▁song ▁we ▁play , ▁it ' s ▁kind ▁of ▁a ▁w im py ▁song .' ▁So ▁we ▁played ▁it ▁for ▁him ▁and ▁he ▁said ▁' Y e ah , ▁that ' s ▁kind ▁of ▁nice .' " ▁ ▁Chart ▁performance ▁ ▁" When ▁I ' m ▁with ▁You " ▁was ▁originally ▁released ▁as ▁the ▁third ▁single ▁off ▁Sher iff ' s ▁debut ▁album . ▁The ▁song ▁reached ▁number ▁ 8 ▁on ▁the ▁R PM ▁chart