While Lainey Wilson has decreed “Country’s Cool Again” in her latest release, she undoubtedly helped the genre get to that point. Wilson’s down-to-earth, relatable lyricism has put her on top of the world. While she is certainly setting the country space on fire, she has found cross over success in spaces less likely to find country music palatable.
Videos by American Songwriter
As an ode to Wilson’s success, check out the meaning behind this song, below.
Behind the Meaning
I was born in boots on humble ground
These kinda roots, yeah, they sure don’t grow out
Yeah, even in a guitar town
My crooked drawl, the way I sung
My mama’s genes sure stuck out like a thumb
In a Metro City crowd
In the opening line, Wilson describes her rural upbringing. Moving from Baskin, Louisiana to Nashville had its drawbacks, she says. Even with Music City being situated in the south, Wilson sings about sticking out like a thumb for her thick accent and mama’s genes.
In the chorus, Wilson comments on the phenomenon of cowboy culture. From the popularity of Yellowstone (which Wilson was also apart of), to pop artists taking the leap into country, to cowboy boots being the shoe of the summer, the singer-songwriter isn’t wrong: Everybody wanna be a cowboy.
Everybody wanna be a cowboy
Drive a jon boat, whip a John Deere
Everybody want a backwoods front porch
With a tub full of iced-down beer
Must be something in the water flowing out of the holler
Blue collar musta caught a new wind
Doggone, dadgum it, didn’t see that coming
Country’s cool again
In the second verse, Wilson nods to other famous country hits like “The Dance” and “Neon Moon.” Elsewhere she dusts off some titular southern phrases and past-times. If you too are looking to get into this way of life, this song is like a manual on where to start.
Once you get a taste, you’ll lick the spoon
Learn every word to “The Dance” and “Neon Moon”
Photo by Jason Davis/Getty Images
