On the surface, Sam Hunt’s new single may seem like clever sponsored content for one of the biggest retail chains in the U.S., but “Walmart” is a deeper story of reflection on why a past love had to end.
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We parted ways in the summer, told me goodbye through your tears / I used to run into you over Christmas, but I hadn’t seen you in years / I used to think that I messed up, wonder if I should’ve stayed / I thought I’d always regret letting you go but all that regret went away, reflects Hunt in the chorus of the slower ballad.
Built around strings and piano, “Walmart” centers around a love that ended many years ago and the realization that things turned out the way they were meant to when he runs into his ex’s mother and her daughter at the retailer—I saw your mama at Walmart with your little girl / She had your eyes and your smile / She had your nose and your lips / Somewhere in our little small-town, small talk girl / Losing your love ain’t the end of the world.
“I know I don’t put out as much music as often as a lot of the artists y’all listen to, but I really appreciate you guys tuning in when I do,” said Hunt on his social media, sharing the track.
Co-written with Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, and Zach Crowell, “Walmart” is Hunt’s first release following his more nostalgic 2022 singles “Start Nowhere” and “Water Under the Bridge. Hunt released his debut, Montevallo in 2014, and his second album, Southside, in 2020 with hits “Body Like A Backroad,” “Hard To Forget,” and “Kinfolks.”
Hunt and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter, in June 2022.
“The things that historically have provided me with inspiration, I don’t connect with as much anymore,” Hunt told American Songwriter in 2022. “You have to look, you have to sit there, feel, think, and experience.”
On the songs he’s gravitating toward now, Hunt added, “So that’s what I’m feeling and thinking and experiencing, and those experiences are filtered through that: Being a father and starting a family. I’m sure most of the songs—a lot of the songs going forward—will come from that inspiration.”
Photo: The Dwyers / UMG
