Many of the songs Morgan Wallen has shared off his upcoming I’m the Problem have been ballads or heartbreak songs. But finally, it looks like he’s ready to release a good ol’ country boy anthem.
Wallen teased a new song called “Come Back as a Redneck” on social media on Tuesday (April 1), along with an accompanying music video that shows the singer in his element: Riding dirt bikes, mudding and shooting guns at targets in a sunny field.
It’s a celebration of a lifestyle that’s long been a fixture of Wallen’s music. And the chip on his shoulder that he has when he’s singing it is familiar, too.
The song is directed at someone who grew up in a very different lifestyle — or, as Wallen puts it, a “fed-with-a-silver-spoon trust fund kid.”
Wallen’s not blaming the person he’s singing to.
“I didn’t choose my raisin’ and you didn’t choose yours,” he sings.
But he’s got a bone to pick with the way this person makes fun of his country ways, and in the chorus, he says he hopes they “come back as a redneck” in their next life in retribution.
In the caption of his post, Wallen quoted the last line in the teaser, “Maybe then you’ll understand.”
The new song tease comes after Wallen’s appearance on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, which left fans buzzing after his early exit from the stage at the end of the episode, as the credits were rolling.
Read More: SNL Actor Admits Morgan Wallen’s “Strange” Instagram Story Bugged Him
Some fans brushed the moment off as a mistake or a lack of communication, arguing that Wallen didn’t know that it’s customary for guests to stay on stage and mingle at the end of an SNL episode.
But others thought it was an intentional slight against the show, either because Wallen had previously been disinvited for not following SNL‘s COVID-19 protocols before his planned 2020 debut, or simply because he didn’t care for the cast, the show or New York City.
Some evidence towards the latter theory included a snapshot of an airport tarmac Wallen posted to Instagram Stories after his SNL episode, writing, “Get me to God’s country.”
SNL actor Kenan Thompson later admitted he was a little miffed by that post, saying it was “not necessarily my favorite.”
“You trying to say that we are not in God’s country?” Thompson explained, presumably referring to the show’s home of New York. “We’re not all in God’s country? We’re not all under God’s umbrella?”
Read More: Finally! Morgan Wallen’s Next Album Just Got a Release Date
It’s worth noting that the use of the term “God’s country” to describe rural life has been floating around in Wallen’s circle for a while now. It’s the title of a 2019 Blake Shelton hit that was co-written by Hardy, one of Wallen’s best musical friends and closest collaborators, alongside Justin Schmidt (another writer who’s worked with Wallen in the past) and Devin Dawson.
When Is Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem Album Coming Out? What Songs Have Been Released?
I’m the Problem is set for release on May 16.
It includes songs like “Love Somebody,” “Lies Lies Lies” and a song called “Superman” that Wallen wrote for his young son.
Wallen has said that the project will include a whopping 37 tracks in total, and he revealed some of those tracks during his SNL gig, with a partial tracklist — nine tracks in total — flickering across a TV screen in the background of his performance.
On SNL, Wallen also sang two songs off I’m the Problem: The title track, and another heartbreak song called “Just in Case.”
