Pregnancy loss is common: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage.
Morgan Wade‘s new music video for “Hardwood Floor” is painfully relatable to anyone who’s been through this experience.
It’s also a reminder that though infertility and pregnancy loss are both common experiences, everyone who experiences these struggles has a unique life context and emotional response.
Wade released “Hardwood Floor” earlier this year, inspired by her own fertility issues and the journeys walked through by people close to her. Its lyrics describe a yearning to be a parent so desperate, the narrator feels “half sick passing the baby section” every time she walks through the grocery store.
For the video treatment, Wade opened up the pain of infertility to share another, equally heavy, storyline, too.
A woman who doesn’t want to start a family finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, then has a miscarriage. Years later, she’s found more financial stability and is ready to have a baby, but discovers that getting pregnant isn’t easy for her.
Those two storylines, from two different points in the same woman’s life, are intertwined and juxtaposed throughout the video.
It begins with two pregnancy tests — one positive, one negative — both earth-shattering for that woman at two different times.
Is Morgan Wade’s “Hardwood Floor” Autobiographical?
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Wade said that she’s not ready to have children “right this minute,” but her health issues have required her to do some advance planning about her future family.
The singer had a preventative double mastectomy in 2024 after discovering she has a genetic mutation that increases the risk of ovarian and breast cancer.
According to Rolling Stone, Wade plans to have a hysterectomy and have her ovaries removed, too. Before that, she’s undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and an egg retrieval procedure, in order to have children at some point later on.
Read More: 26 Country Songs Inspired by an Artist’s Child
She says the process is “draining and expensive” and adds that she’s gotten some concerning feedback from her medical team about her fertility.
“The first doctor I went to [said] I don’t have a lot of eggs,” Wade explains.
When she released the music video for “Hardwood Floor,” the singer said on social media that, unlike the character she plays in the video, she’s never had a miscarriage.
“It was important to me to include that part of the story,” she wrote on social media. “So many women and families walk through that pain, and I wanted them to feel seen here too.”
“Everyone’s journey with infertility looks different, but one thing is universal: It can make you feel alone,” Wade adds. “That’s the story this video tells.”
Morgan Wade, “Hardwood Floor” Lyrics:
I drove to the store all by myself / And I got that test right off the shelf / And I couldn’t wait until I got home / A negative result has me cryin’ all alone
Chorus:
‘Cause I feel like less than a woman / And I pray every night like it’s all I ever wanted / I wanna be quiet, closin’ a nursery door / I wanna hear little feet on a hardwood floor
My family asked when like I ain’t been tryin’ / And I smiled while my cousin’s kids were cryin’ / I hate aisle six, so I’ll take a different direction / I feel half sick passin’ the baby section
Repeat Chorus x 2
The 50 Saddest Country Songs of All Time
Each one of the 50 saddest country songs of all time tells a story. Some of those stories are about the pain of heartbreak, while others explore the grief of losing a loved one. Some are about more unconventional subject matter — from infertility to the loss of the beloved family dog — while others tap into the universal subjects of heartbreak and loneliness. Flip through the gallery below for a list of the saddest country songs, ever.
