Megan Moroney‘s long-anticipated ballad “Beautiful Things” is out now. On Friday, the country queen released the sweet single she’s been performing on her Am I Okay? tour, which is set to be featured on her third album.
“Words can make a mockingbird forget they’re born to sing/Lies can break a fragile heart/And doubt can crush your dreams,” she sings in the chorus. “But, honey, just take it from me/The world is hard on beautiful things.”
Moroney first played the song for Rolling Stone during a cover story interview published in March. During the chat in Tennessee, she shared that co-writer Connie Harrington walked in with the idea and some of the lyrics, and immediately polished it. “It kind of reminds me of ‘Girl in the Mirror’s’ older sister,” Moroney told Rolling Stone, referring to her fan-favorite Lucky song. “My songs are all connected. ‘Girl in the Mirror’ means a lot to people, and I feel like this one will too.”
“I wish I had this song in high school,” Moroney added.
Moroney would later debut the song during a Bluebird Café event with Ed Sheeran and Amy Allen. She’s since added it to the setlist of her sold-out tour.
Moroney wrote “Beautiful Things” with Harrington, Jessie Alexander, and Jessie Jo Dillon, the songwriting crew that Rolling Stone‘s cover story dubbed the “Buc-ee’s Avengers,” during a writing retreat. (Kristian Bush produced the track.) During the interview, Harrington wiped away tears after hearing Moroney play the song: “A lot of girls suffer in silence, and you suffer publicly,” she told Moroney at the time.
“We always say that our song is probably not as good as it should be if Connie doesn’t cry,” Moroney said. “We wrote the crap out of these songs. We exerted all of our options on every verse, every word.”
“Beautiful Things” is the second single off of Moroney’s upcoming third album, which does not yet have a name. She first teased the record with the country radio hit “6 Months Later.” She also dropped a cover of Toby Keith’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” in July and a live album of her Am I Okay? Tour earlier this month.
