In these moments, life can feel overwhelming and devoid of hope. But in this collaboration by Christian artists NEEDTOBREATHE and Tori Kelly (which you can find on the companion soundtrack for Prime Video’s new series House of David), we’re challenged to reframe our disappointments. We’re invited to look at life’s dark moments not with despair, but with a faith-filled belief that God’s redeeming work sometimes happens in life’s deepest, shadow-filled valleys.

POSITIVE CONTENT

NEEDTBREATHE frontman Bear Rinehart unpacks the paradox of how God meets us and provides for us in our most desperate moments. “I was standing at the bottom,” he sings. “Piled up ash and broken bone/It was only then I realized/What I needed all along/At the end of me/Finds the truth of You.”

Likewise, Kelly’s part in the song echoes similar ideas about encountering redemption when life feels bleak: “There’s a beauty in the ashes/There’s redemption in the fall/There’s no way that we can rise/Until we’re brave enough to crawl.”

The chorus mingles NEEDTOBREATHE’s soulful, Southern, country-rock style with Kelly’s more pop-focused sound and a backing choir that lends the entire song a very strong gospel vibe: “Cause I’ve got a story (We can sing, we can sing)/From out of the fire (We can sing, we can sing)/We’re gonna rise up/We got victory/Hallelujah (Hallelujah).”

CONTENT CONCERNS

None.

TRACK SUMMARY

Rinehart said of the song and the TV series to which it’s connected, “I heard about the show and always felt connected to the story of David. I could always see myself in his story. Sometimes beauty and brokenness can exist in the same place. The song ‘I’ve Got a Story’ is really my story.”

Kelly added, “‘I’ve Got a Story’ is a song about struggle, perseverance, reflection and triumph. I believe its message is relatable to so many people going through trials and tribulations in their lives. I hope this song finds anyone who listens to it in a moment when they need it most, whether they’re going through a painful time or a moment of victory.”

Fans of NEEDTOBREATHE or Tori Kelly will likely love this gritty, redemption-focused collaboration. And even if you’re not familiar with them, “I’ve Got a Story” is definitely worth checking out if you’re in need of an inspirational, gospel-focused dose of hope.

The post I’ve Got a Story appeared first on Plugged In.

He’s met his dream girl, only to lose her through a series of unfortunate events, often of his own design. He’s made it to church on Sundays even after he’s spent all of Friday and Saturday drowning his sorrows in whiskey bottles.

He finds love only to break her heart. Sometimes, he’s on the opposite end, and he breaks hers. He drinks, and stumbles, and fails. But Wallen doesn’t stop trying. He pledges to change his ways. If you’ll just give him one more chance.

Wallen’s music catalogues it’s a never-ending cycle of failure and redemption. These apologies often arrive in Wallen’s elongated albums stuffed with bumper-sticker advice, a trend which has become increasingly common in country music.

A large portion of the appeal of Wallen’s country music stems from his nonchalant confidence. His songs are designed to convince audiences that he’s relatable, authentic, and (thanks to all that bumper-sticker advice) a role model.

If only it were true.

Outside of his music career, Wallen underwent scrutiny for a video of him saying the n-word during a drunken rant. There was fallout, a brief public hiatus, and what many considered to be a halfhearted apology, but it did little to halt his music’s popularity.

His last two albums have shattered country streaming and sales records. One Thing at a Time is currently the biggest country album of all time and the most popular album of the 2020s by most metrics.

The album is vintage Wallen. Thirty-plus songs that start to feel like one big rhythm of messing up and asking for forgiveness. After a while, it all blends together in a potent concoction of heartbreak, apologies, substance abuse, and drinking. So much drinking.    

POSITIVE CONTENT

Wallen can tell when he’s messed up. Most of the time, he’s quick to recognize when he needs to apologize and admit his mistakes.

“Dying Man” shows a lonesome Wallen who’s desperate and worried about his drinking habits catching up to him. But eventually a new, healthy relationship with a woman saves him from this fate.

It’s also clear that Wallen has an understanding of Christianity. One Thing at a Time includes song titles such as “In the Bible” and “Don’t Think Jesus” with more subtle references like “Wine into Water,” “I Wrote the Book,” and “Man Made a Bar.”

It’s in these religious reflections where Wallen confronts his mistakes and the man he wishes he was. He admits, “Yeah the good Lord knows I need it/I didn’t write it, but I probably oughta read it” in reference to the Bible.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Yet, the stark reality of Wallen’s understanding of God appears immediately when he says, “Backroads and cold beer/Are my down-home prayer/Can’t get no closer/To the Man upstairs.” He goes on to say if his country lifestyle were in the Bible, then he’d be “one h— of a disciple.”

“Man Made a Bar” re-imagines the opening days of creation when God created man. In Wallen’s version, man gets lonely even after God gives him a woman. So what else does man turn to but building a bar to drink away his loneliness? Wallen’s borderline blasphemy is played for sarcasm. But it’s an alarming revelation of how quickly Wallen turns to alcohol as the solution to his problems.

In a song, sometimes alcohol just means alcohol. But to Wallen, booze is an all-encompassing metaphor. On “I Deserve a Drink,” Wallen sings, “you’re burning hotter than a bourbon with no water/And I want your buzz in my veins.” He goes on to say, “you’re another shot I shouldn’t knock back.” It’s not the only time he compares his lust for women to his lust for drink, temptation and all.

“Wine into Water” takes the biblical miracle of turning water into wine and turns it into a twisted scene of attempted forgiveness. Wallen sings, “But I know something even better I could try, so/I’m out here soakin’ up your porch light glow/With an apology in my left hand/Hope it tastes like a second chance.”

“Last Night” tells an all-too familiar tale of heartbreak. Wallen recounts how he and his lover fight, break up, and get back together. He says, “I know that last night we let the liquor talk …Yeah, you, you know you love to fight/And I say s— I don’t mean/But I’m still gon’ wake up wantin’ you and me.”

“Whiskey Friends” continues the troublesome trend. Wallen sings, “Looks like I did it again/Me and my stupid mouth/Dug myself into a hole in the wall/Now I gotta drink my way out.” In the midst of heartbreak, Wallen’s only friends are, as he puts it, “Jim and Jack,” a reference, of course, to the alcohol brands Jack Daniels and Jim Beam. 

“Me + All Your Reasons” is an especially heartbreaking look into how Wallen attempts to cope with his problems. He sings, “I know you wanna be the one for me/No wonder why you had to run from me/H—, even I done had enough of me/Now all I got to keep me company, is some/Copenhagen, whiskey straight, and/Empty bottle, promise breakin’”

Even though Wallen takes some ownership for his problems, he’s still looking for excuses for his behavior. “Everything I Love” features a Wallen who blames his former love for his heartache.

“One Thing at a Time” shows a retributive Wallen who threatens that: “If you ain’t gonna kiss me/Then I’ll take some whiskey/Some grizzly/Nicotine amphetamines too.” 

You know you’re listening to a Morgan Wallen song if there’s a not-so-subtle whiskey pun worked in to a chorus. “You Proof,” “Keith Whitely,” and “Sunrise” each contain comparisons between Wallen’s lovers and his habit of drinking whiskey. They’re featured so often across the album that it’s difficult to tell which one he loves the most.

“Thinkin ‘Bout Me” and “Single Than She Was” both show a Wallen who’s recently met a girl who’s taken. But that doesn’t stop him from flirting, buying her a drink, and scheming a way to convince her to cheat on her man.

Elsewhere, there are several references to getting high, stoned, and drunk, amidst uses of d—, h—, and s— across the album’s 36 songs.

ALBUM SUMMARY

It doesn’t really matter the genre, 36 songs is too many for one album. And Wallen probably knows this. There’s no intent for someone to listen closely to two-plus hours of Wallen’s music.

In theory, his songs are best reserved for long drives in the sunset or a bluetooth speaker around a summer campfire. The mood is what matters. Coming across as light love songs, it’s supposed to seem like a good time. That is, if you don’t listen too closely.

Under the lackadaisical vibes and casual guitar rhythms are lyrics that glamorize a troubling lifestyle and misguided worldview.

Take “Ain’t That Some” as an example. At its core, it’s a song about being from the country and having a good time. Wallen sings, “Ain’t that some C-O-U-N-T-R-Y s— we been doin’ since we was yea high/There’s folks out there ain’t T-R-Y’d this …”

It’d be easy to listen and conclude, sure there’s a little profanity, but that’s about all, right? After all, it’s a rule of country songs that anytime a word is spelled out in a song, you must sing along.

Most of the songs across One Thing at a Time are like this. Light profanity, a few casual mentions of smoking, flirting, and kissing, with references to drinking that are characteristic for the genre of country music.

The post One Thing at a Time appeared first on Plugged In.

His follow-up to 2023’s wildly successful debut, I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1), doubles down on Swims’ strengths. Namely, his genre-busting style paired with earnest, vulnerable and confessional lyrics. Teddy doesn’t look or sound a bit like Taylor Swift. But his songwriting style borrows from her approach, even if it’s unintentional, by blurring musical boundaries and inviting fans to relate to his heartbreak, his struggles and his occasional triumphs.

Stylistically, Swims’ sound simmers like a big ol’ pot of savory gumbo, with lots of ingredients. At times, his soulful, smoky voice recalls Adele’s powerful pipes. Other times, a bit of CeeLo Green sneaks in. Is he country? Pop? R&B? Neo-soul? The simplest answer is yes.

Perhaps a bit like Jelly Roll, both stylistically and in terms of his face-tatted appearance, Teddy Swims defies easy categorization. And that, perhaps, helps explain his massive appeal: His breakthrough hit “Lose Control,” which Plugged In reviewed almost a year ago, remains in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 mainstream hits chart, having logged a whopping 75 weeks there as of this writing.

Listening to Swims’ latest 13-song album, it’s not hard to understand his appeal. But some elements to his emotional storytelling need to be approached with caution.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Swims sings, really, about just one subject: romance. This album treats us to the good, bad and ugly in that thematic arena. On the positive side, “Not Your Man” wisely recognizes that he needs to walk away from a reckless, deceptive woman, and not to look back: “This ain’t how you treat somebody you say you love/ … I’m not your man.”

“Bad Dreams” recognizes that a woman helps Swims keep his inner shadows and struggles at bay: “Without you/I keep slippin’ into bad dreams.”

A couple of tracks sing the praises of a woman’s committed love, with Swims even wondering how he got so lucky: “You’re so beautiful, spiritual, more like a miracle/Part of me’s scared that you might be invisible/Too good to be true,” we hear on “Are You Even Real.” Likewise, “Black & White” finds him willing to let down his defenses and take a chance with someone special (“You’re the first one I told the truth to/Something’s changing inside of me when I look at you”)

“Northern Lights” fondly reminisces about a long-lost love. “Guilty” gushes that Swims is guilty “of having only eyes for you.” More sweet sentiments turn up in “If You Ever Change Your Mind,” “Hammer to the Heart” and “She Loves the Rain.” The latter finds Swims singing, “[She] finds the beauty in broken when no one else can see/Well, maybe I got a shot of her seeing good in me.”

CONTENT CONCERNS

Despite quite a few earnestly romantic moments throughout the album, we hit a few rough patches, too—and one song in particular that we need to unpack.

Perhaps in an effort to reach a broader audience, the song “She Got It?” (featuring collaborations with Coco Jones and GloRilla) packs in more explicit problems that the rest of the album’s other 12 tracks. The song finds Swims crudely objectifying a woman’s backside (“Two first-class tickets just to fit that a– in/ … Can’t buy this honey, and that s— ain’t free”). Later he adds, again blending leering lyrics with harsher profanity, “It’s so g–d–n beautiful/And you need two hands when you hold it.” Guests Jones and GloRilla pack in more still more suggestive lyrics and profanity, including uses of “b–ch,” “a–” and a couple more s-words.

Also problematic is the song “Funeral,” which plays with imagery blending sex and death: “Put that poison on your lips/Baby, take it slow/Lying in your arms/What a way to go.”Mildly suggestive references to sharing a bed, getting tangled up in sheets and being wowed by a woman’s body turn up in quite a few tracks, such as “Funeral,” “Are You Even Real” and “Hammer to the Heart.” Likewise, we get some passing references to drinking and getting high on the tracks “Black & White” and “Guilty.” And a smattering of mild profanities, such as “h—” and “d–n,” turn up as well.

ALBUM SUMMARY

Teddy Swims neither looks nor sounds like your typical pop superstar. But his passionate, personal music—often about love gone wrong, or (occasionally) right—obviously connects with a broad fan base.

In terms of content, this album represents that classic glass half-full, glass half-empty conundrum. It features some introspection, some tenderness and what seems to be a genuine longing for lasting love.

But then you’ve got some decidedly toxic stuff to slosh through as well, especially “She Got It?” Whereas most of the album’s problems are relatively tame by 2025 standards, that track revels lustily in objectification, with a surprising of harsh profanity tossed in, too.

The latter song certainly tempers my temptation to heap too much praise on Teddy Swims’ latest effort. There’s some nice stuff here, both musically and lyrically. But there are some nasty elements to steer clear of, too.

The post I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2) appeared first on Plugged In.

The latter is definitely the case with Shaboozey’s smash 2024 country anthem “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Indeed, you could argue that the song’s title alone tells us virtually everything we need to know about the lyrics within.

If you don’t know his story, you might even think that Shaboozey’s name itself is a reference to getting drunk. In fact, Collins Chibueze took his stage name from his high school football coach, who had trouble pronouncing this son of Nigerian immigrants’ last name.

Mispronunciation notwithstanding, Shaboozey is likely laughing all the way to the bank, based on the smash success of “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” It spent a whopping 19 weeks at No. 1 on the mainstream Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2024, tying the previous record set by Lil Nas X’s “Old Time Road.” In Canada, Shaboozey earned the record outright, spending 25 weeks at No. 1.

The song also topped the charts in a long list of countries not known for their love of country music, including Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Norway and Sweden.

Just as Jimmy Buffet did with “Margaritaville” and Garth Brooks accomplished with “Friends in Low Places,” Shaboozey has tapped into the time-honored good-‘ol-boy tradition of dealing with stress by getting drunk in a bar.

Positive Content

The song’s second verse seems to suggest that money and success haven’t changed who Shaboozey is, something his mother is apparently concerned about: “I’ve been Boozey since I’ve left, I ain’t changin’ for a check
Tell my ma I ain’t forget (oh, Lord).” The first verse delivers a litany of relational and financial stresses that many listeners probably identify with: “My baby want a Birkin, she’s been tellin’ me all night long/Gasoline and groceries, the list goes on and on/This nine-to-five ain’t workin’.”

Content Concerns

The pressures of daily life lead Shaboozey to wonder, “Why the h— do I work so hard?” That wondering doesn’t last long, though, before it’s off to the bar to start taking the edge off: “Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey/They know me and Jack Daniel’s got a history/There’s a party downtown near 5th Street/Everybody at the bar gettin’ tipsy.”

Elsewhere in the song’s chorus we hear, “Tell ’em ‘Bring another round,’ we need plenty more/Two-steppin’ on the table, she don’t need a dance floor/Oh my, good Lord.”

Track Summary

Life is hard. And folks struggling with that reality have turned to the bottle for solace at least practically since the beginning of human history (see Noah’s story of drunken woe in Genesis 9:20-27).

It’s no surprise, then, that a bar anthem like this one has seemingly universal appeal, especially when paired with it’s undeniable earwork listenability. For some people, sharing your woes with a drink and friends at the bar might be as good as it gets. The 1980s sitcom Cheers, for example, practically immortalized the notion of the neighborhood bar as a place “where everybody knows your name” and “they’re always glad you came.”

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” taps into the same appeal, delivering a feel-good ode to knocking down shots as a temporary strategy for knocking down life’s inevitable rough patches.

I get that appeal. Still, if our kids are connecting with Shaboozey’s glorification of going to the bar to get drunk as a strategy to deal with life’s pain, we might want to have a conversation with them about the headaches and hopelessness that inevitably wait for people the next morning.

And pushing further, there’s a deeper conversation waiting about where we find lasting hope and relational connection in life. Both require something deeper and more substantial than the tempting-but-fleeting buzz of getting a little “tipsy” to take the edge of life’s troubles.

The post A Bar Song (Tipsy) appeared first on Plugged In.

I think we can probably agree that the Jason DeFord doesn’t fit the typical country singer profile. He’s somewhat overweight (though he’s recently lost 100 pounds or so). He has tattoos on his face. And—here’s that rush to judgment—when I’ve seen him or heard about him the last couple of years, I dismissed his look as an attention-getting schtick. He seemed to come out of nowhere in the last couple of years, showing up all over the place. Why are so many people connecting with him? I wondered—again, a bit condescendingly.  

But since he won Best New Artist at the Grammys earlier this year—never mind that his latest album, Beautifully Broken, is his 10^th since 2012—I figured maybe we ought to find out what all the fuss was about.

Well.

I was wrong. Not only can he sing, but the songwriting here will rip your heart out—in a good way. Jelly Roll has talked openly about his checkered past, including dealing drugs and stints in prison, not to mention his own battles with drug and alcohol abuse. But his faith has played a huge, ahem, role in reorienting his life in a redemptive direction.

All of those subjects come into focus here, as Jelly Roll reflects on the immense tension between addiction and grace, failure and forgiveness. There are some bumps in the road, as we’ll see. But in Beautifully Broken we’re also confronted with some genuinely profound insights about how God’s love reshapes and remakes our brokenness.

[Note: This review covers the 14 tracks on the physical album release as well as eight additional tracks on the digital release. It does not cover the six tracks on the deluxe edition.]

POSITIVE CONTENT

Album opener “Winning Streak” immediately sets the confessional context for the album, narrating the struggle of sobriety and Jelly Roll’s recognition of his need for a 12-step program to help him: “Right now, I got two shaky hands only one way to stop ’em/And I haven’t touched a drop in seven hours, three minutes/Hardly sobered up, already want to quit quittin’/Sweatin’ in an old church basement/Wishin’ I was wasted/Never thought I’d say this:/ ‘Hello, my name is Jason.’” He says that joining such a group initially felt shameful (“I was so ashamed to be in this seat”) until meeting a man there who understood his experience completely: “He said, ‘Everybody here’s felt the same defeat/Nobody walks through these doors on a winning streak’.”

Virtually every track includes vulnerable reflections on shame and self-hatred, contrasted with learning to accept yourself and accepting God’s forgiveness. In “What’s Wrong With Me,” Jelly Roll talks about self-condemnation (“If you only knew all the worthless I fought/Covered my arms up with cursive/To cover the thoughts I was cursed with/Guess I just hated the person I saw”). Now, however, he’s able to say, “I found a way to move on and sing and new song/It took a real long time to see/But I’m alright with what’s wrong with me.”

But Jelly Roll’s positive perspective goes deeper that mere self-affirmation. On “Heart of Stone,” he prays, “Dear Lord, can you help me?/I’ve fallen out of grace/ … I’m shackled in these chains/I’m haunted by the lies of every time I said I’d change/ … I ain’t losin’ hope/That somehow you can make a heart of gold from this heart of stone.” Meanwhile, “Liar” confronts the inner voice (either his own or perhaps the devil’s) that tempts him to surrender to self-destructive addiction and hopelessness.

“Unpretty” laments poor choices in the past and yet seems, paradoxically, to understand how those decisions have shaped the man Jelly Roll is today: “I hate the man I used to be/But he’ll always be a part of me/ … I know it’s unpretty.”

“Grace,” “Hey Mama” and “Woman” pay tribute to the faithfulness of Jelly Roll’s wife, despite his deep struggles and the separation caused by a musician’s life on the road. On “My Cross,” he longs to see the destructive cycle of sin broken instead of passing it on to his two children: “I hope to God you don’t get my addictions/Don’t deal with my demons or make my decisions/Yeah, I hope the apple falls far from the tree/And the sins of the father stop right here with me.”

“Smile So Much” deals with finding strength from God amid the spiritual trials of life: “I prayed for calmer waters, God gave me taller waves/I didn’t understand it ’til I wound up findin’ strength.”

There are more positive moments here—quite a lot more, actually. But these lyrical snippets offer a representative sampling of the kinds of real-but-redemptive messages that infuse these songs.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Album opener “Winning Streak” pairs raw emotions with equally raw language: “The broken man in the mirror can’t look at me ’cause he’s guilty/And I swear that the last couple months, that m—–f—er tried to kill me/ … D—, this s—’s exhausting.” Since those harsh profanities show up on the first track, I thought they might be setting the tone for the rest of the album. That said, we only get a couple of uses of “d–n” and “h—” in the remaining 21 tracks that we reviewed, as well as a couple of references to “hell” as a spiritual destination.

The album deals with the serious subjects of alcohol and drug abuse. Though there’s little, if anything, in these lyrics that glorifies such choices, they still serve as a thematically mature backdrop for much of what Jelly Roll sings about.

ALBUM SUMMARY

As a general rule, I hate surprises. But this is one surprise that I’m glad to embrace. I didn’t expect to be moved quite so deeply listening to Beautifully Broken. But even though I’ve never wrestled with substance abuse, I still connected with Jelly Roll’s insights about shame and insecurity, and how our hidden cracks and emotional craters tempt us to hide in the shadows, even as we pretend that we’re fine. Jelly Roll pairs that vulnerability with a redemptive faith in God’s ability to pull us out of the darkness, and he understands that it’s not something we can simply muster up on our own in isolation.

Beautifully Broken feels like a deeply Christian album—albeit one where that brokenness is occasionally expressed with harsh profanity. For some potential listeners, those isolated moments of vulgarity may be a deal killer. That said, if you’re a country music fan who harkens to songs about gritty redemption, Beautifully Broken just might be worth your consideration.

The post Beautifully Broken appeared first on Plugged In.

Sometimes, his songs under his own label and those he records with Big Kenny (under the name Big & Rich) seem purely secular (“Bad, Bad Thing;” “One Bud Wiser”), while others can be very politically charged (“I’m Offended;” “Shut up About Politics;” “Shuttin’ Detroit Down”).

But in others, Rich seems to embrace his Christian upbringing (“Rescue Me,” “Earth to God,” “I Pray for You”).

But in a post on X, he called his newest single, “Revelation,” “the most important song I’ve ever written.” He went on to write, “I hope it brings strength to the saved, conviction to the lost, and fear to the wicked.”

In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Rich shared that “Revelation”was not a song he wrote, but rather one that God is sharing  through him—one he felt called to promote heavily to fight against, in his words, the satanic themes present in mainstream media today.

POSITIVE CONTENT

The lyrics on “Revelation” are scriptural.

Rich sings of the trumpets sounding and the time when those who bow a knee to evil will receive their irreversible judgement (“Lord’s gonna turn away from all their cries”).

In the outro, Rich sings, “So wrote the prophet John/Before his days were done/The King is coming/And it won’t be long.”

The music video shows Rich at a church. We see him look to the sky and hold up a Bible. We also see a dramatization of the battle between the Archangel Michael and Satan, described in Revelation 12.

CONTENT CONCERNS

The single itself is biblical. But when Rich talks about the song, the artist means “Revelation” to be a political and social statement, as well. And while some families might wholeheartedly agree with Rich’s cultural take, others might take issue with its tone.

For instance, Rich’s lyrics don’t talk about what the Second Coming will look like for those who believe.

The music video features a bare-chested Michael wielding a lightning-powered sword against Satan, who controls a ball of fire.

TRACK SUMMARY

In the interview with Carlson, Rich spoke about the satanic nature of current media, specifically referencing Eminem’s new songs, “Evil,” “Lucifer” and “Antichrist.” While he knows he doesn’t have the same press attention as Eminem, he hopes that “Revelation” will help counterbalance such content.

“Revelation” is biblically based. In the same interview, Rich said that he merely took John’s words and made them rhyme. This much is clear.

But, judging by Rich’s comments, “Revelation” is a social as well as spiritual statement—one that many listeners will agree with, but one that should be noted all the same.

Whatever way you slice it, it’s important to note that though biblical, the song is not the Word of God. Many Bible scholars have and still do try to find the “correct” interpretation of the book of Revelation, but none of us truly know exactly what the end times will look like or when they will be.

The music video ends with the words of Revelation 12:10-11 filling the screen:

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they (the brethren) overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Families should be encouraged by this and begin to study the book of Revelation for themselves alongside the song to get a fuller picture.

The post Revelation appeared first on Plugged In.

However, his newest single, “Lies Lies Lies,” finds Wallen more introspective and emotionally vulnerable than we’ve seen in the past. Which is to say, he’s not lashing out in a vengeful, alcohol-drenched response to love lost.

It seems Wallen is still not over whatever ex he’s been singing about since 2021’s Wasted on You. But at least this time, he’s willing to admit that he’s “on a downhill dive”—i.e., struggling mightily—since she’s been gone.

But try as he might to convince himself that he’s OK, that he’s doing fine, well, lines like that are just lies.

POSITIVE CONTENT

The chorus of the song is candidly blunt: “Habits and hard heartbreaks are hard to break/So I just tell the same old lies, lies, lyin’ to myself.”

What are those lies? Well, they fill this song. Wallen wants to believe the breakup was no big deal (“It wasn’t no thing to give you up”) and that he doesn’t even think about calling her (“And girl, tonight I won’t call again and again.”)

But then he admits that those statements “Ain’t nothin’ but/Lies, lies, lies.”

So, what’s positive here, you might ask? Well, at the very least (and this is, admittedly, a low bar), Wallen acknowledges that self-deception plays a role in his hard-to-break habits.

But while it’s nice to hear that the singer knows what habits he should be addressing and the thoughts he should be avoiding …

CONTENT CONCERNS

… ultimately, he’s not doing a very good job of that. 

After the breakup, Wallen deals with self-hate (“I won’t hate myself when the mornin’ comes”), alcohol abuse (“No bottle of bourbon beside the bed”) and some obsessive, suggestive thinking (“No thoughts of your body runnin’ through my head/ … I never reach for you in another touch.”).

Perhaps Wallen hopes the lies will make all the pain go away. But deep down, he knows that’s not true.  

We hear “d–n” and “h—” both once.

TRACK SUMMARY

Truth be told, there’s not too much content—positive or negative—in this Top 10 country ballad.

Basically, Wallen can’t think about anything but this girl who moved on from him. Clearly wishing he could stop being “a fool” for her, he tries in vain to tell himself these lies, lies, lies.

That said, he still turns to the bottle, swears a bit and includes a few suggestive hints in his lyrics.

All in all, “Lies Lies Lies” is hardly the most problematic country song we’ve ever reviewed. But the lies Morgan Wallen knows he’s telling himself might affect others as well.

The post Lies Lies Lies appeared first on Plugged In.

Luke Combs’s newest album, released days before Father’s Day, is aptly named.

In 12 songs, Combs explores what it looks like to be a good father. Drawing from his relationship with his own father and his two sons, he hits the nail on the head. The lyrics here are personal, emotional and sometimes spiritual. Stylistically, the simplicity of Combs classic-country sound just serves to highlight his lyrical vulnerability even more.

Positive Content

The album opens with “Front Door Famous,” where we get a glimpse into Combs’s perspective on his fame. But as great as celebrity might be, he admits it’s no match for being his family’s hero: “In a heartbeat, man, I’d trade it, ‘cause it ain’t got nothin’ on being front door famous.”

Clearly coming back home to his sons greeting him with open arms (and the more difficult part of leaving them looking out the window) is something Combs thinks about a lot. Seven songs later, he sings, “I hope he don’t think all I ever do is leave.” There, he also sings about his own father, who kept the lights on and filled the house with love, even though he had to leave for work every day.

“Remember Him That Way” and “The Man He Sees in Me” are similarly linked together as they reflect on memories of Combs’ father. In the former, he sings, “I remember him 10 feet tall and bulletproof,” an ode to his father’s strength and to the heroic qualities Combs still sees him as. And in the latter song, Combs is deeply aware that his sons view him the same way; he hopes he can “finally be the man he sees in me.” Perhaps more importantly, Combs hopes that by the time his sons grow up and “find out that I didn’t hang the moon,” they are trying to be that heroic father for their sons.

This generational idea is paralleled in Combs’s relationship with his own father in “My Old Man Was Right.” There, Combs admits that he learned lessons the hard way because he didn’t listen to his father’s warnings. Knowing that his father was right, he sings that “every lesson that he taught me, I hope I teach them.”

Combs clearly cares about his sons’ futures, too. He tells them how to pay the bills and how to start the tractor in “In Case I Ain’t Around.” That song also implores them to keep going to church and having family lunches, singing “When it’s my time to die, boy, don’t stop livin’.”

“In Case I Ain’t Around” isn’t the only song he contemplates not being in his sons’ lives anymore. Combs seems convinced in “Huntin’ by Yourself” that each son will get to the point where “he’ll have a lot less time for his old man.” He uses hunting with his boys to illustrate the importance of spending quality time with your kids while you are a big part of their life, no matter how much they “wear your patience thin.”

In “Whoever You Turn Out to Be,” Combs encourages his sons that they “ain’t gotta change the world to make your daddy proud.” In this fifth song on the album, we get our first good look at Combs’s own trust in God: “Yeah, I used to love to sling that dirt up down them rural routes, but God might have a different map-dot plan for you mapped out.”

In “Little Country Boys,” he sings that he “ain’t got a choice but to love ‘em and let ‘em be,” perhaps indicating that there comes a time that every father has to give his children space to spread their own wings.

In “Plant a Seed,” Combs talks more spiritually about pouring into his sons while he still can. He sings that “true love and the Gospel might take a while to blossom,” but that if he can just plant those seeds, he can “let God be the farmer” and watch those seeds grow.

Following that, Combs sings about his grandfather, fondly remembering him in a hopeful and spiritual song entitled “Ride Around Heaven.”

The album ends with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” the only song here that’s not directly biographical. “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” though cleverly written, does tell the story of divorced parents, though not Combs’s own. It reveals some of the more painful realities of a broken home as this young boy believes it to be his fault and doesn’t understand why he has to keep switching parents every other weekend. The hook is the heartbreaking question: “I guess maybe things are different now, but Daddy, can’t you still take me out to the ballgame?”

In “Huntin’ by Yourself” and “My Old Man Was Right,” Combs seems to suggest that boys will eventually begin to notice girls and respond by pursuing them—which can lead to some tough lessons: “Chasin’ girls is gonna be all he’ll wanna do” and “that breaking, it’s just part of life.”

Content Concerns

Some songs talk reference Combs’ father smoking and drinking (though not abusively so). We also hear about how his grandfather had “Beech-Nut in his jaw.” Combs admits to taking “a drag of a half-smoked Marlboro Light.”

Even though Combs sings that his sons sometimes will make him curse in impatience, the album’s profanities are limited to three instances of “h—.”

Album Summary

If this album revealed anything about Combs’s personal life, it’s that he’s a family man. His eldest son was born in 2022 and his second son in 2023, so he has a lot of fatherhood left. But his goals are clear… and they’re good ones for any father-child relationship.

Combs, nor his dad, are the perfect example of a father. While he tries his best, “that ‘S’ on his chest” will start to fade and there will always be mistakes that could’ve been avoided. After all, there is only one perfect father.

Combs does, however, paint the picture of a faithful father: one who sacrifices for his sons, plants Godly seeds and is humble to take the example of his own father to heart and action.

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Break-up songs are often wrought with anger and profanities. This one has those things. But it also tries to take the bitter edge off with that old country stand-by: late-night beer drinking.

Whether or not Post Malone and Morgan Wallen are close in real life or not, I have no idea. But they’re buddies in their song “I Had Some Help,” as they both look back on failed relationships.

They’re willing to take some blame for their failures, but definitely not all of it.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Friendship and a willingness to admit some mistakes are two of the most positive elements found in Malone’s May release.

While it is clear both Malone’s and Wallen’s characters are embittered by their romantic partners leaving them, the goal of the song is not to blame the other but rather share the burden of blame. Both sing in the chorus, “It ain’t like I can make this kind of mess all by myself.”

Malone knows his ex is talking badly about him (“You’re tellin’ all your friends that I’m crazy”), but he expects her to own her faults, too (“Like I’m the only one”). Wallen sings, “I ain’t an angel, you ain’t heaven-sent.”

While neither of these guys are saints themselves, acknowledging a shared burden of fault rings close to the biblical principle of taking the log out of your own eye before removing the speck from your friend’s. Malone touches on this truth in the first verse as well, singing, “Why’d you throw them stones if you had a wild hair of your own or two?”

The video shows the two helping each other process their emotions, Wallen even helps Malone off the ground after he gets thrown out of the bar.

CONTENT CONCERNS

And speaking of that bar, alcohol solves problems here … at least if you believe the song. It’s a time-honored country cliché, and one that Malone’s willing to embrace in this song.

The video shows both Malone and Wallen drinking heavily. Malone smokes, too. In Malone’s case, we can assume his choices have something to do with the frustrating phone call he received at the beginning of the video.

The drinking continues. And three young women driving by seem glad to see the two artists intoxicated and without any romantic partners.

Indeed, they confess that they’ve “been deep in every weekend if you couldn’t tell.”

The chorus also suggests that these guys’ alcohol habits were fueled in part by their romantic partners’ enablement: “Don’t act like you ain’t help me pull that bottle off the shelf.”  

While Malone and Wallen could’ve leaned into the song’s theme of admitting your own faults, their solution in the bridge is the exact opposite. The burden of blame is shared, but in an ever-embittered way, as Malone sings, “Baby, you blame me and baby, I blame you.”

Ultimately the two have no intention of forgiving any time soon, Wallen singing, “Can’t wash our hands of this.”

As for the profanities I mentioned, we hear one s-word and three uses of “h—” (in a repeated line in the chorus).

TRACK SUMMARY

Malone and Wallen debuted this much-anticipated track at the Stagecoach Festival on April 28^th. And it didn’t take long to reach No. 1, three weeks and counting in that top slot as of this writing.

It will be interesting to watch as Malone moves from an occasional country cover to his forthcoming full country album, rumored to be releasing later this year. “I Had Some Help” gives us a sense of what to expect.

Malone’s first single in this genre fits easily alongside the drinking anthems of modern country pop. There’s some honesty here, but the themes of dwelling in unforgiveness, profanity and the urge to solve problems with alcohol should give listeners pause.

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You heard me right.

The Grammy-Award winning queen of multiple singles and albums, Beyoncé herself, is dipping her toes into the country music genre–something that has shocked many and surprised others.

Her latest venture consists, so far, of two songs, including “Texas Hold ‘Em.” It’s the lead single from her forthcoming album titled Act II.

This simple, catchy track is sure to get stuck in your head. It finds Beyoncé channeling her Texas roots, profanely singing about dancing, alcohol and life in the country.

POSITIVE CONTENT

This song rolls out like short chapters of a short story.

Beyoncé begins by asking listeners to cast aside their cares and hang out with her in a small country town (“So lay your cards down/So park your Lexus and throw your keys up/Stick around…).

It switches then between going to a “dive bar” and dancing (“It’s a real-life boogie and a real-life hoedown”), watching out for tornadoes (There’s a tornado in this city/hit the basement…”) and making it through those hot summers (“There’s a heatwave coming at us/Too hot to think straight/Too cold to panic”).

CONTENT CONCERNS

Still, everyone who lives in this small town enjoys casting their cares aside by drinking (“Rugged whiskey, ‘cause we survivin’/Off red cup kisses, sweet redemption, passin’ time”).

They also do so by dancing the night away (“Then spin me in the middle boy, I can’t read your mind”) when the pressures of living out West feel too heavy (“All of the problems just feel dramatic/And now we’re runnin’ to the first spot that we find, yeah”).

There are three repeated profanities that stick out and they are an inescapable part of the song.

The first two find Beyoncé enticing someone to come dance by saying, (“And I’ll be d–ned if I can’t slow dance with you…/Don’t be a b–ch, come take it to the floor now”). And the third is about how destructive tornadoes can be (“that s— ain’t pretty”).

There’s currently only an online visualizer on YouTube for this song (the music video may be coming), and it’s quite graphic. Beyonce walks into view, sporting a leather thong (all of which we only see from the front), black panty hose, and nothing on top except a leather vest that barely covers her nipples. This of course is paired with her sensually running her finger up her stomach and chest until it forms a gun that she “shoots.”

TRACK SUMMARY

I did not think Beyoncé would ever be breaking into the Country music genre. Yet, here we are.

Her first rodeo is sonically impressive. In reviewing this song, I’ve obviously listened to it multiple times and it’s now stuck in my head. Perhaps forever.

But that presents its own issue for listeners, especially young ones. Had Beyoncé omitted the three strong profanities that are repeated multiple times, we wouldn’t have too much of an issue. We’d really just be singing about country folks living their country lives (like every other country song on the radio).  But she didn’t.

So I’m here to let you know that there’s no way to avoid those words or the emphasis we hear on drinking liquor and dancing the night away. And if you hop on YouTube, or even bring up her song in Apple Music or Spotify, you’ll also see a risque visualizer that leaves little to the imagination.

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