At first listen, Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping collaboration with Canadian singer Tate McRae seems like a coldly cynical ode to a one-night stand. At “best,” it might stretch out to two or three nights, tops. Both singers admit their mutual brokenness, which is why they insist that they’re not interested in anything more than a self-centered, no-strings-attached hookup. They want to be able to walk away the next morning and not give it a second thought.
But if you listen really carefully, there’s a hint that what both of the brokenhearted characters in this country ballad really want is something deeper and more meaningful—even if they’re almost too emotionally damaged to admit it.
As we’ll see momentarily, about two-thirds of the song focuses on two people who seem more than willing to dive into bed without any notion of commitment or connection. Obviously, that’s not positive. But the third verse of the song suggests that these two casual lovers actually do want something deeper.
The woman in this story tries hard to convince her lover that her heart is beyond fixing: “She said, ‘You don’t want this heart, nah, it can’t be fixed.’” And repairing that damage isn’t her goal in this hookup: “And I ain’t ready to try on a night like this.”
But she hints that if her new lover wants to stick around a bit longer after a supposedly meaningless tryst, that’d be OK by her, too: “But if you still wanna stay, there ain’t nothin’ wrong.” Wallen’s character replies, “Baby, you should know that’s what I want.”
So for all this couple’s mutual protestations (as we’ll see below) that all they want is transactional sex, a real relationship isn’t quite off the table.
That said, if listeners only pay attention to the first two verses, what they’ll hear are two people insisting that a meaningless fling is all they’re after because they’re too damaged to hope for anything more.
Wallen narrates: “She said, ‘You don’t want this heart, boy, it’s already broke’/Told me everything she touch just goes up in smoke/Only stay a couple nights, then she gon’ be gone.”
And that sounds just fine to him. “I said, ‘Baby, you should know that’s what I want/That’s what I want, that’s what I want.’” Later in the song, the couple reaffirms their “just sex, no relationship” intent: “If you’re in a hurry/Nah, you ain’t gonna hurt me tonight/And it won’t be the worst thing/If this is all it is.”
We also hear, “There are no hard feelings if you only wanna act like lovers do/For a night or two/ … And sometimes in the mornin’ go back to bein’ someone you never knew/You never knew.”
When I first listened to this song, I have to admit that I missed the turn in the third verse. The track seemed to be nothing more than a breezy, unapologetic embrace of selfish sex, a tale of two broken and needy people willing to share their bodies but not their hearts.
What these two characters really want goes deeper than that, based on the third verse. They’ve tried hard to convince themselves that momentary physical intimacy is enough. But deep down, they know that’s not true.
The question for listeners, though, is which of these very different messages about love and lust will come through most clearly. Interpreting the first two verses through the lens of the third yields a very different understanding of this song’s message—but it’s an interpretation that could easily be missed, too.
After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.
