Booze, Breakups and Lessons Learned Shine in Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time
Over the past couple of years Morgan Wallen has taken country music by storm. Through his familiar themes and sweet melodies, he has quickly grown into a music sensation. On March 3rd, 2023, Morgan Wallen released his third studio album, One Thing at a Time. On this album, he opts to stick with what has worked so well for him- singing about drinking, break ups, and his country self. Between his second album Dangerous: The Double Album and this one, a lot has changed in the budding star’s life. Most significantly, in 2020, he was caught on video using the N-word.
Now on One Thing at a Time, he reflects on the mistakes he has made, among other things. Morgan Wallen has said that all the songs on this album can be split into 3 categories: traditional country songs, hip-hop inspired songs, and lastly a category he calls dirt rock. Throughout these three categories, he explores the topics of drinking, being a country man, and women. If there is one thing to know about this album it is that drinking and women, especially heartbreak are mentioned a lot- like a ton. Throughout the album, there are a few themes that become evident when looking at word frequencies. Words surrounding drinking pop up a lot throughout the album. For example, “whiskey” is mentioned 35 times, “bar” is used 24 times, “drink” and “drinkin’” are both used 15 times, and “beer” is also used 15 times. In this album, drinking is used by Morgan Wallen to support good times and bad times. Another theme is women and heartbreak. “Girl” is used 60 times, “she” is used 127 times, “her” is used 65 times, “gone” is used 27 times, “heart” is used 22 times, and variations of the word “break” are used 20 times. This shows that women and heartbreak make up a large portion of this album. To see how he explores these topics, let’s look at a song from each of the three categories of music he uses.
Traditional Country: Outlook
In the first category, we have the song Outlook. In this song, Morgan Wallen reflects on his outlook on life and how it has changed. In one of the opening lines of the song, he sings that he used to believe drinking from a “glass half full” would make his problems go away, but it didn’t. He then lightly mentions the event that caused his mindset to change. He softly sings, “When that 20/20 hindsight vision opens up your eyes.” This line refers to the trouble he got himself into when he was caught yelling the n-word on video in 2020. Following this event, his music was pulled from the radio, his record label, Big Loud Records suspended him, and he was ineligible to receive awards at the Academy of Country Music Awards. He then belts, “Now my outlook on life is different than it used to be.” This reflective tune is relatable to many as there are turning-point moments in everyone’s life that can connect with this song.
Outlook also addresses Wallen’s faith life in the song. In the chorus of the song, He proclaims that his new outlook on life is that God is looking down and looking out for him as he navigates fame. He also says that he needs to “go toe to toe with the devil.” This is him addressing that he needs to face his problems with faith rather than the bottle as he had done in the past.
He also includes his sister, Ashlyne, in the song, who sings the harmonies on the record. Wallen said that this song is one of the first he wrote for the album, and it addresses his faith, so it was only right to include his younger sister, who he grew up with and learned so much with.
Hip Hop Inspiration: 180 (Lifestyle)
On the 31st song of the album, Morgan Wallen samples 2014 hip hop song, Lifestyle, by Rich Gang, Young Thug, and Rich Homie Quan. He borrows the song’s beat and pace during the introduction of the song. This isn’t the first time he has stepped into the world of hip-hop. In late 2021, he released Broadway Girls with rapper Lil Durk. In 180 (Lifestyle), Morgan Wallen sings about a girl and his country lifestyle. In the song, this girl is from the city and Wallen sings about how he is turning her into a “red dirt wild child.” He compares this girl’s old life to her new life. He sings that she used to wear high heels, but now she turns up barefoot in a field. Later in the song he explains that this girl has developed a southern accent. He sings, “She’s still working on the Southern, yeah but she got the charm.”
In this song, a girl plays a major role in the story the song delivers. “She” is used 43 times and is the most used word on the track. This is also one of the few songs throughout the album that includes a story about a girl that doesn’t involve heartbreak. This girl is used as a vehicle for Morgan Wallen to describe his country lifestyle and the pride he takes in it.
Dirt Rock: Whiskey Friends
Whiskey Friends is the 12th song on the album, and it is about Wallen’s two favorite things: drinking and girls. At the beginning of the song, he says that he is always down for two beers, but that night he needs something stronger. He sings, “I just took a hook on my heartbreak chin.” It is now known that he is at a bar trying to drink away the pain of a breakup. He sings that it’s just him, Jack, and Jim, referring to liquor brands Jack Daniels and Jim Beam. He then calls these his “whiskey friends.” This shows that he is in a bad place mentally and feels that liquor is his friend and the answer to his problems. Morgan Wallen also takes inspiration from the rock band, The Killers’ Mr. Brightside. He uses the same opening guitar riff from the song on Whiskey Friends.
Whiskey Friends tackles the themes of heartbreak and drinking, as the heartbreak is the cause of the drinking. He uses words such as “whiskey,” “Jack,” “Jim,” “beer,” and other words associated with alcohol a combined 31 times. He uses words associated with a girl and a heartbreak a combined 20 times.
Morgan Wallen creates One Thing at a Time by singing about booze, breakups, and his country lifestyle through the three categories of traditional country, hip-hop inspired tunes, and dirt rock. One of the only headscratchers on this album is that it is 36 songs.
