Thinkin’ Bout Me
Morgan Wallen
·
20232023
“I ain’t no Superman, I’m just the way I am,” Morgan Wallen drawls on the title track of his third album. That everyday-guy status—as well as a voice smooth as bourbon—had helped propel him to the top of the charts in the late 2010s. After a short stint on The Voice gave him his first visibility in 2014, his 2018 debut, If I Know Me, went to No. 1 on the country charts, and its 2021 follow-up, Dangerous: The Double Album, firmly established him as a crossover star.
Apple Music’s top album of 2023 continues the path of Dangerous, packing in three dozen tracks about whiskey, women, and world-weariness that add high-concept metaphors and surprising cross-genre pollination (downcast nu-metal balladry, twitchy trap snares) to sturdy Nashville songwriting. Wallen’s voice ties the whole package together, his conversational delivery helping tracks like the swaying recollection “Last Night” sound as natural as morning-after phone calls; his fluid twang is a big part of his appeal, giving the way he digs into his imperfections and asserts that he’s a regular dude a shot of realism believable enough to attract stadium-size crowds.
One Thing At A Time’s 36 tracks offer country fans of all generations, whether raised on honky-tonk jukeboxes or genre-melding streaming services, something to grab onto. The rollicking “Everything I Love” interpolates The Allman Brothers Band’s “Midnight Rider,” while the besotted “180 (Lifestyle)” borrows its boastful chorus from Rich Gang’s “Lifestyle.” There are also ingenious metaphors; the rueful “’98 Braves” uses as its central conceit the legendarily thwarted run of the baseball team that at one time represented the playoff hopes of the entire South, and “You Proof” charts a lover’s allure alongside alcoholic beverages’ potency scale. It’s not the most surprising analogy, but it rings true—and it illustrates Wallen’s ability to turn life’s details into modern country anthems.
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Don't know where you at, don't know where you've been
Don't know nothin' 'bout that boy you're into
Don't feel bad for you but I feel bad for him
And all the hell you gon' be puttin' him through
Probably tell him we're a burnt out flame
Probably tell him that I ain't been on your mind
How I ain't nothin' but a long gone thing
You can cuss my name, but baby, don't you lie
[Chorus]
When you're tasting what he's drinking, are you thinkin' 'bout me?
When you're ridin' where he's drivin', are you missin' my street?
Every time you close your eyes, tell me, who do you see?
When you're tastin' what he's drinkin', are you thinkin' 'bout me?
Comin' over tonight, wish that truck in your drive was mine
Just like you know it's supposed to be
When you're up in his bed, am I up in your head?
Makin' you crazy, tell me, baby, are you thinkin' 'bout me?
Are you thinkin' 'bout, are you thinkin' 'bout
When you're tastin' what he's drinkin', are you thinkin' 'bout me?
[Verse 2]
Do you hide your phone? Did you change my name?
When he wants to go to our go-to place
Do you tell him you can't? Then go out of your way
To be somewhere, any damn where I ain't
[Chorus]
When you're tastin' what he's drinkin', are you thinkin' 'bout me?
When you're ridin' where he's drivin', are you missin' my street?
Every time you close your eyes, tell me, who do you see?
When you're tastin' what he's drinkin', are you thinkin' 'bout me?
Comin' over tonight, wish that truck in your drive was mine
Just like you know it's supposed to be
When you're up in his bed, am I up in your head?
Makin' you crazy, tell me, baby, are you thinkin' 'bout me?
Are you thinkin' 'bout, are you thinkin' 'bout
When you're tastin' what he's drinkin', are you thinkin' 'bout me?
[Bridge]
Don't know where you at
But girl, I know where you oughta be
[Chorus]
When you're tastin' what he's drinkin', are you thinkin' 'bout me?
When you're ridin' where he's drivin', are you missing my street?
Every time you close your eyes, tell me, who do you see?
When you're tastin' what he's drinkin', are you thinkin' 'bout me?
Comin' over tonight, wish that truck in your drive was mine
Just like you know it's supposed to be
When you're up in his bed, am I up in your head?
Makin' you crazy, tell me, baby, are you thinkin' 'bout me?
Yeah, are you thinkin' 'bout me?
Are you thinkin' 'bout me?