Middle Finger by Lainey Wilson

Album: Lainey Wilson (2018)

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After years of toiling away in Nashville with little reward, Lainey Wilson felt like flipping the bird at the city that continuously rejected her. Instead, she poured her emotions into a guitar ode to her middle finger, a plucky little limb she likens to a friend that always sticks up for her.

"I just got to a certain point where I'd been in Nashville for so long, my give-a-damn was a little busted," the Louisiana-born country singer told Billboard in 2023. "I felt like, 'Why not just say what I want to say how I want to say it?' That's one of the thoughts that really set me free."
Wilson's fearless attitude and powerhouse vocals on the defiant tune, as well as others on her 2018 self-titled EP, impressed BMG Nashville president Jon Loba, who signed her to Broken Bow Records that same year. He told Billboard that Wilson had "this absolute confidence" that caught his attention. "And it was an amazing vocal and, even at that time, amazing songs," he continued. "But it was her narrative in between the music, you really got a sense of who she was: this strong woman from a small town in Louisiana who did not want to compromise who she was."

Wilson released her first Broken Bow Records album, Sayin' What I'm Thinkin', in 2021 and became an overnight sensation after the single "Things A Man Oughta Know" topped the Country Airplay chart.
Loba didn't stumble upon Wilson's music by chance. Jimmie Allen, another country artist on his roster, was already a fan of the up-and-comer and asked Loba to listen to some of her songs. In 2018, Wilson made her UK debut when she joined Allen in supporting country singer Chase Rice's headline gig at London's Bush Hall.
The singer reissued the tune as a Spotify Single in 2022. In the new version, she amps up the pace and adds more guitar work. "It's an anthem we can all sing along to and feel a little better," she explained in a press release. "That song has been a fan favorite since it came out on my EP in 2018, and I'm excited for it to have another chance as a refreshed, rerecorded Spotify Single."

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