Livin' the Dream

Album: Dangerous (2020)
Charted: 74
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • It's fair to say the year 2020 was a mixed one for Morgan Wallen. He saw his star rise quickly with a series of hit singles - "More Than My Hometown," and "7 Summers" both hit the Top 20 of the Hot 100. However, his success was accompanied by some difficult moments, including being scratched from a scheduled performance on Saturday Night Live after being caught breaking coronavirus protocols; getting arrested for public intoxication; and revealing he fathered a son. During this self-reflective slow burner, Wallen gets real about the isolating and caustic effects of stardom.
  • Wallen laments about finding trouble everywhere he goes.

    Another day, another venue
    There's trouble to get into


    And finding fame isn't all it's cracked up to be

    Lonely as an eagle
    I meet a thousand people
    Who think I got a thousand friends
  • Wallen co-wrote this brutally honest cut with Ben Burgess, Jacob Durrett and Hardy. "I know I'm super blessed and usually damn happy. But not always," Wallen wrote. "This came from the 'not always' part. I bet some of y'all can relate."
  • Morgan Wallen told iHeartCountry in a January 2021 interview that this is his favorite song of the ones he's written. "It shows a different side of all the glamorous things that I get to be a part of too, and I didn't write that song for pity or for anyone to feel sorry for me," he explained. "I just wanted to show a different side, everybody thinks that you know you get so far, you get famous and that everything's just awesome and most of it is but I just wanted people to see the different side of that and I feel like we accomplished it with that song."
  • Morgan Wallen co-wrote the song in mid-2019, well before his arrest for drunk and disorderly conduct and getting bounced off Saturday Night Live. He told Billboard at the time he was hungover and exhausted after a run of shows. Now looking back at his troublesome 2020, he sees it as "prophetic."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Scott Stapp

Scott StappSongwriter Interviews

The Creed lead singer reveals the "ego and self-fulfillment" he now sees in one of the band's biggest hits.

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song Spoofs

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song SpoofsSong Writing

When singers started spoofing their own songs on Sesame Street, the results were both educational and hilarious - here are the best of them.

Lip-Synch Rebels

Lip-Synch RebelsSong Writing

What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy Talent

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy TalentSongwriter Interviews

The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.