On Miranda Lambert Writing with Morgan Wallen
Morgan Wallen remains a persona non grata to many in the entertainment and country music media class for his stupid and completely inappropriate, but also overblown dropping of an N-bomb on one of his buddies in jest during a private moment made public by a busybody neighbor. Twitter types won’t give up this fight because it allows them to signal their virtue, and paint the entirety of country music as racist so they can attempt to obtain reprisals and concessions from the genre.
But Morgan Wallen’s fellow members of the performer class continue to step up and put their names behind him in small and large ways, giving him a window in which to slowly creep back into polite society, if he can continue to mind his p’s and q’s, which has been a problematic challenge for the performer in the past.
Country artist Jimmie Allen has been one of the biggest proponents for Wallen from the start. On April 27th, Wallen also posted a photo of himself with reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Eric Church. The two appeared to be fishing, or golfing, or fishing in golfing attire.
Then on May 22nd, Wallen posted a video of himself singing a new song acoustic style called “I Thought You Should Know,” dedicated to his mother. In the comments of the video, a dozen or so artists and other public figures in the country industry piped up, giving Wallen praise and support for the song.
Though some of the praise was coming from the usual suspects you would expect to remain buddy buddy with Wallen no matter what he’d done—guys like Jason Aldean, Old Dominion, Dustin Lynch, and Cole Swindell—also chiming in was Miranda Lambert, who apparently wrote the song with Wallen and well-known mainstream songwriter Nicolle Galyon.
“Thanks for letting me and Nicolle Galyon write this special song with you. Sounds great,” Miranda said. Neither Miranda nor Morgan Wallen indicated exactly when the song was written aside from “a while back,” so we don’t know if it was before or after the N-word incident. But either way, both Miranda and Nicolle Galyon felt comfortable enough to promote their participation in the song, which perhaps wouldn’t have happened a few of months ago.
Though some still on the cancellation wagon see this as a scandalous development, they’re taking the wrong perspective on this. Whatever you may think about Eric Church or Miranda Lambert’s music or even personalities, these are the type of people Morgan Wallen needs to be hanging out with if he’s going to remain on the path to rehabilitation. While some want to ban Morgan Wallen from music and society for life, if we’ve learned anything in the months since the N-word incident, it’s that this is an unrealistic scenario.
Despite the incredible effort to marginalize and cancel Morgan Wallen after the N-bomb incident, he remains at the top of popular country music. His latest double album Dangerous remains a perennial at the top of the Billboard Country Albums chart, even without any significant radio support, or support from major streaming playlists or recommendations. Even Alan Jackson releasing his first album in nearly six years couldn’t knock Morgan Wallen out of the top spot.
In fact the continued effort to banish Morgan Wallen is what is likely fueling a lot of his popularity, and making him into a folk hero to some. Though some of his critics say people support Morgan because he’s racist or they’re racist, for his part Morgan Wallen has said all the right things since the incident. He’s apologized extensively. He got sober. He’s told his fans not to defend his actions. He’s explained why the N-word is hurtful, and attempted to turn the situation into a teachable moment for himself and others, despite both true racists within his fan base, and illiberal activists refusing any path to forgiveness for him having done their best to muddy the situation.
Furthermore, if Morgan Wallen is going to truly stay sober as he’s committed to, he’s not only going to need the right people around him to support him in that effort, he’s going to need outlets like music with which to focus his mind on as opposed to alcohol or other substances. Attempting to banish Wallen to the cellar could or will only exacerbate his personal issues, and push him towards more unsavory characters where he will find social acceptance.
On May 19th, Morgan Wallen took the stage at Kid Rock’s bar on Lower Broadway in Nashville to perform a couple of songs—one acoustic, and one with the house band. Some were immediately sent apoplectic by the unannounced, un-ticketed, impromptu performance. Marcus K. Dowling, who often writes for CMT, absolutely lost his mind over the development, saying:
“When Morgan Wallen made his official return to country music by contradicting his own April 13-dated statement about not hitting the stage this summer by singing ‘Whiskey Glasses’ and ‘Wasted on You’ Kid Rock’s Big Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse, the unprecedented era of good feeling country music had engendered screeched to a halt. The shit … has hit the fan.”
So Morgan Wallen playing two songs in a bar has erased all good will in country music when it comes to race over the last few years? This seems extremely hyperbolic, as does characterizing it as his “official return,” or as going against his April 13th statement when Wallen said he wouldn’t be going on his arena tour this summer. This was two songs. In a bar. It’s unhinged and agenda-driven characterizations such as these that are turning this situation sour.
But in some respects, it is disappointing to see Morgan Wallen hanging out in Kid Rock’s bar—not necessarily because of any personal opinion on Kid Rock or his music, but because of the increased likelihood of recidivism for Morgan Wallen hanging out in a bar where someone could easily slip him a drink or a pill as opposed to, let’s say, Miranda Lambert’s living room writing a song, or out on a golf course with Eric Church.
That’s why people shouldn’t be lashing out at Miranda Lambert for writing songs with Morgan Wallen. They should be encouraging it. Because Morgan Wallen is not going anywhere. This is a fact we should all be able to agree on. He is the biggest thing in all of country music at the moment, whether we like it or not. And as a community, we should come together to support his rehabilitation, not push him aside under the false notion we can get rid of him, only to allow him to fall among the people who won’t be a positive influence for his forward progress.
It shouldn’t be socially unacceptable to interact with Morgan Wallen. It should be socially unacceptable to get in the way of his rehabilitation and recovery.
Bob
May 30, 2021 @ 10:15 am
He’s popular with many because a lot of people are sick and damned tired of the politically correct, woke, holier than thou garbage coming from the mainstream media, Hollywood, the NBA, and many other parts of our society. These woke folks are creating more racists and angry white men than they are winning to their side. It’s starting to backfire and it’s going to get worse for the “woken.” That being said, Morgan Wallen seems like a spoiled brat fool. Using the N word is wrong, but it’s wrong and stupid when you are famous and everybody around you has a cell phone.
Ronni Murillo
May 30, 2021 @ 3:03 pm
Everyone makes a mistake he is so talented he shouldn’t be treated so bad he is someone we can change for the good let him fly
Bob
May 30, 2021 @ 3:31 pm
Your reply makes no sense based upon what I wrote. For the record, he’s made far more than “a mistake.” He’s a punk, but so are the woke fools that want to destroy him. I wish all people the best.
James p Colwell
May 30, 2021 @ 5:54 pm
He didn’t do anything wrong to begin with! If he had used the N-word to insult a black person, then yea it would have been wrong. However he was talking to, and calling his white friend the N-word! Any white person that listens to rap music has said the N-word numerous times! Don’t bs me, it is true! Not one adult that listens to rap music, and sings along, has never bleeped themselves just because of the N-word! The whole bs of “oh I am black so I can say it but you can’t because your white” is stupid! If black people don’t want white people to use it then they need to stop using it as well, otherwise its fair game for anyone to use it. Just because your black doesn’t make you special!
CaSonya Thomas
May 30, 2021 @ 6:34 pm
White people should NEVER use that word I don’t care if they are talking to their mama. It is not nor will it ever be appropriate. You have gotten away with way too much racist shit over the years yo be given a pass on anything. And by the way being black does make one special. We are beautiful. Hated but imitated by our oppressors on a DAILY basis and yet we still manage to be better than you on all levels. You need to be respectful. If it weren’t for the blacks your white ass wouldn’t be where ever the fuck you are today. Blacks built this country and its ecomomy so your bitch ass could sit there in your false security that you are superior in ANY way. Also, wtf are you all doing listening to rap music? Its not for you, obviously cannot comprehend the pain of where it comes from or your comment would have been alot different. So just shut up. Nobody wants to hear your racist bullshit.
Ric
May 31, 2021 @ 6:57 am
Country music was created by BLACK PEOPLE like almost everything else that has been whitewashed! Now its acceptable to rescue the aggressors? It shows how much hate you have for Christ and his people…just look what you’ve done to him!
Trigger
May 31, 2021 @ 7:25 am
Country music wasn’t created by black people any more than it was created by white people in a vacuum. The African American influence on country music early on was critical to the formation of the genre and it’s important we make sure that contribution is set in context, but to act like it was stolen from black people is a hyperbolic and historically inaccurate statement being made by intellectuals and journalists whose knowledge of country music is only skin deep, and doesn’t battle racism it helps fuel it.
Jack W
May 31, 2021 @ 7:56 am
Yes, he did do something very wrong. He has he apologized for it AND he has expressly asked for people to stop defending his actions. And yet here you are.
Di Harris
May 31, 2021 @ 4:16 pm
CaSonya,
Very much appreciate your right to free speech. Sincerely hope you feel better
after unloading your thoughts.
As a U.S. Army veteran who has defended this country around the globe, i appreciate everyone’s right to free speech.
As an American Indian, who on May 1st, was severely and racially accosted by someone 3 times my size, in Georgia, while on my way back from Florida, i gently gave as well as took. And gave in the exact same tone i received.
Miss Thang who all but pulled a gun, thought she would come after the tiny (think wood sprite) “white” chick.
Hung with her until she calmed down & realized, the screaming & hatred served no purpose.
To you CaSonya, you need to examine your own racist behavior. It harms you more than anyone you are directing it toward.
And yes, my circle of family and close friends have so many backgrounds it is great.
Youre actually the racist
June 1, 2021 @ 5:12 am
CaSonya imagine the stupidity of someone calling everyone racist in the same statement where you are declaring your race superior in every way.
Thats exactly what you did, and why you are the biggest racist on here.
If you cant think critically and logically about the situation, shut up. People like you who insist everyone succumb to their warped world view are absolutely what is cauising the divide in this country.
Donald E Mullikin
August 6, 2023 @ 1:33 pm
Totally agree we’ll put
Big GG
June 2, 2021 @ 5:38 am
FU and your PC loving garbage. People like you are the problem. This guy did absolutely nothing wrong.
Country When Country Wasn't Cool
May 30, 2021 @ 9:47 pm
There’s an interesting paradox going on in this country with the racial divide. Just a few years ago being accused of being a racist was a very serious thing – you wouldn’t dare accuse someone unless you had s real case to make. Since 2016 the left has weaponized the word to the point that calling someone a racist today is the equivalent of calling someone a weirdo; it means nothing anymore. Everything and everyone and every idea ever thought in all of history is now racist. Yawn…
Flip that around…because Wallen said a single word on his own front porch – that a neighbor maliciously posted online – he’s supposed to be stripped of life and career. It’s all hypocritical and political BS. Please…it’s not like he was kicking puppies, sleeping with Chinese spies (that we know of), or calling Memorial Day a long weekend. We can just say “Someone said something,” and it’s all OK according to the left. He apologized, now let him get back to his life.
And yes, I suppose that makes me a racist. Not a big deal anymore. Just don’t call me a weirdo.
Ben Parks
May 31, 2021 @ 9:01 am
I’ve wondered about the neighbor myself. He had to kno\w in todays climate this video would do major damage to Wallen’s career, but released it anyway. I wonder what he had to gain by doig it.
Barlos
June 1, 2021 @ 6:45 am
What on Earth do you mean? You’re telling me if someone was in the middle of the street outside your house blaring the horns on their truck and hollering at the wee hours of the morning, wouldn’t you be pissed? Wouldn’t you consider getting evidence as proof of the disturbance, in case there are further issues? Then again I guess could see how it would’ve been better to not release it publicly and handle it personally, if possible. I feel like if I was his neighbor, I would be much less concerned with his racial epithets and more concerned with him keeping me and my family from sleeping. Probably would’ve taken a video too if it were me.
T-grondo
June 1, 2021 @ 7:27 am
Barlos…..
Here’s one thing I don’t understand…..Why does young Mr Wallen live in a regular neighborhood…?????
You’re a Big Star dude…you don’t need video taking neighbors…!
Buy some acreage… build a big house… put up a fence…hire some security….!!!!
Johnnyboy Gomez
May 31, 2021 @ 12:07 pm
“calling Memorial Day a long weekend”
It’s not? I didn’t get the memo
CountryKnight
June 1, 2021 @ 5:46 pm
Yeah, well, the VP called it that without mentioning the sacrifices given to ensure it was such a thing.
But her type hates America so I wasn’t surprised.
Ashley Grannell
May 31, 2021 @ 7:20 am
Why don’t u walk up to a black man an say the n word to his face I have seen hundreds of whites use this word but always behind some one back
Mary Peterson
May 31, 2021 @ 11:53 pm
It is wonderful to see country stars as well as fans support Morgen it is not the end of the world. A word never killed any of us. Accept his apology and move on. We are bigger than this. Praise Jesus.
Tam
May 30, 2021 @ 10:47 am
I so appreciate the positive article. This is one of the best I have seen. Morgan’s fans are sting and loyal as they come we are also very willing to support those supporting him. This has all been blown out of proportion. People need to realize they are not all so perfect as they claim to be.
strait country 81
May 30, 2021 @ 10:48 am
Don’t care for him but it’s fantastic cancel culture is taking an L for once.
Bear
May 30, 2021 @ 11:39 am
The only way forward is through not over. As in trampling over people.
Thankfully cancel culture is a vocal minority that hangs out on the internet. Yeah they are loud and may have some “sway” but the vocal minority blowhards on the internet on all side are small in number. Most of us sit somewhere around the middle.
Ian
May 30, 2021 @ 11:49 am
Cosby show is still streaming. Even though his chances for parole got cancelled when he cancelled on his therapy session. You just can’t do anything these days!
Hank Charles
May 30, 2021 @ 11:56 am
Wallen is an easy target. He’s the picture perfect representation of the “other” that the media can unironically paint as malignant cancer, and he makes their job easy for them. There’s very little grace going to be extended to an East Tennessee, mullet-ed hick that can’t stop partying his ass off. What he did was enormously stupid and offensive, but If you think “being a racist” is the primary reason for the ring camera video, there’s a good chance you are long since divorced from reality and seeing the “other” suffer brings you some ever fleeting sense of satisfaction.
Wallen isn’t ever going away because of that voice, and because he’s a real dude with real character flaws. That combo goes a long way in the entertainment industry. He ain’t Thomas Rhett. No label will have to spend millions of dollars convincing people that Morgan Wallen is interesting.
Personally, I never liked his music until the Dangerous sessions came out and I had the opportunity to listen to stripped down versions of his studio songs that had been effectively de-Moi’d.
I don’t know what will come next or when, but no one has heard the last of that kid.
Robert's Country Blog
May 30, 2021 @ 12:07 pm
If country music wants to ban people who are stupid, offensive, and racist, they should start with all who support the evil, violent, stupid, terrorist blm bullshit.
Trigger
May 30, 2021 @ 2:01 pm
I’m not sure I’m for country music banning anyone.
A lot of folks who are for the term “Black Lives Matter” don’t deserve to be lumped in with the worst offenses of some who’ve used that phrase as a shield and cudgel.
Jason Conner
May 30, 2021 @ 6:41 pm
Black Lives Matter is none of those things you spoke of. Its about the fact that the police are killing black people for little to no reason at all. But I don’t expect that you would know that seeing that you’ve drank the cool-aide of ignorance. I bet you voted for that orange bastard too. He will soon be in prison and stripped of all of his power. Just as all of you will soon be brought down to your knees.. So I won’t waste anymore of my time trying to explain it to you because you can’t fix stupid.
Jimmy
May 31, 2021 @ 4:18 pm
“He will soon be in prison and stripped of all of his power.”
Hahahahahahaha. Never going to happen. You can’t actually put someone in prison for not committing any crimes. But it’s great to see Trump still lives rent from in your pin-sized brain.
“Just as all of you will soon be brought down to your knees…”
Lol. By Who? A leftist cuck like yourself? Good luck. The left is so far out gunned and out manned, they (you) wouldn’t stand a chance in any kind of civil uprising.
Trigger
May 31, 2021 @ 4:29 pm
Folks, let’s not get into a Trump argument here. That never goes anywhere or ends well.
Big Tex
June 2, 2021 @ 6:44 am
Jason:
I am old enough to remember that when someone such as you accused others of being ignorant, at least the accuser was capable of using good grammar and syntax, and knew how to spell all the words.
Jake Cutter
May 30, 2021 @ 12:43 pm
“This seems extremely hyperbolic…..”
If it weren’t for hyperbole, these postmodern day pearl-clutches wouldn’t have anything at all.
Andrew J Persac
June 1, 2021 @ 7:35 pm
Casonya, your comments are doing nothing to help reduce racial tensions in society & especially not this site. If anything, you’ve actually made the most racist statement on here. And blacks who use the N word & then tell white people they can’t are TOTAL hypocrites! There are several talented black artists in country music, but I couldn’t care less about their race and rather appreciate them for their gifts & NOT their skin color. But I suppose because of my previous statements that one doesn’t matter and I’m still a white right-wing conservative racist male.
Susan
May 30, 2021 @ 12:45 pm
I love all of his songs!
He’s great!!!!!!!
Carol
May 30, 2021 @ 1:12 pm
This is the best written story about Morgan Wallen I’ve read since this whole situation happened. You have explained everything clearly and with true common sense. So refreshing. I completely agree with your final comments too. What he needs right now is the right support system. Thank you for this article.
MH
May 30, 2021 @ 1:56 pm
“Jimmie Allen ain’t black.” —Marissa R. Moss, probably
Gregory Faulkner
May 30, 2021 @ 1:28 pm
This is some courageous and honest writing not usually found in today’s media articles; sure to piss off folks in the trenches on both sides, which is what makes it so good and so true. I’m a huge Morgan Wallen fan before and after the incident. I’m biased of course, but still agree with most of the negatives said about his actions here. I just can’t understand where all the fear comes from on the side of the actual cancelers who have been amazingly stubborn throughout this whole saga. In the arts, the market doesn’t need a majority of the masses to allow for an artist to maintain a career, as all the current artists in every genre has more haters and apathetic listeners and lookers than they do fans, save maybe Adele, and in Morgan’s case, the numbers have shown that he has more than enough to be un-canceled. And if some people think it was only the incident that brought on his popularity, then those folks didn’t look at his meteoric rise in 2020 or what he did the first three weeks after the album release in January. For instance, the debut week he had 240 million streams up against a record of 102 million for a single week for any country singer in history.
BDE
May 30, 2021 @ 2:02 pm
Marcus K Dowling looks as nerdy as expected. Why would anyone care what such a dweeb thinks about country music?
Jake Cutter
May 30, 2021 @ 4:41 pm
Because he’s a self-proclaimed “Creator. Curator. Innovator. Iconoclast” according to his not at all self-aggrandizing twitter account.
Kris Hitchcock
May 30, 2021 @ 2:37 pm
Love the article’s tone and support for understanding addiction/recovery, which is something Nashville and many other hubs for music struggle with or encourage negative stereotypes. Thanks Trigger!
Shane King
May 30, 2021 @ 3:05 pm
He’s one of the best things to come outta country music in years! He said the “n” word in a private moment and apologized for it, let’s move the hell on! Sure the word shouldn’t be used but let’s be perfectly honest if it’s so offensive then the other side shouldn’t use it as a term of endearment in their own circles. Also nobody in this country should be made to kiss any class of people’s back side. I’m not saying that the use of the word was in anyway the right thing to say, but it’s also not anywhere as big of deal as folks tried to make it. Let’s worry about things that really matter and not try to demonize and otherwise good guy point blank. End of discussion! Now y’all have a great day happy memorial day weekend all y’all.
JB-Chicago
May 30, 2021 @ 3:12 pm
I must admit I didn’t pay much attention to him when the first album came out even to the point of ignoring him while he was onstage at Joe’s and I was chatting with Lainey Wilson at her merch table. An easy choice by the way….lol. Never the less I gave the new one an open minded chance and the 17 songs I plucked for my version I really like and it’s been in my rotation since. He made a mistake everyone has an opinion on and the industry can say and do what they want but the people spoke with their streams and sales. Good songs are good songs. IF he put tickets on sale to headline Wrigley Field here tomorrow he’d sell out in about 10 minutes. He’ll probably come back slowly, have a career, and the world will keep turning.
Jean
May 30, 2021 @ 3:22 pm
Sick and tired of cancel culture and it’s going to make things worse. Who do these people think they are? They should judge how much remorse is enough? How it should be expressed, and even that it’s necessary? What he said is wrong. But who am I to judge him? And the weasel who took video and then had the gall to share it with the world will one day be judged. As will the cancel
Julian Spivey
May 30, 2021 @ 4:48 pm
Not sure I’d want to please Morgan Wallen fans if I ran a website called Saving Country Music.
Trigger
May 30, 2021 @ 5:46 pm
A few things:
First off, this new and weird argument that any time I mention an artist, it must be an artist that is “saving country music” is just a gross misunderstanding of what has been going on here for going on 14 years, and over 6,700 published articles. I am not promoting Morgan Wallen. If you want to know what I think about Morgan Wallen’s last album, you can read my review. It’s not very rosy:
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/album-review-morgan-wallen-dangerous-the-double-album/
If you want to know what I think about Morgan Wallen using the N-word, you can read my report on it titled “Morgan Wallen’s N-Word Proves He’s Unworthy of Praise or Prominence.”
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/morgan-wallens-n-word-proves-hes-unworthy-of-praise-prominence/
But none of this is what this article is about. This article is titled “On Miranda Lambert Writing with Morgan Wallen.” Some were attacking Miranda Lambert and others for associating with Morgan, and so I am sharing my particular opinion on this matter. Miranda Lambert just released a well-received album with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall. Her reputation is very much the business of Saving Country Music.
As for “pleasing Morgan Wallen fans,” I’m not in that business. I am in the business of giving my opinions. If it pleases one fan group and pisses off another, so be it. I don’t wet my finger and stick it in the air, and share whatever I think is popular. And trust me, saying Morgan Wallen deserves a path to reconciliation is not a very popular opinion.
You may disagree with my opinion, and I 100% respect that. I also offer a forum for you and anyone else to share your opinions. But the point of this article was not to ingratiate myself to Morgan Wallen fans who will just leave the next time I review a song of his. It was to broach the subject of other artists being called out for associating with Wallen, and offering my opinion on the matter. If I was running a popularity contest, I wouldn’t have broached this contentious subject at all.
Julian Spivey
May 30, 2021 @ 8:07 pm
Appreciate the response as always
strait country 81
May 30, 2021 @ 8:38 pm
Translation: I just got clowned and have nothing to say😂
Julian Spivey
May 30, 2021 @ 9:10 pm
Or I’ve been reading this website for many years and every time I comment (which isn’t often) I get a response. I think that’s nice.
Trigger
May 30, 2021 @ 9:44 pm
Your comments and readership are appreciated here Julian.
Rebecca Gillespie
May 31, 2021 @ 7:00 am
Who gives rats ass. Morgan ain’t go in nowhere. So who cares what your reviews are. I’m white an on Morgan’s team all the way. People just need stop being babies. I’m sick of all this stupid crap. If its wrong its wrong get over it. This is today not centuries ago. Move on. MW isn’t going nowhere get use to it.
DJ
May 30, 2021 @ 6:37 pm
Virtue signalers, the so called woke, are asleep and projectionists- pure and simple. They “feel” their way through life blaming others for what they themselves really are-
I didn’t even know who he was until I saw what had happened to him at this web site- now, I’m a fan- put that in your smoke and pipe it virtue signalers- you fucking people make me sick to my stomach-
Boymomx3
May 30, 2021 @ 7:15 pm
I’m not making “excuses” for MW because he knows, we all know that you aren’t allowed to say the N word if your white. I can’t say that MW listens to all kinds of different music and one of those types of music he grew up listening to was rap. Listening to some of his fast paced songs is a bit of a clue. Music affects us. It affects how we talk. With that said NO ONE deserves to be “canceled” over ONE WORD. Thankfully Morgan gave us this awesome double album to listen to until all these babies quit crying. Get over yourselves people. This is what is wrong with the world right now. Not everybody deserves a gold star. You must earn it. This type of parenting is now giving us a bunch of lazy entitled young “adults” who have nothing else better to do than scour the internet to find things to complain about. WORDS ARE WIND. I’m glad cancel culture couldn’t cancel MW but it robbed Morgan of all the awards this album would have won. The only awards show that didn’t have a choice was the billboard awards. Those are based on what is real….album sales. I think the majority of people are tired of this. We have to start being kinder to each other. We are all human. We are letting the media divide us because if we let them divide us they get stronger. ❤🇺🇸❤
Sherry
May 30, 2021 @ 8:02 pm
Everyone makes mistakes we are all a better world if we forgive and move on ….I don’t think he meant it in a hate racial way…people can’t even kid anymore ….
TomG
May 30, 2021 @ 9:17 pm
If you’re a white guy and that word is even in your vocabulary in 2021 (in public or “in jest during a private moment”), you’re the one causing the problem. Morgan Wallen was barely on my radar to begin with, and the only time I ever see his name anywhere now is because this shit is still being talked about.
AndrewEsq
May 30, 2021 @ 9:25 pm
Skipped the comments this time but, top notch writing here! Very well said imho. That’s all I got on the Wallen subject. All I’ve ever knowingly heard from him was his cover of “Cover me up” and I thought it sounded pleasant although, I didn’t love him singing such an obviously personal and signature song without at least grasping the growth it took to earn the right to write it. He’s a young man and probably doesn’t have quite the fight Jason had regarding the booze and substances ahead of him but, I suppose he might earn a fraction of that credibility retroactively if he can hold it together (which I sincerely hope he does).
On a lighter side note, is Miranda sober now? Based on that pistol annies video where she had a guitar case crafted into a stealth bar complete with actual frozen ice, I’m not sure I’d wanna be in her living room either if I were just giving up the sauce (he says lightheartedly). I think I’d like to have a drink with Miranda if we were writing, aside from that whole “getting mean when some drunk cowboy asks her to sing” thing. I respect her (and her guitar case) a lot but, at the same time, I’d like to think she wrote the vast majority of “vice” and you don’t write a song so perfectly recounting darkness unless you’ve actually spent some real time lost therein. She’s definitely been riding on the realest corner of mainstream country for several years IMO and I’ve come to appreciate just how gutsy some of her choices have been given her legit mainstream star status. I could list several things worthy of appreciating but, probably most significantly, she’s underrated as a serious songwriter. I think she deserves to at least be mentioned in discussions regarding really good modern country songwriters. The fact that she occasionally puts out the sillier “hit” doesn’t discount the FACT she’s put out plenty of songs that could hold their own with anybody we praise in Alt. Country. (And by “FACT” I mean my opinion of course). Assuming she lacks substance because she’s a “mainstream star” would be a serious mistake to any die hard alt. fans who may stumble upon this comment!
Yeah bob
May 30, 2021 @ 9:34 pm
Why does a guy have to be “rehabilitated” for saying a word if he’s white….if black men and women and children say it every single day on tv, in movies, while killing each other, while threatening to kill each other, while singing about killing each other, and they need no sort of “personal growth” because of it?
Trigger
May 30, 2021 @ 9:49 pm
Because for decades white people used that word to systemically demean black people, and the history of it makes it problematic for white people to use in any context.
I agree it would be ideal if black people did not use that word either, and this is something many leaders in the black community have called for over the years. But two wrongs don’t make a right. And if black people want to reclaim it as a term of endearment sort of like some whites have done with “redneck” or some other term, that’s their business.
James Satterfield
May 31, 2021 @ 3:12 am
I don’t remember anything in the 1st amendment that says you can’t offend anyone…
Big Tex
June 2, 2021 @ 6:49 am
Correct, James!
The First Amendment was not written in order to protect someone who says, “My, oh my, Mrs. Johnson! What a lovely apron you’re wearing today!”
Angry snco
May 31, 2021 @ 5:16 am
People make mistakes. Sometimes horrible mistakes. The good people own them, apologize, grow and move on. In a 2021 world where we have a tolerant society, why can’t we let someone own a mistake, apologize, learn from it and move the fuck on?
North Woods Country
May 31, 2021 @ 7:02 am
Apologies if it’s in the piece and I somehow missed it, but is there any update on his sobriety? Because that’s what’s important, here, on an individual level. If he goes sober, he won’t make these mistakes. An alcoholic isn’t just a bad decision about alcohol. An alcoholic is a collection of bad decisions that, along with excessive alcohol consumption, can be traced to their alcoholism. There’s no such thing as an alcoholic who is otherwise morally, emotionally, and mentally well on track. Alcohol being a depressant, that simply isn’t possible. So while the woke culture wants to admonish him for a stupid drunk comment and make it sound like he has to eradicate the usage of a nasty word from his character, he more importantly has to quit drinking, period.
Kudos to Jimmie Allen, Miranda, Church, and others for allowing Morgan Wallen to be human. To the pitchfork mob–he who is without sin may cast the first stone.
Rick
May 31, 2021 @ 7:23 am
If u are not willing to use the word face to face with a black man then Maybe u shouldn’t be using it at all
Anne
May 31, 2021 @ 7:25 am
For what it’s worth I don’t think he’s sober. Tik tok girls love to post videos of him and some came out from the kid rock night mentioning he was drinking. I wish him well moving forward but I’m not sure we can claim hes found sobriety.
Wilson Pick It
May 31, 2021 @ 7:42 am
Madonna in 3024:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jan/18/madonna-apologises-racial-term-instagram
Dropped the n-word. As far as I know, she is not cancelled.
I’m also a little surprised David Bowie is still revered after people dug up stories of sex with underage groupies in the 1970’s.
I wonder if Morgan Wallen would get a pass for that… Hmm, no I don’t.
I think some artists should be cancelled, but it’s not really consistent, the way it goes down. It’s a mob mentality.
Seth
May 31, 2021 @ 10:43 pm
You make a decent point here, but it is beyond stupid to compare a relatively new artist like Morgan Wallen to legends like Madonna or fucking David Bowie. Not saying that either of them should get a pass, but Madonna and Bowie are light years more influential in their genres than Morgan Wallen could ever even hope to be for country music. If you want the truth as to why one may get a “pass” (which they really didn’t) and one doesn’t, then that’s simply it.
While I enjoy a couple of Wallen’s songs (and don’t particularly care for most of his others), he’s pretty disposable within country music. Bowie and Madonna are not. Neither is Miranda Lambert.
I believe Jim Jeffries talked about this same thing in one of his stand-up bits, and it rings every bit as true here.
Scott S.
May 31, 2021 @ 7:59 am
Beyond all the political correctness bullshit, I could care less about Morgan Whalen. Not because of anything he has done, but because his music sucks.
Layla
May 31, 2021 @ 12:37 pm
I find it awfully entertaining that guys like Nelly and Jimmie Allen are quick to not condemn MW. Yea they say it was wrong but they don’t hate him or call him racist for it, when they are the ones that actually have a right to be offended by it unlike the Maren Morris’s of the world that say they’re offended. Am doing Nelly’s second quote in the first paragraph is the problem with today’s society 100%..
https://musicmayhemmagazine.com/nelly-clarifies-morgan-wallen-collab-rumors-shares-i-can-forgive-a-guy-thats-trying-to-make-it-right/
“Sometimes we gotta know that people do make mistakes and we have to allow people to learn from them too because if we don’t allow people to learn from mistakes, then now we’re saying that everybody has to be perfect and we all know that that’s impossible.” Nelly continued. “And we are all just sitting around waiting for somebody to eff up so we can point the finger and that’s not humanly possible, and that’s not going to lead us anymore but we all have to want to be better, that’s the thing.”
He later added, “When you do make a mistake, let’s recognize it, let’s speak out about it, and let’s understand that you know a lot of people was hurt behind that and learn like ‘yo this is what I did wrong and I want to apologize for that cause I shouldn’t have did that.’ We have to hope that people learn from that and we need to move on but no I didn’t know, I have to investigate that, I really hate that happened, that’s crazy.”
KC
May 31, 2021 @ 12:49 pm
“In fact the continued effort to banish Morgan Wallen…”
Like anyone else who uses the disgusting, racist and hateful N-word, Morgan is paying his dues. Soon enough he will be back to making loads of money and collecting awards.
Imagine this man, who dropped the N-word just a few months ago, on a national stage accepting awards with hundreds of Black artists looking on. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?
For what it’s worth, Morgan doesn’t seem to be doing much to make amends for his racist tirade. He promised to educate himself by meeting with members of the NAACP but has yet to schedule that.
The only person at fault is Morgan Wallen.
Andrew J Persac
June 1, 2021 @ 7:57 pm
In other words, even though he earned those Billboard Music awards, he should be denied them, right??
CRay
June 6, 2021 @ 9:29 am
He was just singing along to the #1 rap song in the country, hurling these racist accusations like peanuts is actually hurting any effort to deal with REAL racial inequities. Hell, now they are even calling aspirin racist just because it is white and it works.
angela sandlin
May 31, 2021 @ 1:06 pm
i have never been more excited!!!!!………i love them both………..fantastic
Bob
May 31, 2021 @ 4:40 pm
Regardless of whether or not we like his music, the world needs more people like Jimmie Allen that aren’t quick to banish people forever that make a mistake or who disagree with them politically or otherwise. Morgan Wallen is a moron, but I don’t think he’s a member of the KKK. I admire Jimmy Allen, even if I hate his music.
Jbird
May 31, 2021 @ 5:23 pm
Why are y’all writing about Morgan Wallen on this site? I thought this was a place to read about good country, southern rock and roots music? Since when do y’all care about that garbage? Goddamn he’s awful.
Trigger
May 31, 2021 @ 5:36 pm
I appreciate the concern, but for going on 14 years, Saving Country Music has always brought objective journalism and worthy criticism to the mainstream, and this article is very much in line with that coverage. Furthermore, this article is just as much about the backlash Miranda Lambert and others have received for being associated with Morgan Wallen, and seeing how she just released a new album with two independent artists in Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, it very much is the business of independent music that Miranda’s name is not marred simply for writing a song with Wallen.
Bob
May 31, 2021 @ 5:53 pm
CaSonya,
You seem to think black people are perfect, why is every single country that’s predominantly black and/ or ran by black people corrupt, poor, violent, politically unstable, etc. and why do black people kill each other at an alarming rate in cities like Chicago. Don’t call me a racist; I’m just making a statement of fact. Can you tell me why I’m wrong or give me a reason why it’s the case? I’m trying to figure it out, for real. Maybe there’s a reason I don’t know. Also, by some estimates nearly 1,000,000 mostly white people fought a bloody, violent war and died to end slavery. But, we’re all racists. How’s that fair? People like you and BLM are doing yourself more harm than good. You are creating more racists, you aren’t converting or persuading a soul to see your point of view. I’ll be honest, as a white male I’m starting to feel a bit angry about BLM and at times I’m starting to think that at some point, especially white, straight men are going to have to make a stand for the sake of self preservation. I think more and more white people are starting to feel that way. It’s really all sad!
Seth
May 31, 2021 @ 10:50 pm
Okay, I’m just going to pipe in here and say that the only thing that is getting more annoying than “cancel culture” is people complaining about it.
I have my opinions about what happened of course, though I do believe this whole thing was mostly overblown, and was really a culmination of what had happened to him over the previous six months.
That being said, it’s a natural reaction to not want to associate with that kind of thing. It’s part of who we are. It’s neither good nor bad, just human. Same with the incident itself. Wallen’s as human as you or I, but if he is a toxic person to be around, then I wouldn’t blame someone for cutting ties with him.
Maybe I’m just blathering, but at this point, what else is there really to say? Wallen needs a long break from the public eye, and I don’t think he’s really earned his “comeback moment” yet. When will he? I don’t know, I’m just a guy on the Internet. But it’s been so long since the whole thing happened that I don’t think many minds are going to be changed at this point.
Seth
May 31, 2021 @ 10:57 pm
Addendum: I do very much agree with the last part of this piece. That part is well-written.
Gregory R Faulkner
June 1, 2021 @ 5:01 am
People who are not Morgan Wallen fans are of no consequence and really should have no say regarding his career. No say that anyone should care about anyway. That would be like me joining an effort to derail Beiber’s career and keep his fans from hearing his music, because I don’t like his behavoir. It’s his fans and the media joining us or joining in agains them, versus the cancellers, and we don’t care about anyone else’s opinion that doesn’t like him and his music anyway.
Not only did Morgan’s Dangerous album out perform Alan Jackson’s debut in Morgan’s 19th week on the chart, it also outpormed sucessive Church debut albums in something like Dangerous’s 15th and 16th week on the charts and Rhett’s debut in something like Dangerous’s 17th week. Only Underwood’s debut week and an inappropriate classification of Taylor Swift’s remake of Fearless into the country album chart have derailed Morgan’s reign but for three weeks total out of now twenty weeks on the chart. As for the all-genre chart called the Billboard 200, he spent the first ten at number 1, and the last ten still inside the top 5.
Chris
June 1, 2021 @ 2:24 pm
Morgan Wallen’s ignorant use of that word was pretty much unacceptable to most…black or white. Buy his music or don’t, it’s a personal choice. CaNcel culture is way out of hand.
To all of you who are supporting him and moving on…when does Colin Kapernick get his second chance? Hmmm?
Cancel culture runs both ways.
MH
June 1, 2021 @ 4:24 pm
The NFL gave him a second chance with a tryout in front of various team reps but he didn’t show up.
CRay
June 6, 2021 @ 9:34 am
Maybe when he apologizes and takes sensitivity training… oh and learns how to throw a football straight.
CountryKnight
June 1, 2021 @ 5:49 pm
Two overrated country music singers working together.
That is the real headline.
CraigR.
June 4, 2021 @ 2:24 pm
I am a black country fan and I think that he shouldn’t be shunned even though he said the n-word. George and Tammy played at George Wallace’s political rallies. Jason Alden went blackfaced. Country music has bigger problems, and the isn’t the n-word it. Country music lacks diversity,and not just colorwise. There should be more people of color in the front and the back. That’s a given. I mean country music needs more diversity in the molding of the future sound of country. Morgan Wallen’s bad boy bullshit isn’t the problem. It’s that that’s all he is. He is not a real artist- just another lucky shit who gets to sing about getting laid and drunk~all the time. And speaking of time, it’s time for country music to grow up. Say what you may about Ms. Lambert but all of her experiences are creating new and smart adult country music. What will Morgan bring? High school. What happened to the adults in country music? Willie was “an outlaw” but an adult. Hank was moaning about adult love-dysfunctional, but still adult. Wallen’s lack of political correctness is meaningless if he brings nothing to the sound and love of country. I will admit that’s I have a few bro songs my IPod, but I am an adult going through adult experiences . Country music use to be a church for that.
Anthony
June 5, 2021 @ 11:39 am
I’m neutral on Morgan Wallen’s music, but I’m so tired of cancel-culture punishments not fitting the crime. And, of cowardly, catastrophizing corporations falling in line with whatever ridiculous overreaction will appease the small woke minority. Will the woke only be happy when the cancelled take their own lives? Aren’t the woke meant to be against bullying and harassment? Cancel culture is mostly just a righteous form of bullying.