'Liars & Tigers & Bears' by Megan Moroney – Lyrics & Meaning

Megan Moroney is singing her mind across her new album, Cloud 9. Sure, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2024's Am I Okay? features those bubbly, country-pop bangers that the hitmaker has become known for, but it also showcases a different, seemingly more self-aware and introspective side of the star.

Where some songs touch on new love and old heartache, others deal in fame and the vicious expectations that creep around bright spotlights. She's not trading one for the other, merely showing off a more nuanced spectrum of her artistry.

“I said this whole album with my chest,” the star explained to Katie Neal of the award-winning Audacy podcast, Katie & Company. “I’m just like, it is what it is. I feel like I know I’ve got the best fans in the world, and they make me confident enough to where they’re going to get behind my songs, and they know that it’s coming from an honest, authentic place. And that just has given me more confidence as a songwriter to not give a crap what people are going to say about it.”

The album's 'Liars & Tigers & Bears', especially, sees Moroney mining those more authentic sides of her stardom today, chipping away at the hazards of fame and coming up with clarity.

What begins with dicey, cinematic strums and the blossom of triumphant keys, 'Liars & Tigers & Bears' quickly swells into an earnest aria of sweeping acoustics, steely groins and atmospheric synths. It's, at first, stark then soothing, chilling and yet a comfort. In the end, the composition mirrors the wise epic, the tune, itself, just as much a reward as the song's sage lyrics and hard-earned truths.

"Speak your mind, but not too loud
Be sure of yourself, but never too proud
Paint yourself pretty, but don’t do too much
Be soft and not bitchy, but you better be tough
Smile real big, be happy to lose
Don’t have a bad day, there’s cameras on you
Champagne problems
I know, I know just a wide-eyed girl, learning the ropes"

'Liars & Tigers & Bears' is among Cloud 9's more personal offerings, the song a departure from her loved-up or loved-out anthems and a more telling glimpse at her life in the years since she's been thrust into the country spotlight.

Fame comes with status, money, notoriety, but all of that doesn't exist without its many pressures – the demand to act one way and feel another, to always look pretty and put together even when you're falling apart inside, to hold yourself to impossible standards and smile like you're being done a favor.

Throughout the song, Moroney pulls open the curtain on the more authentic sides of her stardom today, showing off the more unseemly aspects of her life in the public eye.

"Ooh, look alive
You better watch your back for knives
There’s snakes in the grass
And thieves in the night
Liars and tigers and bears, oh my
Ooh, don’t cry
They’re gonna take your place in line
So, work ’til it kills you, but don’t actually die
Liars and tigers and bears, oh my"

Moroney describes a life lived constantly watching your back, because there appears to be people laying in wait for your downfall.

In this world, you can't rock the boat or freely speak your mind. You get caught up in this rat race, constantly being pulled in every direction, and expected to never falter or have a bad day. The moment you do, someone is waiting in the wings to quickly take your place.

This life is a pressure cooker, and Moroney releases the steam by ultimately singing: "You’re damned if you do / Arguably more damned if you don’t / What’s the secret to success? / I think no one really knows..."

Maybe her secret to success is shutting out the noise, keeping her inner circle close-knit and continuing to the best artist she can be.

"Ooh, look alive
You better watch your back for knives
There’s snakes in the grass
And thieves in the night
Liars and tigers and bears, oh my
Ooh, don’t cry
(Darling don’t cry)
They’re gonna take your place in line
(Go take your place in line)
So, work ’til it kills you, but don’t actually die
Liars and tigers and bears, oh my
(Liars and tigers and bears)
Oh my
(Liars and tigers and bears)
Oh my"

Speak your mind, but not too loud
Be sure of yourself, but never too proud
Paint yourself pretty, but don’t do too much
Be soft and not bitchy, but you better be tough
Smile real big, be happy to lose
Don’t have a bad day, there’s cameras on you
Champagne problems
I know, I know just a wide-eyed girl, learning the ropes

Ooh, look alive
You better watch your back for knives
There’s snakes in the grass
And thieves in the night
Liars and tigers and bears, oh my
Ooh, don’t cry
They’re gonna take your place in line
So, work ’til it kills you, but don’t actually die
Liars and tigers and bears, oh my

Stay in your lane, but evolve and get better
If you sell your soul, we’ll help you break records
Love everybody, aren’t you all friends?
Even the ones that we’ve pit you against?

Ooh, look alive
You better watch your back for knives
There’s snakes in the grass
And thieves in the night
Liars and tigers and bears, oh my
Ooh, don’t cry
They’re gonna take your place in line
So, work ’til it kills you, but don’t actually die
Liars and tigers and bears, oh my

You’re damned if you do
Arguably more damned if you don’t
What’s the secret to success?
I think no one really knows

Ooh, look alive
You better watch your back for knives
There’s snakes in the grass
And thieves in the night
Liars and tigers and bears, oh my
Ooh, don’t cry
(Darling don’t cry)
They’re gonna take your place in line
(Go take your place in line)
So, work ’til it kills you, but don’t actually die
Liars and tigers and bears, oh my
(Liars and tigers and bears)
Oh my
(Liars and tigers and bears)
Oh my

Liars and tigers and bears, oh my

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Megan Moroney

Artist