'Bar In Baton Rouge' by Lainey Wilson – Lyrics & Meaning

Lainey Wilson has placated fans with a smattering of singles, such as ‘Country’s Cool Again’ and ‘Hang Tight Honey’, for long enough. Now, that her highly-anticipated Whirlwind is finally here, we're getting swept up in the album's 14 tracks, taking a closer look at and listen to the star's latest offerings.

In each new batch of songs from the 'Watermelon Moonshine' hitmaker, there always seems to be a handful of heartbroken hits that put on display Wilson's striking vulnerability. One of Whirlwind's most relatable is 'Bar in Baton Rouge,' a boozy ballad about drowning a broken heart.

Being in a bar in Baton Rouge, Louisiana sounds like a good time. Sure, but not when your heart feels like it has been kicked by a horse somewhere out West. 'Bar in Baton Rouge' plays like less of a good timing tune and more of a down-trodden ditty as Wilson navigates heartache from the bottom of a pop top can.

Opening in a swarm of despondent sounds, 'Bar in Baton Rouge' begins as a head-hanging, hand-wringing number full of gently sweeping flourishes and feelings of regret. That is until the artist decides to use her wounded heart as a way forward and the song erupts into gritty, rock-peppered epic.

"Gotta death grip on this can
And I already killed a few
And just like my last beer
I’m empty cold and blue
Sitting in this juke joint
In a cowboy killer cloud
My head is north of Telluride
While it’s all going south"

'Bar in Baton Rouge' finds Wilson deep in her feelings, attempting to make sense of her broken heart in a tavern somewhere in the Louisiana capital. Under a downpour of beer and through a haze of cigarette smoke, she wonders where and when it all went wrong.

"I ain’t nowhere near the Rockies
Or the Colorado sky
Gotta heart that’s gotta mind
To drink the Pontchartrain bone dry
The more I drink about it
The more I’m silver bullet proof
Steady staring at these mountains
In a bar in Baton Rouge"

With references to mountain ranges, silver bullets and Colorado, Coors, Busch or Keystone seem to be the poison she's picked to drown her pain. And with a "heart that’s gotta mind / To drink the Pontchartrain bone dry," she doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

"It don’t snow in Louisiana
But I wouldn’t be surprised
If I crushed a couple more
There'd be a couple feet outside
Hell it just might stick tonight"

However, the more she drinks, the more one truth becomes abundantly clear: "The good thing about rock bottom / Is up’s the only way." She may be feeling low now, but she's just one step closer to healing her heartache, singing:

I can’t move a mountain but I can sure as hell move on
Move on
Move on

While nothing has been shared specifically about 'Bar In Baton Rouge,' Wilson has been open about the fact that this new project has been a major source of solace and self-discovery over the last few years as she's seen her life completely change while her career has skyrocketed.

Weaving together the highs, lows and in-betweens that she's experienced along the way, her signature storytelling is front and center across the project, which she explains has been in the works essentially since the release of Bell Bottom Country in October of 2022.

“This album has been a long time coming, and I can’t wait for the world to have this body of work in their hands soon,” Wilson noted when announcing the highly-anticipated project. “This new chapter of music is the most cathartic and personal piece of art I’ve ever made. I hope this record brings some peace to your whirlwind and wraps its arms around you like it did for me.”

Expanding on these sentiments, the decorated entertainer also added: "Writing & recording these 14 songs over the past couple of years has helped me stay grounded in ways you’d never believe. This album brought me back to my roots and made me feel at home during times when I couldn’t have been further away and my biggest hope is that it gives you that same sense of comfort that it has for me."

Gotta death grip on this can
And I already killed a few
And just like my last beer
I’m empty cold and blue
Sitting in this juke joint
In a cowboy killer cloud
My head is north of Telluride
While it’s all going south

I ain’t nowhere near the Rockies
Or the Colorado sky
Gotta heart that’s gotta mind
To drink the Pontchartrain bone dry
The more I drink about it
The more I’m silver bullet proof
Steady staring at these mountains
In a bar in Baton Rouge

It don’t snow in Louisiana
But I wouldn’t be surprised
If I crushed a couple more
There'd be a couple feet outside
Hell it just might stick tonight

I ain’t nowhere near the Rockies
Or the Colorado sky
Gotta heart that’s gotta mind
To drink the Pontchartrain bone dry
The more I drink about it
The more I’m silver bullet proof
Steady staring at these mountains
In a bar in Baton Rouge

The good thing about rock bottom
Is up’s the only way
I’m about to open up a can of healing this heartbreak

I ain’t nowhere near the Rockies
Or the Colorado sky
Gotta heart that’s gotta mind
To drink the Pontchartrain bone dry
The more I drink about it
The more I’m silver bullet proof
Steady staring at these mountains
In a bar in Baton Rouge
Swear I’m halfway up these mountains
In a bar in Baton Rouge

I can’t move a mountain but I can sure as hell move on
Move on
Move on
Move on
Move on
Move on
Move on

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For more on Lainey Wilson, see below: