‘Come Back As a Redneck’ by Morgan Wallen - Lyrics & Meaning

On March 15th, 2024, Morgan Wallen surprised followers by sharing a snippet of a brand new unreleased song, seemingly entitled, ‘Come Back As a Redneck’, across his socials.

The snippet, which finds the Sneedville singer-songwriter standing up for his Southern roots after feeling belittled by ‘Mr City Man’, was accompanied by a video from inside the studio.

In the clip, the song plays directly from what appears to be Morgan Wallen's laptop. Although we don't yet have any word as to what ‘Come Back As a Redneck’ will be released, fans have immediately started clamouring for it to be made available.

With Morgan Wallen having started the recording process for his hotly anticipated One Thing At A Time follow-up at the end of February, it seems he'll keep teasing unreleased tracks via his social media to see how fans respond. Given the unsurprisingly positive reaction online to ‘Come Back As a Redneck’, it seems highly likely that it'll join ‘I Guess’, ‘Lies, Lies, Lies’ and potentially ‘I Had Some Help’ with Post Malone on Morgan's forthcoming record.

The sinuous, electronic-leaning instrumental that introduces ‘Come Back As a Redneck’ cleverly makes the listener think this will be another pop-inspired or Hip Hop-driven track. However, it serves as the epitome of how deftly Morgan balances his eclectic musical influences and his love of country, with the ‘Last Night’ hitmaker's lyrics and vocal delivery unmistakably anchoring the song to the genre.

As he approaches the hook, the introduction of the deliberate, staccato drum pattern adds gravitas to his message about being less judgemental, with Morgan injecting venom into his snarling drawl as he rebukes ‘Mr City Man's dismissive glances.

‘Come Back As a Redneck’ feels noticeably stripped-back compared to much of Morgan Wallen's 2023 album, One Thing At A Time, and continues in the sparser vein of the previously teased ‘I Guess’ and ‘Lies, Lies, Lies’. This ensures the spotlight is trained on Morgan's signature, charismatic vocals throughout.

“Hey Mr City Man, Rollie on your wrist, NASDAQ in your hand,

Rolling your eyes at my beat-up truck

Feed in the back, spittin’ into my cup

Both our tacks say Tennessee”

‘Come Back As a Redneck’ opens on Morgan Wallen as he sits in some Nashville traffic, before he flicks his eyes across to the glossy car next to him. He calls him ‘Mr City Man’, describing his flashy Rolex watch and how his eyes are glued to the NASDAQ stock report, painting a picture of a materially-oriented businessman.

Interestingly, ‘Mr City Man’ sounds like a very similar character to the antagonist Morgan and HARDY complain about in their HIXTAPE fan-favourite, ‘He Went To Jared’.

We get a satisfying transition from the ‘Rollie’ on his wrist to the way the man ‘rolls’ his eyes at Morgan's run-down 4x4, clearly judging its rough-around-the-edges appearance.

Morgan explains how he also feels the man's glare at the animal feed in the truck-bed, a symbol of his role on a farm or a ranch, as well as the fact that he keeps spitting into his cup.

When chewing tobacco - an activity associated with rural Southerners - it generates excess saliva, meaning users have to spit regularly, something that offends ‘Mr City Man‘.

Morgan explains how both the vehicles are from Tennessee, yet this appears to be one of the only things the two men have in common. This leads him into the primary theme of ‘Come Back As a Redneck’ - we shouldn't judge those that live differently to us.

“I don't know you, you don't know me

If this red light didn't have to change

I'd have time to say”

Although their paths are only going to cross for this brief period at the stop-light, the protagonist wishes he could tell ‘Mr City Man’ that he has countryside folk sized up all wrong.

“When you die I hope you come back as a redneck

I hope it sticks on you like that hell-hot sun tattoo

I hope you break your back for that barely-get-by pay-check

And when you can't you've gotta go [...]”

Morgan spends the infectious chorus highlighting how proud he is of the way he was raised and the rural lifestyle he leads. He underlines that he hopes that, when this man dies, he gets to be reborn as a redneck, so he can see how hard they work and how strong you have to be to make it from day to day on those kinds of wages.

The message behind ‘Come Back As a Redneck’ seems to draw on the sentiment of the famous line in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, which was set in the rural town of Maycomb, Alabama, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb in his skin and walk around in it”.

“Catch the Holy Ghost on a pinewood bench

Drive across the county just to hook up a winch

Revel in the pride of a simple man

Maybe then you'll understand”

As well as mentally punishing ‘Mr City Man’ by imagining him having to toil away at a blue collar job for months on end, and then driving for miles and miles just to ‘hook up a winch’ in order to fix someone's truck, Morgan Wallen also envisions the man getting to experience the more positive aspects of a life in the sticks.

He portrays the feeling of spiritual enlightenment as you enjoy some alone time out in nature, as well as discovering an inner pride unique to those that enjoy a simple, modest life.

The snippet concludes with Morgan wondering whether this act of stepping into somebody else's shoes would provide ‘Mr City Man’ a newfound respect for the ‘redneck’ way of life, and whether he'd subsequently stop being critical and judgmental.

“Hey Mr City Man, Rollie on your wrist, NASDAQ in your hand,

Rolling your eyes at my beat-up truck

Feed in the back, spittin’ into my cup

Both our tacks say Tennessee

I don't know you, you don't know me

If this red light didn't have to change

I'd have time to say

When you die I hope you come back as a redneck

I hope it sticks on you like that hell-hot sun tattoo

I hope you break your back for that barely-get-by pay-check

And when you can't you've gotta go [...]

Catch the Holy Ghost on a pinewood bench

Drive across the county just to hook up a winch

Revel in the pride of a simple man

Maybe then you'll understand”

*These have been interpreted from Morgan Wallen's Instagram snippet, and are subject to speculation.

For more on Morgan Wallen, see below: