‘Good Horses’ by Lainey Wilson & Miranda Lambert - Lyrics & Meaning

The sole collaboration on Lainey Wilson's 2024 album, Whirlwind, ‘Good Horses’ galloped onto our playlists a couple of weeks before the full project arrived on August 23.

Before the duet had been officially announced, Miranda joined Lainey during her Nashville tour-stop at the end of May for the live debut of the intricate, free-spirited track, with ‘Good Horses’ keeping the momentum high behind the Whirlwind rollout.

The track finds Lainey and Miranda trading verses as they underline to their respective partners that they need the freedom to chase down their dreams, before reassuring them that, no matter how far they roam, they'll always return home - just like good horses.

‘Good Horses’ is a smooth, slow-burning duet, with Lainey Wilson eschewing the lively, uptempo feel of ’Country's Cool Again’ and ’Hang Tight Honey’ in favour of a sleeker, sparser ambience. Lainey and Miranda's vocals complement each other, with their voices cushioned by the gentle, undulating guitar riff and atmospheric production. The outro finds Lainey experimenting with a subtly distorted vocal effect, as she croons comfortingly through the warm haze to her lover.

“There’s a green pasture I wanna be in and I’m a wild wildflower just a ready for the picking, mmm

31 years is a long time coming, feet off the ground but I’m still running, mmm”

‘Good Horses’ is peppered with imagery relating to the euphoric freedom of running wild, with Lainey and Miranda using nature-based metaphors to accentuate this. Lainey begins by outlining how she yearns to feel like a horse in acres of green pasture, before introducing the bucolic picture of being a beautiful wildflower ready for the wind to pluck her up and whisk her away on a new adventure.

Lainey Wilson includes a number of references to her personal life, with the Louisiana hitmaker touching on how she's been striving to become a country singer all her life. Now that she's enjoying immense success, her feet feel as though they're off the ground, due to all the opportunities and changes that her popularity has brought with it. Lainey is now 32, but it seems she penned this track at 31.

“I don’t need a map, I don’t need a road

I don’t need a fence, I just need to roam

If you wanna love me, you don’t need a rope

You just need to know

Good horses come home”

The protagonists underline that they don't require any restraints or guidance as they continue their journeys, asking their partners not to try and hold on too tight as they go. The underlying message of ‘Good Horses’ is one of expecting trust from those they love, rather than any kind of resentment or possessiveness.

Again likening themselves to the titular animals, Lainey and Miranda emphasise that all good horses will eventually make their way home, regardless of how far gone they are.

“Mockingbirds singin’, hummingbirds hummin’

Searching for a song so I keep on strummin’, mmm

Come a long way since I left Louisiana, my dreams tied on like a red bandana, mmm”

Miranda Lambert enhances the idyllic, pastoral atmosphere by likening herself to mockingbirds and hummingbirds, both of which provide serene sounds through their calls.

She outlines how she's still searching for the right song, before Lainey Wilson re-enters the fray to add another personal touch. Lainey underlines how far she's come since her childhood in Baskin, Louisiana, evocatively depicting her dreams as a ‘red bandana’ she loves to wear, conveying how she's never letting go of her aspirations.

“Blame it on my bloodline, blame it on my daddy

Blame it on the highway under my heels

Baby, just remember when you start to miss me”

Lainey doubles-down on the mantra of the song, explaining that her wild spirit can never be tamed as it's in her blood, before again asking her lover to hold onto the knowledge that she'll always come back to him, wherever her adventures may take her.

“Cowboy, won’t you give me some slack

They might run for the hills, but they always come back

Cowboy, won’t you give me some slack

They might run for the hills, but they always come back”

In the outro, Lainey Wilson asks for “some slack” on her reins, extending the horse-inspired imagery as she reminds her lover that, although she may be jet-setting and moving at a mile a minute, she'll always look forward to coming back to him.

Throughout ‘Good Horses’, there's the implication that Lainey and Miranda are referring to both the physical distance that their touring lifestyles put between them and their partners, as well as the metaphorical journey of chasing down their dreams.

During CMA Fest 2024 - a few days after Lainey Wilson brought out Miranda Lambert for the live debut of ’Good Horses’ - Lainey underlined how much she loves the duet, “If you were at the Nashville shows last week, one of the artists came out and did a song with me that we sang together called ‘Good Horses’. I'm so excited, it's incredible”.

“There’s a green pasture I wanna be in and I’m a wild wildflower just a ready for the picking, mmm

31 years is a long time coming, feet off the ground but I’m still running, mmm

-

I don’t need a map, I don’t need a road

I don’t need a fence, I just need to roam

If you wanna love me, you don’t need a rope

You just need to know

Good horses come home

-

Mockingbirds singin’, hummingbirds hummin’

Searching for a song so I keep on strummin’, mmm

Come a long way since I left Louisiana, my dreams tied on like a red bandana, mmm

-

I don’t need a map, I don’t need a road

I don’t need a fence, I just need to roam

If you wanna love me, you don’t need a rope

You just need to know

Good horses come home

They always come home

-

Blame it on my bloodline, blame it on my daddy

Blame it on the highway under my heels

Baby, just remember when you start to miss me

-

I don’t need a map, I don’t need a road

I don’t need a fence, I just need to roam

If you wanna love me, you don’t need a rope

You just need to know

I don’t need a compass, I don’t need a saddle

Let go of the reins, baby, let me run around

If you wanna love me, you don’t need a rope

You just need to know

Good horses come home (Good, good, good horses)

Good horses come home (Good, good, good horses)

-

Cowboy, won’t you give me some slack

They might run for the hills, but they always come back

Cowboy, won’t you give me some slack

They might run for the hills, but they always come back

(Good, good, good horses)

They always come home

(Good, good, good horses)

They come home”

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