'Kick Myself' by Morgan Wallen - Lyrics and Meaning

Since 2021's release of Dangerous: The Double Album, Morgan Wallen has been on the fast track to country music superstardom.

Bolstered by 2023's standout record, One Thing At A Time, the Tennessee native has become the biggest name in the format, even infiltrating across genre lines and landing singles atop the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.

After a little over two years, the award-winning entertainer has finally arrived with a new batch of music in the form of his 37-track opus, I'm the Problem, arriving May 16 and sprawling with his next era of record-breaking hits and beloved fan-favorites.

Coming in at the tenth track among the massive project is the resolution-focused 'Kick Myself.' In the pursuit of trying to better himself and kick bad habits, Wallen isn't quite able to get to the root of the problem.

Produced by Joey Moi, who helms the full record alongside Charlie Handsome, the fast-paced tune was written by Wallen, Rocky Block, James Maddocks, ERNEST & Ryan Vojtesak.

At times feeling like we're caught in a race, the bright sonic landscape feels like a quintessential Wallen track with a mixture of 808 beats and more traditional country instrumentation as his nasally southern drawl steps into the spotlight.

"Been talking to a doctor
Been talking to the Lord
Cut off a couple people
That don’t hear from me no more

They say it’s for the better
But is it really for the best?
They said I’d get more sleep
But I ain’t getting any rest

Ooo
Nothing’s changed in a way it’s gettin’ way worse, way worse
Ooo
Don’t think I’m doing myself any favors, favors, since I"

We find our narrator getting himself right.

Getting in his doctors appointments and catching up with God, he's also been taking stock of the people in his life and surrounding himself with those that build him up and cheer him on rather than the toxic ones he used to call friends.

However, despite all of this work on bettering himself and seemingly doing everything right to be on his way, things aren't changing for the better. In fact, things are getting way, way worse and he thinks he knows why.

"Kicked the bottle
Kicked the bag
Scratched the Broadway off the map
Maybe that’d work if I was someone else
Kicked the strangers out my bed
Kicked the voices out my head
Did my best
But I just can’t kick myself

(Me myself and I
These rambling ways won’t ever die
Lord knows that my mama tried
But I just can’t kick myself)"

He's quit drinking and he's quit smoking weed, he's stopped going out to all the bars and getting rowdy, but the internal changes still haven't shown themselves.

He's not sleeping around anymore and he's not entertaining the mean self-talk in his head, but the root of all of his issues come down to something far deeper: himself.

Unfortunately, it seems that he was just born this way and was made for a rougher road than most.

"Everybody on the outside
It’s easy looking in
Probably think I’m doing great like
Take a look at him
He’s gone and straightened up now
He’s finally walking lines
I ain’t lying I was probably doing fine before I"

From other people's perspective, he should be on the straight and narrow given all of his lifestyle changes and the good he's been doing for himself.

The reality, though, is that our narrator is convinced that he was actually doing better before he made all of these changes because now he's forced to face who he really is.

"Kicked the bottle
Kicked the bag
Scratched the Broadway off the map
Maybe that’d work if I was someone else
Kicked the strangers out my bed
Kicked the voices out my head
Did my best
But I just can’t kick myself"

As is often the case of late, the ‘Thought You Should Know’ singer-songwriter has so far remained tight-lipped on how the song came about.

However, when revealing the release date for I'm the Problem, Wallen provided fans with an insight into the theme of introspection that courses through the project as a whole.

“I have been a problem, for sure, and I've got no problem admitting that. But there are other sides to me as well," he explained. "I've spent the last 11 months really trying to figure out, 'Do I still want to be the problem? Is it time to move past that phase in my life? I think it probably is, and this might be the last time I get a chance to honestly say it.”

Been talking to a doctor
Been talking to the Lord
Cut off a couple people
That don’t hear from me no more

They say it’s for the better
But is it really for the best?
They said I’d get more sleep
But I ain’t getting any rest

Ooo
Nothing’s changed in a way it’s gettin’ way worse, way worse
Ooo
Don’t think I’m doing myself any favors, favors, since I

Kicked the bottle
Kicked the bag
Scratched the Broadway off the map
Maybe that’d work if I was someone else
Kicked the strangers out my bed
Kicked the voices out my head
Did my best
But I just can’t kick myself

(Me myself and I
These rambling ways won’t ever die
Lord knows that my mama tried
But I just can’t kick myself)

Everybody on the outside
It’s easy looking in
Probably think I’m doing great like
Take a look at him
He’s gone and straightened up now
He’s finally walking lines
I ain’t lying I was probably doing fine before I

Kicked the bottle
Kicked the bag
Scratched the Broadway off the map
Maybe that’d work if I was someone else
Kicked the strangers out my bed
Kicked the voices out my head
Did my best
But I just can’t kick myself

Me myself and I
These rambling ways won’t ever die
Lord knows that my mama tried
Said son go get some help
Huh what I do
Exactly what they told me to
Kicked the shit that I used to use
But I just can’t kick myself

Kicked the bottle
Kicked the bag
Scratched the Broadway off the map
Maybe that’d work if I was someone else
Kicked the strangers out my bed
Kicked the voices out my head
Did my best
But I just can’t kick myself

Me myself and I
These rambling ways won’t ever die
Lord knows that my mama tried
Said son go get some help
Huh what I do
Exactly what they told me to
Kicked the shit that I used to use
But I just can’t kick myself

--

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