‘Miami’ by Morgan Wallen - Lyrics and Meaning

Undoubtedly one of the more controversial tracks from Morgan Wallen's 2025 studio album, I'm the Problem, ‘Miami’ finds the ‘Love Somebody’ chart-topper flipping a Keith Whitley classic. First teased via Theo Von's This Past Weekend podcast, ‘Miami’ finds Wallen taking on a bold, trap-inspired interpolation of Whitley's ‘Miami, My Amy’.

‘Miami’ was initially supposed to feature BigXthaPlug on the second verse, but Wallen revealed to Von that the Texas rapper didn't finish writing it in time, so he wrote one with his team.

‘Miami’ follows in a similar vein to ‘Sand in My Boots’, with Morgan Wallen depicting a fleeting, sun-soaked holiday romance. Wallen even name-checks the latter on ‘Miami’.

‘Miami’ is a trap-infused anthem, with Morgan Wallen part-rapping across a sample of Keith Whitley's iconic ‘Miami, My Amy’ hook. It's an innovative take on a classic country earworm. The layering of Wallen's vocals and the introduction of the rattling 808s give this simmering offering an added sense of verve and swagger.

The fact that Morgan Wallen has received flak in the past for his penchant for trap beats, his decision to incorporate them into a revered Keith Whitley track almost feels like he's trolling naysayers, with Wallen delivering each lyric with a playful wink.

“It gets cold in Tennessee in January

I done tagged out all my bucks

Wasn’t no one seein’ ducks

Thought that I could use some out the ordinary

Trade them pine trees for a palm

By the ocean peace and calm”

Morgan Wallen sets the scene by describing how he was getting fed up with the cold Tennessee weather in January, particularly as he had no more buck or duck hunting left to do. He decides to get some much-needed Winter sun and books a trip to Miami.

“So I bought a seat, and caught a buzz

Headed straight to South Beach

And there she was

Havana in her accent, coconut and Captain

And by the end of the day

She was beggin’ me to stay”

He regales the listener with a similar tale to that of ‘Sand in My Boots’, with Morgan Wallen running into a woman who appears to be from Havana, Cuba. He smells the unmistakable aroma of Captain Morgan's rum, which adds to the idyllic, tropical feel of the verse, before revealing that his new lover wanted him to stay down in Florida.

“In Miami

It ain’t nothin’ like where I’m from, nah

Yeah I can’t keep my gun in my truck in (Miami)

They don’t know my name at these bars

And you can’t even see any stars

In Miami

You got me MIA for a couple days now

But it don’t hit the same as my Tennessee town (Miami)

Except for gettin’ sand in my boots

Ask yourself what the hell is a redneck gon’ do

In Miami

Miami”

The hook finds Morgan Wallen explaining to his holiday lover why he's had a lovely time with her on vacation, but he can't up sticks and live in Miami, because it's not designed for a ‘redneck’ such as himself. He can't keep his gun in his truck, he can't see the stars and there are no dives where everybody knows his name.

It's almost as though Morgan Wallen is flipping the perspectives of ‘Sand in My Boots’, with the ‘Thought You Should Know’ singer-songwriter adopting the viewpoint of the lover who decides they can't uproot their life and leave their home-town on ‘Miami’.

On ‘Sand in My Boots’, by contrast, Wallen is the one begging for his holiday flame to leave their life in the sunshine and come back to Tennessee with him - to no avail in the end.

“That sun went down and then she dragged me to the city

Took some elevator up, now it’s whiskey in the club

And she dancin’ with her body up against me

There ain’t no out to these skirts

But they still got some curves”

As Morgan Wallen depicts an alcohol-drenched club night he enjoys with his lover, he drops an outrageous lyric - “There ain't no out to these skirts / But they still got some curves”. It's a play on ‘outskirts’, with Wallen conveying how he is missing the rural bliss of home, but he's nonetheless tempted by the woman's alluring curves.

When chatting to Theo Von, Morgan Wallen reflected on how ‘Miami’ came about, “It was a kind of spur of the moment thing...I've got a song on my record called ‘Miami’...It's a Keith Whitley flip, you know ‘Miami, My Amy’, that song? We flipped it...it's a little more like a rap style, but it's cool, man. I like it. It seemed like it could use a rapper on there, I didn't end up using a feature, we ended up just making a second verse, but it's one of those songs where it wouldn't be surprising if we got like a remix and did that...Once it's out, and all that stuff”.

He touched on his frustration that he didn't get a verse from BigXthaPlug, “Me and BigX, we almost did a song, but I don't know...I actually sent him a song and he didn't finish it, so I don't know. That's on him, I guess, I don't know what he was doing”.

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 mused. "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.”

“It gets cold in Tennessee in January

I done tagged out all my bucks

Wasn’t no one seein’ ducks

Thought that I could use some out the ordinary

Trade them pine trees for a palm

By the ocean peace and calm

-

So I bought a seat, and caught a buzz

Headed straight to South Beach

And there she was

Havana in her accent, coconut and Captain

And by the end of the day

She was beggin’ me to stay

-

In Miami

It ain’t nothin’ like where I’m from, nah

Yeah I can’t keep my gun in my truck in (Miami)

They don’t know my name at these bars

And you can’t even see any stars

In Miami

You got me MIA for a couple days now

But it don’t hit the same as my Tennessee town (Miami)

Except for gettin’ sand in my boots

Ask yourself what the hell is a redneck gon’ do

In Miami

Miami

-

That sun went down and then she dragged me to the city

Took some elevator up, now it’s whiskey in the club

And she dancin’ with her body up against me

There ain’t no out to these skirts

But they still got some curves

-

In Miami

It ain’t nothin’ like where I’m from, nah

Yeah I can’t keep my gun in my truck in Miami

They don’t know my name at these bars

And you can’t even see any stars

In Miami

You got me MIA for a couple days now

But it don’t hit the same as my Tennessee town (Miami)

Except for gettin’ sand in my boots

Ask yourself what the hell is a redneck gon’ do

In Miami

Miami

-

Yeah and then I bought a seat and caught a buzz

Honestly a part of me was still in love with

Havana in her accent, coconut and Captain

Swear it almost happened, damn I almost stayed my ass in

-

Miami

It ain’t nothin’ like where I’m from nah

Yeah I can’t keep my gun in my truck in (Miami)

They don’t know my name at these bars

And you can’t even see any stars in (Miami)

You got me MIA for a couple days now

But it don’t hit the same as my Tennessee town (Miami)

Except for gettin’ sand in my boots

Ask yourself what the hell is a redneck gon’ do

In Miami

Miami”

--

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