‘New To Country’ by Bailey Zimmerman - Lyrics & Meaning

After dropping the nostalgic lead single from his forthcoming record, ‘Holy Smokes’, as well as releasing the brooding ‘Hell or High Water’ from the Twisters: The Album soundtrack, Bailey Zimmerman took to his socials to tease a new track, ‘New To Country’. Thankfully, he didn't keep us waiting too long before dropping the song, with the raucous ’New To Country’ arriving later that month on June 28th.

The fiery anthem finds the chart-topping up-and-comer taking aim at critics that claim he's not ‘country’ enough, simply because he doesn't wear a cowboy hat and boots.

In the original clip, which Bailey Zimmerman shared on June 18th, the ‘Rock and A Hard Place’ hitmaker prefaced the track by explaining that “I grew up country as hell and I still ain't changed, so I wrote a song about it for everybody that makes fun of me”.

As a result, ’New To Country’ is permeated by a sense of defiance, with Bailey Zimmerman rattling through an array of reasons he's as country as they come - and he'll stay that way forever. ‘New To Country’ is set to join ‘Holy Smokes’ on Bailey's keenly anticipated Religiously follow-up record, which will hopefully be announced later this year.

‘New To Country’ finds Bailey Zimmerman leaning into a rockier, more angsty ambience compared to Religiously, with Bailey instead channelling the darker feel of his Johnny Cash cover, ‘God's Gonna Cut You Down’, which dropped back in February 2023.

Bailey's signature vibrato collides against a stormy euphony of electric guitars and an emphatic drum pattern, as the country prodigy explores a sound that feels reminiscent of iconic barn-burners such as Luke Combs’ ’Beer Never Broke My Heart’.

“He's got tattoos

He's bad news

Yeah that's all anybody's ever said about me

And yeah I like to cut loose

And smoke too

You might think I chose this way of livin’

Nah, but it chose me”

Bailey begins by offering listeners a taste of the denigration and criticism he's had to deal with since he broke onto the scene in 2022, with the Illinois singer-songwriter outlining how people have complained about his tattoos and his party-loving lifestyle. He muses that some detractors might think he ‘chose’ to become country, but as he proceeds to highlight throughout the hook, his roots are set deep in the sticks.

“You can hear me comin’

With a 6.2 hummin’

Guns N’ Roses bumpin’ through a 12 in the floor

I don't need me nothin’ but a spot out in the country

I smile when they say that I ain't me anymore”

Bailey Zimmerman has been open about his love for stylish 4x4s, with the ‘Fall in Love’ crooner even founding his own truck and apparel giveaway company, BZ Motorsports. During an interview with Bobby Bones, he delved into how he customised his truck soon after finding success, and Bailey references one of his favourite 4x4s here when he underlines that you can hear him a mile away due to his noisy 6.2 L engine, combined with a classic Guns N’ Roses song turned all the way up.

He doubles-down on the key message behind ‘New To Country’, as he emphasises that he's more than content living the simple life out in some bucolic idyll.

Nonetheless, thanks to his music career, Bailey accepts that he can enjoy some more luxuries nowadays, but beneath all the glamour, he's still the same person he always was.

“Ain't a thing changed round here but the money

You try to mix it up but let me tell you somethin

Same liquor in my Dixie

Same rowdy bunch with me

I be laid up in the dirt before you ever take it from me

So take the boy out the truck

Take the boy out the mud

Put him up in a PJ he'll still try to get the 40s stuck

So line ‘em up, turn it up and keep it runnin’

Say whatever you want but I'm anything but new to country”

Through all the triumphs he's enjoyed and the globe-trotting lifestyle he now experiences out on tour, Bailey Zimmerman reminds the listener that he's drinking the same alcohol in his red Dixie cup, as well as holding onto his original circle of friends.

He claims he'll be long-gone and buried before anyone can take that which is most precious to him - his country heritage. Bailey then lists all the things he could relinquish, such as his truck or a home in the countryside, before remarking that he'll never lose his rural upbringing. He paints a picture of how, even when he's in a private jet, his country roots will still show and he'll try to “get the 40s stuck”. Ultimately, he welcomes complaints - except those that posit he's ‘New To Country’.

“Without a doubt, I've been around

Yeah, everybody knows my name when I show up now

I've been from New York to LA and every place in between

But they don't do it like we do it in my hometown”

In the second verse, Bailey continues to highlight the contrast between the thrill of the city-hopping life he leads and the contentment he finds when he's back in his rural hometown.

It paints a two-sided picture of Bailey as we see him from the outside, jumping on a jet to the next show and wearing the latest, most expensive sneakers, and the real Bailey, who remains a country boy at heart and cherishes the little things above all else.

In the introduction to the infectious snippet Bailey Zimmerman uploaded across his socials, he explained what motivated him to write ‘New To Country’, “Being country is about way more than wearing a cowboy hat on your head or wearing boots on your feet. I grew up country as hell and I still ain't changed, so I wrote a song about it for everybody that makes fun of me and tells me I'm not country because I wear [Nike] Air Force Ones. Kiss my ass, this song's called ‘New To Country’”.

“He's got tattoos

He's bad news

Yeah that's all anybody's ever said about me

And yeah I like to cut loose

And smoke too

You might think I chose this way of livin’

Nah, but it chose me

You can hear me comin’

With a 6.2 hummin’

Guns N’ Roses bumpin’ through a 12 in the floor

I don't need me nothin’ but a spot out in the country

I smile when they say that I ain't me anymore

-

Ain't a thing changed round here but the money

You try to mix it up but let me tell you somethin’

Same liquor in my Dixie

Same rowdy bunch with me

I be laid up in the dirt before you ever take it from me

So take the boy out the truck

Take the boy out the mud

Put him up in a PJ he'll still try to get the 40s stuck

So line ‘em up, turn it up and keep it runnin’

Say whatever you want but I'm anything but new to country

-

Without a doubt, I've been around

Yeah, everybody knows my name when I show up now

I've been from New York to LA and every place in between

But they don't do it like we do it in my hometown

-

Ain't a thing changed round here but the money

You try to mix it up but let me tell you somethin’

Same liquor in my Dixie

Same rowdy bunch with me

I be laid up in the dirt before you ever take it from me

So take the boy out the truck

Take the boy out the mud

Put him up in a PJ he'll still try to get the 40s stuck

So line ‘em up, turn it up and keep it runnin’

Say whatever you want but I'm anything but new to country

-

Ain't a thing changed round here but the money

You try to mix it up but let me tell you somethin’

Same liquor in my Dixie

Same rowdy bunch with me

I be laid up in the dirt before you ever take it from me

So take the boy out the truck

Take the boy out the mud

Put him up in a PJ he'll still try to get the 40s stuck

So line ‘em up, turn it up and keep it runnin’

Say whatever you want but I'm anything but new to country

-

Yeah I'm anything but new to country

Yeah I'm anything but new to country”

For more on Bailey Zimmerman, see below: