‘That Word Don't Work No More’ by Chase Rice & Lori McKenna – Lyrics & Meaning

Chase Rice's latest album, Go Down Singin’, finds him on the brink of being the person he was always meant to be, the collection's 11 songs mapping the highs and lows, the triumphs and shortcomings that have marked his journey to this moment.

Go Down Singin’ is pocked with pitfalls and stumbles, but it also contains the life lessons and hard-won wisdoms that are born from such fumbles. The beautifully bittersweet collection, one full of hope and understanding, contains some of Rice's most profound work to date.

The album's 'That Word Don't Work No More', a striking duet with singer-songwriter Lori McKenna, is among the project's more poignant offerings, showcasing the difficult truths and the bitter ends that sometimes come in life and in love.

'That Word Don't Work No More' is a simple song, carried on meditative strings and pensive drum beats. The occasional flourish from a bright fiddle or a mournful pedal steel will sweep across the melancholic story song. However, the tune is, for the most part, a stark composition that chronicles a relationship's hopeful beginning and its unfortunate end.

"They met at a bar
That Tuesday with friends
Wasn't nothin' special 'bout it
That's where it all begins"

'That Word Don't Work No More' opens on a chance encounter, Rice recounting the seemingly insignificant meeting of a man and a woman in some bar on some arbitrary night of the week.

"Lookin' in his eyes,
It felt like she was home
Woke up the next mornin'
Right there in his arms
She always thought she'd end up alone
But that word don't work no more"

That brush, however, just so happened to be with fate, and love soon blossomed between the two. The woman found a home within this other person, having always thought she'd end up alone. However, the word "alone" is now made void in the vocabulary of their love, the two becoming a pair, never one without the other.

"He's two months in
To a new job on the shore
She's two weeks late
And crying on the bathroom floor
Way up there, God's laughin' at their plans
But that word don't work no more
No more"

The couple settle in together, buying a little house and taking on new careers. It's all going as planned. That is until a baby comes along and the word "plan" becomes just a hollow idea that no longer applies to them.

Life goes on, morphing into a string of burnt casseroles and messes for her to clean up and nights out with the guys where he finds an escape.

"He's stumbles in half drunk
A quarter after four
He drops the keys a couple times
Slams the old front door
Stands in the kitchen askin' for forgiveness
But that word don't work no more"

However, the man comes home drunk a few too many times and there's only so many "I'm sorrys" before the word "forgiveness" stops making any sense at all.

As Rice, alongside his duet partner Lori McKenna, succinctly sing: "We used the words too many times / They lose their meaning, lose their rhymes / On this long and crooked road."

"They sit across the table
A couple papers to sign
Hashin' out Saturdays
And who gets Christmas time"

The song ends with the couple finalizing their divorce, signing the paperwork and dividing up their lives. Before they know it, "together" is just one more word that no longer works for them anymore.

"He'll get an apartment
Above the liquor store
They'll never get back
To the way they were before
They'll walk out to the parking lot together
But that word don't work no more"

While Chase Rice hasn't gone into specifics about the track, 'That Word Don't Work No More', the star has been transparent about the beautifully personal endeavor it was to craft his latest album, Go Down Singin’.

“I’m 38 now, and that’s part of it," he shared in a statement ahead of the album's release. "I’ve journaled since I was 15 years old, but there’s something about being able to tell other people. I’m a deep person, but I don’t know [how] to show it in real life, so I’m trying to do it in my music.

He continued, “For me, Go Down Singin’ is everything about where I am and what I want. I’m starting to see myself as who I want to be, not who I thought I should be. That’s a good start. And I think a lot of men struggle with this stuff, too.”

They met at a bar
That Tuesday with friends
Wasn't nothin' special 'bout it
That's where it all begins

Lookin' in his eyes,
It felt like she was home
Woke up the next mornin'
Right there in his arms
She always thought she'd end up alone
But that word don't work no more

They bought a little house
Where the porch never ends
Flag there in the front yard
Dog inside the fence

He's two months in
To a new job on the shore
She's two weeks late
And crying on the bathroom floor
Way up there, God's laughin' at their plans
But that word don't work no more
No more

She burns the casserole
The kids made a mess
He's stuck in traffic
Now, he's out with the boys again

He's stumbles in half drunk
A quarter after four
He drops the keys a couple times
Slams the old front door
Stands in the kitchen askin' for forgiveness
But that word don't work no more

No more sayin', "I'm sorry"
No more, "Baby, don't go"
We used the words too many times
They lose their meaning, lose their rhymes
On this long and crooked road

They sit across the table
A couple papers to sign
Hashin' out Saturdays
And who gets Christmas time

He'll get an apartment
Above the liquor store
They'll never get back
To the way they were before
They'll walk out to the parking lot together
But that word don't work no more

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