'The Worst' by Justin Moore with Randy Houser – Lyrics & Meaning

Justin Moore just announced his eighth studio album is on the way. Dubbed This Is My Dirt, the dozen-track release apparently finds the artist looking inward, examining his life and sharing appreciation for what he's found in his reflection.

With the news arrives the album's lead single, 'The Worst,' a collaboration with 2010s country hitmaker Randy Houser. The song holds a message dear to the artist and his counterpart as they sing of materialism and the importance of being grateful for what you have.

'The Worst' is a pretty straightforward country tune. A brush of steel here, a peppering of rhythm there, and it's a paint-by-numbers ditty that leaves much to be desired in the way of originality.

'The Worst' isn't the worst, but it is a touch flat and uninspired, an arrangement simply thrown together as the two artists put far more stock into the song's equally banal lyrics.

"They got iPads, iPhones,
Channels on the TV ain't got commercials
Those bikes they got for Christmas
Got more gears than a Peterbilt truck
I used to hunt cold mornings wearing Walmart waffle thermals
These kids are wearing camo now that runs 600 bucks"

'The Worst' is a comment on the day's materialism. The song opens on a tired diatribe about how kids these days have got their iWhatevers and their fancy camouflages, coming up just short of spewing "Well, back in my day..." and then throwing in something about walking 100 miles to school both ways.

While the moral of the song is to be happy with what you have, the message falls flat, especially alongside weirdly boastful lyrics about spanking kids.

"I learned from the worst
Push mower that'll make a little cash
The worst butt whoopin' that'll teach a boy fast
That you better be happy with what you have,
Even if all you have is the worst.
Little house at the end of the road
Thought I was doing better, now I don't know.
Maybe having the best ain't how life's supposed to work,
'Cause I learned from the worst"

Yes, you should be grateful for what you have. However, 'The Worst' gets it all wrong.

When Moore and Hauser were kids, "learning from the worst," there likely wasn't crippling inflation, surmounting wealth inequality, an urgent climate crisis – basically, their little slice of the American Dream hadn't yet rotted. In reality, their worst – winters spent wearing Walmart thermals and driving around in a beater – likely wasn't "the worst."

Instead, they attempt to attack materialism through some Boomer-coded bullshit about push mowers and ass whoopings, making it difficult not to disassociate when listening.

"Finer things, the nicest cleats
Be alright if they don't have 'em
Hey, I mean, I'm okay
What's the worst thing that can happen?"

While few and fleeting, there are glimmers of wisdom in 'The Worst' and there is an important message in between the tone-deaf lyrics.

You don't have to have the finest things to be happy; however, in this day and age, when it feels like you're increasingly getting priced out of simply having things, perhaps this is what it really means to learn from "the worst."

In a statement to Holler, Moore shared of the new tune, "'The Worst’ is one of my favorite songs from the upcoming album, because it reflects on growing up with less, and learning valuable lessons from it. I’ve realized that not having the most expensive this or that, was actually beneficial."

It's a song, he explains, resonates deeply with him as father. "Now, as a parent myself, I understand that giving my kids the best of everything isn’t necessarily the best approach," he explains. "Instead, the main goal is to teach them to value what they do have. And having Randy Houser, who is also a parent and grew up like me, join me on this track makes it even more special."

They got iPads, iPhones,
Channels on the TV ain't got commercials
Those bikes they got for Christmas
Got more gears than a Peterbilt truck
I used to hunt cold mornings wearing Walmart waffle thermals
These kids are wearing camo now that runs 600 bucks

And we ain't got it all, but we've been blessed
We worked hard so they can have the best

I learned from the worst
Push mower that'll make a little cash
The worst butt whoopin' that'll teach a boy fast
That you better be happy with what you have,
Even if all you have is the worst
Little house at the end of the road
Thought I was doing better, now I don't know
Maybe having the best ain't how life's supposed to work,
'Cause I learned from the worst.

Part of me wants their first car to be some old rust bucket
They need to know ain't nothing broke,
Just elbow grease it 'til it runs
I hope their first hangover runs 'em over
Like a middle linebacker with a lowered shoulder
So they learn to take it easy. It works, believe me

I learned from the worst
Push mower that'll make a little cash
The worst butt whoopin' that'll teach a boy fast
That you better be happy with what you have,
Even if all you have is the worst
Little house at the end of the road
Thought I was doing better, now I don't know
Maybe having the best ain't how life's supposed to work,
'Cause I learned from the worst

Finer things, the nicest cleats
Be alright if they don't have 'em
Hey, I mean, I'm okay
What's the worst thing that can happen?

I learned from the worst
Push mower that'll make a little cash
The worst butt whoopin' that'll teach a boy fast
That you better be happy with what you have,
Even if all you have is the worst
Little house at the end of the road
Thought I was doing better, now I don't know
Maybe having the best ain't how life's supposed to work,
'Cause I learned from the worst
I learned from the worst
I learned from the worst

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