‘Wanna Be Loved’ by The Red Clay Strays - Lyrics & Meaning

Serving as the lead single from The Red Clay Strays’ sophomore album - and their first project with RCA Records - ‘Wanna Be Loved’ was the first taste of new music fans received following the explosion in popularity of 2022's ‘Wondering Why’.

Given how viral that endearing ballad went - out of the blue - in early 2024, The Red Clay Strays would have been forgiven for crumbling under the pressure to replicate this success.

However, the five-piece comprising Brandon Coleman, Drew Nix, Zach Rishel, Andrew Bishop and John Hall held steadfast to their soulful, blueprint, and ‘Wanna Be Loved’ was widely championed as further evidence of the band's next-big-thing status.

The pining cry of an electric guitar kicks off ‘Wanna Be Loved’, before being joined by additional atmospheric, twangy instrumentation that combines ethereally with Brandon Coleman's weighty, charismatic vocals. Coleman's staggered, deliberate delivery and the layers of reverb help to give ‘Wanna Be Loved’ a retro, old-timey sheen, with the track storming towards a fierce, angsty climax in the outro.

“Everybody's waiting for a break

Like fast cars and freedom

Everybody wants the same old thing

Tell me what will it bring

My friend I'm tired of being this way

I'm tired of running astray

Oh God I need to know you're still above”

At its heart, ‘Wanna Be Loved’ feels as thought it's about the desperation for acceptance and validation from the protagonist's partner, with Coleman dismissing the materialistic pleasures and objectives that many people strive for, such as “fast cars and freedom”. This is a reference to Rascal Flatts’ popular 2005 track of the same name, with the narrator then underlining how he's grown jaded by the rat race, and has had the dawning realisation that he doesn't want any of these superficial status symbols - all he's after is some love and contentment.

He asks if God is still up there looking out for him, and a recurring theme of ‘Wanna Be Loved’ is the reliance on faith as a means of building this feeling of love and self-esteem.

“I just wanna be loved

I just wanna be loved

Can you tell me I'm worthy or important

Am I working hard enough

Oh I just wanna be loved

I just wanna be loved”

Brandon Coleman spells it out in the hook, emphasising how desperately he needs this sense of validation, as he currently has a plethora of niggling questions swimming around his head, ranging from ‘Am I worthy’ to ‘Am I working hard enough?’

“They say that faith can move a mountain

But I'm built for the climb

So tell me am I faithful or just too stubborn

Tell me what will I find

At the peak, at the top, at the end of the line

And at the end of my life

Oh tell me how my climb will be judged”

We return to the notion of belief and spirituality here, with Coleman musing about the old adage that ‘faith can move a mountain’, before rejecting this idea and doubling down on his commitment to continuing his climb. This metaphor seemingly represents the protagonist's ‘stubborn’ persistence to sticking to what he perceives to be the right path and embracing the associated challenges of this, rather than simply attempting to avoid his problems by trying to ‘move the mountain’. He wonders whether he's being too stubborn and should instead take the easier option, or whether this dedication is in fact the ultimate act of faith.

He gives these lines a biblical tone, as is underlined in the official music video, which finds Brandon Colemen clambering up through multiple tree-houses. In one of these, he's leaning on a church-style lectern with what appears to be an open Bible resting upon it. Coleman wonders what God will make of his life when he makes it to Heaven (“And at the end of my life / Oh tell me how my climb will be judged”).

“I’ve been afraid

And I’ve been alone

Sometimes I need someone to pick up the phone

I’m tired of the leaving

I need a home”

Brandon Colemen heartbreakingly opens up about the feelings of fear and isolation he's been contending with, before conveying his desire to feel needed and wanted - something that could be achieved if only someone would ‘pick up the phone’.

He suggests he's grown bored with the constant coming and going in order to hit the road and tour, with the narrator implying he gets homesick, underlining how he craves stability.

“And I want someone to want me

I want somebody there

And I need someone to need me

I need someone who cares”

He explains that key to gaining this feeling of ‘home’ is finding someone who can love and support him, with the protagonist breaking down his general plea to be ‘loved’ into specific requests for someone to want him, be there for him, need him and care for him.

In tandem with releasing ‘Wanna Be Loved’ announcing their sophomore album, Made by These Moments, The Red Clay Strays’ frontman, Brandon Colemen, delved into the pivotal themes of the record as a whole, “Made by These Moments shines a light on overcoming the battles we face in life like loneliness, depression and hopelessness. We hope you listen and recognize that our pain has a purpose”. This is epitomised by the soul-searching of ‘Wanna Be Loved’.

“Everybody's waiting for a break

Like fast cars and freedom

Everybody wants the same old thing

Tell me what will it bring

My friend I'm tired of being this way

I'm tired of running astray

Oh God I need to know you're still above

-

I just wanna be loved

I just wanna be loved

Can you tell me I'm worthy or important

Am I working hard enough

Oh I just wanna be loved

I just wanna be loved

-

They say that faith can move a mountain

But I'm built for the climb

So tell me am I faithful or just too stubborn

Tell me what will I find

At the peak, at the top, at the end of the line

And at the end of my life

Oh tell me how my climb will be judged

-

I just wanna be loved

I just wanna be loved

Can you tell me I'm worthy or important

Am I working hard enough

Oh I just wanna be loved

I just wanna be loved

-

I’ve been afraid

And I’ve been alone

Sometimes I need someone to pick up the phone

I’m tired of the leaving

I need a home

-

Oh I just wanna be loved

I just wanna be loved

Can you tell me I'm worthy or important

Am I working hard enough

Oh I just wanna be loved

I just wanna be loved

-

And I want someone to want me

I want somebody there

And I need someone to need me

I need someone who cares”

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