‘Wrong Ones’ by Post Malone & Tim McGraw - Lyrics & Meaning

The opening track on F-1Trillion, in many ways, ‘Wrong Ones’ serves as the connective tissue between Posty's previous, rap and pop-leaning discography and his new country era.

Sonically, ‘Wrong Ones’ is unmistakably country, with Post Malone and Tim McGraw leaning into a rugged, Southern Rock-tinged ambience. Thematically, though, it's arguably the song with the most braggadocio and hubris on F-1Trillion - two characteristics of Posty's rap hits such as ‘Motley Crew’ and ‘rockstar’.

It feels as though ‘Wrong Ones’ offers a final flourish for Post Malone's rap persona, while introducing listeners to the new country-inspired sound that will colour the rest of F-1Trillion. Posty loves slipping in an easter egg or a subtle reference to another song - as he does when he nods to ‘rockstar’ on ‘What Don't Belong to Me’.

Post Malone showcases this once again on ‘Wrong Ones’, with Tim McGraw's iconic 1994 ballad, ‘Don't Take the Girl’, endearingly cited by McGraw himself on the F-1Trillion track.

F-1Trillion weaves in a range of country sub-genres, with ‘Wrong Ones’ and ‘California Sober’ both exploring a more Southern Rock feel compared to the country-pop singles that led the album's rollout, such as ‘I Had Some Help’ and ‘Guy For That’.

Post Malone opts for a less sleek, digitized vocal effect for ‘Wrong Ones’, with the New York native instead accentuating his charismatic rasp and giving the song a rawer atmosphere - much like his delivery on 2023's ‘Pick-Up Man’ with the late Joe Diffie.

Tim McGraw jumps in for the second verse and adds his commanding, smoother drawl into the mix, with the two coalescing to make this a powerhouse anthem.

“A lift kit on a limousine

I got ten problems down in Tennessee

And I ain't got the time to fix ‘em all

Skipped breakfast at Tiffany's

For a little sermon with Bethany

Now I'm sitting at a bar on the 17th, and I'm gone”

‘Wrong Ones’ is peppered with the playful and often tongue-in-cheek extravagance that pervades Post Malone's pre-country material, such as ‘Psycho’, ‘White Iverson and more. He hilariously describes how he's given his limousine a lift kit - usually something reserved for trucks, making the 4x4 appear raised.

Posty goes on to use a witty piece of wordplay to lament how he's got ‘ten’ problems in Tennessee, before joking about how he'll bypass breakfast with Tiffany - a reference to the 1961 film - for a steamy encounter with Bethany. It enhances the ‘bad boy’ persona of the protagonist, who then offers up a classic, nihilistic pre-country Post Malone line by confessing he's ended up - yet again - at the bar, and he's already drunk.

“With them cold ones comin’ and that smoke fillin’ up my lungs

I got ‘Fuck You’ money

Girl, come on and get you some

And it's hard to walk a straight line when they curvin' up them jeans

I'm just lookin' for the right one

But them wrong ones keep lookin' at me”

Post Malone decides to embrace his lifestyle of excess, describing how he's continuing to drink and smoke - and he's brandishing a wad of cash, underlining his intentions to make this a wild night. He portrays this as ‘Fuck You’ money, again emphasising the rowdy, unruly tone of the narrator, which provides a stark contrast with the gentility and vulnerability of the protagonist we meet on the final song of F-1Trillion, ‘Yours’, which Post Malone endearingly penned for his daughter.

On ‘Wrong Ones’, Posty sets up the titular lyric by complaining about how he's trying his best to find ‘the right woman’ for him, yet he cannot resist the temptation when ‘the wrong ones’ are giving him the eye. We get some light-hearted juxtaposition here, with Post Malone likening their ‘curves’ to how he cannot walk in a ‘straight’ line and stay on his original path towards a more long-term relationship.

In real life, of course, the ‘Chemical’ hitmaker is engaged and has a daughter, but prior to this, he was known as a big partier. In this sense, F-1Trillion could be seen as tracing his evolution from whiskey-drinking wild child into settled-down family man, opening with the raucous ’Wrong Ones’ and closing on the intricate ‘Yours’.

“Straight outta Louisiana

I'm a bad boy, real good man

Got a six-pack and a farmer's tan, on top of the world

I can't help that they want a glance

Ain't one that don't wanna dance

Bunch of cowboys sayin’, ‘Please don't take the girl’”

Tim McGraw takes the helm for this verse, with the Louisiana country legend paying homage to his home-state, before mirroring Posty's admissions about having a plethora of destructive traits. Armed with his trusty six-pack of beers and a farmer's tan, McGraw portrays himself as being irresistible to the women he meets in the bar.

He concludes with a brilliant self-referential line, teasing that all the boyfriends will be begging him, ‘Please don't take the girl’ - a tip of the cap to his 1994 hit, ‘Don't Take The Girl’.

Post Malone and Tim McGraw haven't spoken at length about ‘Wrong Ones’ just yet, but both artists have been expressing their excitement in the lead-up to its release.

When Posty shared the original teaser across his socials alongside a video of him shooting clay pigeons, Tim McGraw commented, “I’ve shot a few clays in my day @postmalone….”

“A lift kit on a limousine

I got ten problems down in Tennessee

And I ain't got the time to fix ‘em all

Skipped breakfast at Tiffany's

For a little sermon with Bethany

Now I'm sitting at a bar on the 17th, and I'm gone

-

With them cold ones comin’ and that smoke fillin’ up my lungs

I got ‘Fuck You’ money

Girl, come on and get you some

And it's hard to walk a straight line when they curvin' up them jeans

I'm just lookin' for the right one

But them wrong ones keep lookin' at me

-

Straight outta Louisiana

I'm a bad boy, real good man

Got a six-pack and a farmer's tan, on top of the world

I can't help that they want a glance

Ain't one that don't wanna dance

Bunch of cowboys sayin’, ‘Please don't take the girl’

-

Keep them cold ones comin’ and that smoke fillin’ up my lungs

I got country money

Honey, come and get you some

And it's hard to walk a straight line, the way they curvin' up them jeans

I'm just lookin' for the right one

But them wrong ones keep lookin' at me”

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