Wait in the truck

"But it is our job as artists to sing about things that people are [sometimes] scared to talk about. Domestic abuse is a fragile subject, but I hope this song brings light to a situation that is more common than we’d like to admit. For the abusers, I hope this song haunts them. For the victims, I hope they know they’re not alone." 

(Lainey Wilson / tennessean.com, August 26, 2022)

It has arrived for good - the official new single by  Hardy! And as expected it does not come from his first full-length studio album "The Rock", the release of which already dates back 2 years by now. But it also is not a rumored hard rock song, even though the almost 32-year old artist likes to flirt with the genre every now and then. Instead it is a dark murder-ballad titled 'wait in the truck' which follows current trends by presenting itself as another duet.

As the featured guest Hardy chose one of the most successful new female voices, Lainey Wilson, who not only takes over the voice of a battered victim of domestic violence in the song, but also plays the character in the video for the song. Produced by  Justin Clough, it depicts the events of that fateful night in June, which eventually led to a conviction for life.

Understandably, 5 years later they are still burnt into the protagonists' memory:

It’s been sixty months

And she still comes to to see me from time to time

It was worth the price

to see a brighter side of the girl I picked up that night

And I might be here forever

It ain’t paradise that’s true

But it’s a whole hell of a lot better

Than the place I sent him to

(wait in the truck / Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt, Renee Blair)

It's the unemotional recap of what happened after he had asked the badly bruised girl to wait in the truck. And after he did, what can never ever be reversed again.

I didn't try to hide my pistol
I didn't even try to run
I just sat on the porch, smoking one of his cigarettes
And waited for the cops to come.

 

With its stormlit night the video does remind one of the infamous one for "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks from 1990. Especially since both of them deal with the subject of domestic violence. But while the Garth Brooks video skillfully builds the arc of suspense by using hints of what's to come, Hardy never lets one doubt what and how it's going to happen. Yet, Garth Brooks faced a ban of his video (which admittedly helped its popularity), while the level of acceptance for depicting violence (at least in country music videos) has obviously been pushed much higher 30 years later.

"It's probably the best song I’ve ever written to be honest", Hardy states about the song he wrote together with Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt and Renee Blair. With its detailed lyrics the song easily serves as the very script for the video and as a single it places a rather sparsely used topic in the mainstream spotlight.

For murder and self-administered justice as a theme in commercial country music is not a new topic. For instance we find Reba McEntire singing about it ('The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia'), as well as The [Dixie] Chicks ('Goodbye Earl') and of course Carrie Underwoord, who seems to have a very successul liking for such tales ('Two Black Cadillacs', 'Church Bells').

What these songs all have in common however is a dramatic climax which typically builds up to the chorus. That is missing in 'wait in the truck', even though it feels consistent with a real life situation where these words most likely do get spoken out calm and assertive, just like in the chorus of the song.

In spite of the dramatic lyrics, that musical and production high point of the song goes missing. And since one barely learns anything about the background of the situation or the girl herself, the whole situation feels somehow cold-blooded and deadhearted. It makes it difficult to feel and sympathize. And it places the act of self-administered justice, which gives the easy runaround to a conviction, too much center stage. Hence it does not really offer an acceptable solution for the touchy subject of domestic violence, as it only puts a threat up and elevates the one taking the law in his own hands to hero-stage.

At the same time it seems Hardy just wants to initiate a conversation, when he says about the message of the song at countrynow.com: "I am excited for the song to give people a platform to maybe speak out about stuff that might be going on in their own homes." In that respect the song succeeds and becomes at least as important as other songs such as  'Fire Away' by Chris Stapleton, which is dedicated to the topic of mental health.

Whether this will be enough to make the song a commercial radio hit remains to be seen. Or in other words - up to the ever-growing fan bases of both of these upcoming artists. In any case it displays another interesting perspective of the ever so eloquent redneck poet Hardy.