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Morgan Wallen Admits He Prefers ‘Moodier’ Songs

Morgan Wallen has been selling out stadiums all over the country in the last year. He just completed a set of stadium shows out West with dates in California, including…

Morgan Wallen Admits He Leans To 'Moodier' Songs
Matt Winkelmyer/Getty Images

Morgan Wallen has been selling out stadiums all over the country in the last year. He just completed a set of stadium shows out West with dates in California, including sold-out nights in San Diego and Los Angeles.

Morgan posted a video clip of the run on Instagram, writing, "West side of the country felt like home for bout 2 weeks. Thank y'all for that."

I chatted with Wallen before the extensive tour. He noted when it comes to writing songs like "Last Night" and "Everything I Love," he leans toward sadder songs. He said, "For me, I've always gravitated to the more personal, moodier type of songs, I think. I've just always been that way; it comes more naturally to me. I have to purposely write a song that's uptempo and party-like. I think a lot of people are that way. But I enjoy those songs too. I enjoy both sides and aspects of each, but I am personally more gravitated to a sad song."

Morgan added that he does need those party songs, though. He said, "I like both. I think it's good for me to have that balance, especially for me as a performer; I'm not gonna get up there and be sappy all the time."

While Wallen admits that he had some setbacks and challenges in his career, he feels he has a good handle on music stardom. He told me, "As far as the actual music in my career, I feel very in control creatively and very comfortable with what I'm doing. With my fans, I feel like they understand me. I don't have to do anything different than what I would normally do. I feel very relaxed in that sense. I don't have to wear many hats. I just have one hat that I wear, and they get that."

He notes he was never taught to be famous, saying, "Some of the things that come along with success and with fame is different. I wasn't raised up to understand how to handle it. My mom didn't cultivate me to be famous, I'm still figuring it out, but most of the time, I feel I've got my hands on the reigns pretty good."

As Morgan Wallen celebrates his 30th birthday today (5/13), he just shared with his fans that he has re-scheduled 10 out of the 16 tour dates that he postponed early this week. Morgan posted the news on his Instagram to the delight of his bid fan base.

While he wasn't in attendance at the ACM Awards earlier this week (5/11), Wallen did win the Male Artist of the Year honor given out by ACM co-host Garth Brooks.

Earlier this year, in March, Morgan revealed he is single. He said in a recent interview, "I had a girlfriend for a while. Not recently. That was the last one I had. I don't have anybody right now. It's kind of hard. Just how busy I've been. I got a son; an album, a tour; I've got all these things I do."

He added, "It's really hard for me to make time for that. I want to, though. I think I'm coming up on my 'settle down phase.' We'll see. I'm not in a hurry."

As Walen celebrates his big day working on improving his voice during his doctor-mandated vocal rest, we pause to look at 13 of his best songs.

13. "The Way I Talk" (2016)

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His very first single. A memorable lyric to the song, "Man, it ain't my fault, I just live the way I talk."


12. "Chasin' You" (2019)

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"Chasin' You" became Wallen's third consecutive Number One hit on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. The "Chasin' You (Dream Video)" was filmed in black and white and showed Wallen driving around Nashville, Tennessee, in a convertible.


11. "Wasted on You" (2022)

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This song made history as it debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts for the week ending January 23, 2021, along with the album tracks "Somebody's Problem," "Warning," and "Sand in My Boots" and the singles "7 Summers" and "More Than My Hometown." In doing so, Wallen became the first artist ever to chart six songs within the top 10 of Hot Country Songs at the same time.


10. "This Bar" (2019)

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Morgan said, "Wrote this song with my buddies about some moments and times in my life that have made me who I am today. Some good, some bad, but all of them I can look back on and grin a little."


9. "Somebody's Problem" (2020)

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This song's narrative is all about a budding new relationship; one ends and another begins. In the lyrics, Wallen thinks how a woman who is too good to be true could have slipped through an ex's fingers and guessed she is somebody else’s problem.


8. "Don't Think Jesus" (2022)

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Morgan said that even though he didn't write this song, it brought him to tears upon first hearing it, and he said it is of his most personal songs.


7. "Still Goin' Down" (2020)

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Wallen described the song as all about growing up in the country; it truly is a love song to the town that raised him. The song is an anthem that pays tribute to all the small-town Friday nights and beer drinking around the bonfire.


6. "Up Down" (featuring Florida Georgia Line) (2017)

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A fun party song with Florida Georgia Line. The video features Wallen and both members of Florida Georgia Line partying on a beach and in concert.


5. "More Than My Hometown" (2020)

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An ode to his hometown, the photograph used as the cover image for the single, was taken looking southbound on Tennessee Highway 70 just north of Kyles Ford, Tennessee. One of the towns listed on the highway sign in the photo, Sneedville, is Morgan’s actual hometown.


4. "Whiskey Glasses" (2018)

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A big hit for Wallen, this song reached number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart dated June 8, 2019, after topping the Hot Country Songs chart. The song was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA in May of 2020.


3. "Flower Shops" (Ernest featuring Morgan Wallen) (2021)

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This touching ballad's chorus sings, "Mister, I'll take your roses / If you cut off the thorns, she can't take no more / I'll buy violets and daisies to hide all the crazy, it's gonna take all you've got / Aw, it's a bad day for love, but a good day for flower shops."


2. "7 Summers" (2020)

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This story song was the perfect vibe for the time. When this smash was released, the song broke the single-day Apple Music streaming record for a country song and debuted at number six on the Billboard Hot 100.


1. "Sand in My Boots" (2021)

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This touching song is a nostalgic ballad about lost love, describes a worn-out cowboy, weathering lost love and fading memories of drinking with that girl who could've been the one. It became Wallen's fifth number one song in February of 2022.

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.