Lainey Wilson is now included among a list of who’s who in Nashville, but it wasn’t long ago that she was a refreshing new face in the country scene. In 2023, she has a healthy host of hits to her name, but prior to garnering fame, Wilson shared a number of releases that didn’t get the same attention as “Heart Like a Truck” or “Watermelon Moonshine.” Find five of those lesser-known gems below.
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[RELATED: Top 10 Lainey Wilson Songs]
1. “Sunday Best”
In “Sunday Best,” Wilson makes the trek to church only to skip the service entirely. She’s too distracted by her broken heart to listen to sermons or sing hymns. Too hungover to go inside / So, I hung my head and drove on by, she sings in a dejected tone. To add insult to injury, Wilson later reveals that the heartbreaker in question is the preacher’s son. Small-town drama doesn’t get juicier than that.
And I don’t feel like Hallelujah
With this aching in my chest
So here I sit out on some backroad paper sack and Marlboro Reds
Drinking in my Sunday best
2. “Keeping Bars in Business”
As one could probably guess from the title, “Keeping Bars in Business” is a good ole’ fashioned drinking song. Wilson dubs the neon-filtered dives on the edge of town the arena of heartbreak, celebration, love, and hate. Like many country singers before (and after) her, Wilson heralds the merits of both drinking away your sorrows and raising a glass to the good times.
Someone’s cryin’, someone’s kissin’
Someone’s smilin’, someone’s bitchin’
Someone’s celebratin’
While someone’s heart is breakin’
If you’re on cloud nine or you’ve been knocked down
There’s a neon light on the edge of town
3. “Bright Side”
“Bright Side” sees Wilson gassing up her getaway car after a nasty breakup. She gives advice to those going through heartbreak while seemingly trying to convince herself of the same message. Hey, girl, you got out without a scratch / You coulda been facedown with a knife in your back…So keep drivin’, keep ridin’, she sings.
Look on the bright side, you got out of it
You came in too hot but don’t you worry ’bout it
You got hurt from it, but you learn from it
Don’t stop ’til you hit the sunrise
Look on the bright side
4. “One Night Stand”
Wilson regrets the night before in “One Night Stand.” While the title can be interpreted at face value, Wilson also makes a clever play on words in the track. I locked all my regret in a drawer beside his bed / In that one nightstand, she sings in the chorus.
By the time I made it home, looked in the mirror and it was gone
All of those pearls my mama passed down
So I shook my purse out on the floor
Retraced my steps from the night before
And it hit me right where it had to be
5. “Pipe”
Wilson deals out a handful of Southern advice in “Pipe.” A Louisiana girl through and through, Wilson plays on the familiar adages that get passed around down South: fixing anything and everything with duct tape, tips on driving stick, and owning your drawl.
Use a little duct tape if you done broke it
When it don’t start, you might have to choke it
If it gets too tall, you can just mow it
Ain’t tall enough, sit back and grow it
And if you gotta drawl, you best just own it
So put a little “y’all” in your pipe and smoke it
(Photo by Josh Brasted/FilmMagic)
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