"Don't Tell Me How to Live" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

released on November 18, 2021, through Top Dog Records as the lead single from his twelfth studio album, '' Bad Reputation'' (2022). It samples the song of the same name by Monster Truck, who are credited as a featured artist.

Background

Kid Rock recorded the song with Monster Truck in late 2019, it started after he ranted about

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at his

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

bar. He teased the chorus and the first verse in various

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

live streams, and shared a snippet on January 17, 2021 on his birthday, Before he played the song at the party he stated that he was "sick of the snowflakes going after people for no reason". In the third verse he makes references to Rev Run,

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

, Willie Nelson, and

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

comparing himself to them (personality wise).

Music video

The video starts out with Kid Rock standing in front of a TV display showing news reports of himself regarding his controversial statements towards

Joy Behar Josephine Victoria "Joy" Behar (; née Occhiuto) is an American comedian, television host, actress, and writer. She co-hosts the ABC daytime talk show '' The View'', where she is the only original panelist still regularly appearing. She hosted ...

, and Al Sharpton along with the time when he called people filming his performance at a private party in Tennessee "faggots". He then is seen outside his Tennessee Double Wide with his cars and motorcycles while Monster Truck is standing. During the turntable/guitar solo, Kid Rock is seen flying on a middle finger statue called the "Kid Rocket". The video uses a noticeably large number of green screen effects.

Reception

Upon the release of the single, it was met with negative reception, with criticism directed toward its lyrics, message, and music video. Some critics have referred to the single as a parody song by

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

. After receiving tweets praising him for the supposed parody, Weird Al then tweeted back confirming that he had no involvement.

References

{{Kid Rock Kid Rock songs 2021 songs Rap rock songs 2021 singles Songs written by Kid Rock