"Wait in the Truck" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, Sout ...

featuring American country music singer

Lainey Wilson Lainey Denay Wilson (born May 19, 1992) is an American country music singer–songwriter and actress. Wilson performed from an early age, before going to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career as a country performer. In 2014, she released her f ...

. It was released on August 29, 2022, as the lead single from Hardy's second studio album '' The Mockingbird & the Crow''. The song is a

murder ballad Murder ballads are a subgenre of the traditional ballad form dealing with a crime or a gruesome death. Their lyrics form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath. The term refers to the content ...

about a male protagonist killing an abuser.

Background and content

The idea for the song came from a conversation between two of its songwriters,

and Hunter Phelps. When discussing what they would do if their fiancées were attacked, Hardy mentioned he would direct the attacker towards himself and then tell his fiancée to "wait in the truck". The pair then realized that "wait in the truck" was a good song title. In March 2021, they worked up the song at

Jordan Schmidt Jordan Schmidt (born February 26, 1988) is a Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum songwriter and music producer. He has co-written, engineered or produced songs for Kane Brown, Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, blackbear, Dan + Shay, Ke ...

's home studio, taking inspiration from the song "

Ol' Red "Ol' Red" is a song written by James "Bo" Bohon, Don Goodman, and Mark Sherrill. The song was originally recorded by George Jones on his 1990 album '' You Oughta Be Here with Me'' and covered by Kenny Rogers on his 1993 album ''If Only My Heart Ha ...

". They recorded a demo that night, with Schmidt adding an artificial siren to the end of the third verse, and his fiancée, singer-songwriter Renee Blair, providing the female vocals and adding a

vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

of the phrase "have mercy". Producer

Joey Moi Joey Moi is a Canadian record producer, audio engineer, mixer, songwriter, and musician. He is known for his work with the rock groups Nickelback and My Darkest Days, and country music acts Chris Lane, Dallas Smith, Florida Georgia Line, Jake Ow ...

would later rerecord the primary instrumentation and add a gospel choir for the closing vamp. Wilson cited

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

' "

The Thunder Rolls "The Thunder Rolls" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released in April 1991 as the fourth and final single from his album ''No Fences''. The song became his sixth number one on the country cha ...

" and

The Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

' "

Goodbye Earl "Goodbye Earl", written by Dennis Linde, is a country music song. Initially recorded by the band Sons of the Desert for an unreleased album in the late 1990s, the song gained fame when it was recorded by Dixie Chicks on their fifth studio album, '' ...

" as inspiration for her performance, and said she hoped the song "brings light to a situation that is more common than we’d like to admit" and "haunts"

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...

rs. The song depicts a man who, upon finding a battered woman on the side of the road, confronts her abuser in his trailer, shooting him when he reaches for his shotgun, killing the abuser. The song ends with the man in prison, 60 months into a sentence.

Music video

A music video was released with the song, directed by Justin Clough and produced by Taylor Vermillion and Ben Skipworth. The video follows the song, depicting a character played by Hardy killing the abuser of a character played by Wilson, as well as scenes of Wilson's character testifying in court and visiting Hardy in prison. The video was described as "Video of the Year-worthy" by Madeleine O'Connell, writing for Country Now. The music video won Collaborative Music Video of the Year at the

2023 CMT Music Awards The 2023 CMT Music Awards, the 57th edition of the awards ceremony, will be held in Austin, Texas, on April 2, 2023, at the Moody Center. The ceremony will be hosted by Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown for third and fourth year respectively, and w ...

, and was nominated for Video of the Year.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{CMA Video of the Year 2022 songs 2022 singles Hardy (singer) songs Lainey Wilson songs Songs written by Hardy (singer) Songs written by Jordan Schmidt Song recordings produced by Joey Moi Big Loud singles Murder ballads Male–female vocal duets Songs about domestic violence