No one could have predicted the strange order
of events that transpired in 2019 leading
to the explosive success of the country-trap
hit "Old Town Road" and its then 20 year old
mastermind, Montero Lamar Hill, better known
as Lil Nas X.
What appeared to be a trite number ended up
rewriting pop music and cultural history,
as well as setting records — including the
all-important tally of consecutive weeks at
Number 1 on the Billboard Top 100, lasting
19 weeks before being dethroned by Billie
Eilish.
But the apparent simplicity of the lyrics
holds a deeper meaning.
According to Time, Hill wrote the song while
staying at his sister's house after dropping
out of college, a move that his parents weren't
too pumped about.
He told the publication,
"'Old Town Road' came after a period of feeling
like I was out of options.
I was living with my sister.
She was pretty much fed up with me being there.
That's where the chorus lyric came from.
It was me saying, 'I want to leave everything
behind.'"
Until then, the life Lil Nas X was so desperate
to leave was focused more on praising other
celebrities than manifesting his own, according
to The Oprah Magazine.
At the time, he ran multiple Twitter accounts
honoring his favorite rappers — Nas and
Nicki Minaj — and the outlet helped the
young man find his own voice.
In a way, his Twitter threads were his first,
well, "horses in the back."
As Lil Nas X explained to Genius:
"It's basically, 'I got this.
I have these little things right here, and
I'm getting them ready to go.'"
Despite having caught the ire of most of his
immediate family, Lil Nas X refused to deviate
from his creative mission, spurred onward
with newfound confidence.
In his words, the verse about having, quote,
"been in the valley" is an acknowledgement
that others in the industry started out with
more resources, but the trials he faced would
forge his road to success.
At the time of "Old Town Road's" recording,
Lil Nas X's desire to pursue an entertainment
career over college had led to, in his words,
a "practically nonexistent" relationship with
his mother, adding to an already stressful
situation of facing post-dropout career prospects.
He ended up taking a jab at his parents, who
doubted his chances and wanted him to return
to school, when he wrote the lyric:
"Can't nobody tell me nothing."
Elaborating on this remark to The New York
Times, Lil Nas X described feeling like, quote,
"a loner cowboy," desperate to saddle up his
horse to the proverbial Old Town Road and
run away.
"Old Town Road is like this path of success,
and you know, I'm gonna continue on this."
In the first verse, he's ready to begin his
journey.
The second verse is his envisioned success,
with a few tongue-in-cheek references to a
more "Hollywood" lifestyle.
He sips lean beneath an imagined Gucci cowboy
hat while ghost riding his gleaming John Deere
tractor.
His nights are filled with unabashed infidelity,
a blur of bull riding and boobies — an image
he conjured after watching Dallas Buyers Club,
according to Genius.
From there, Billy Ray Cyrus takes the glitzy
imagery further, and Nas tells Genius that
this verse represents the realization that
he's made it, with Cyrus providing the lyrical
affirmation.
He's at a point where his success is, in his
words, "limitless."
With no more stress, there's nothing left
to do but kick back like the Marlboro Man
and keep on riding in his brand new sports
car.
Deeper meaning and all, one could argue that
"Old Town Road's" lyrics aren't exactly poetry.
But the meaning that comes with an openly
gay young black male crossing over from rap
into country with the most successful song
of all time?
That's about as as poetic as it gets.
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