RaeLynn’s New Song Proves a ‘Tailgate’ Isn’t Just for Men [Listen]
RaeLynn is turning a country music staple on its ear in her new song, "Tailgate."
Critics have derided the proliferation of tailgate songs in country music as "bro-country," but this fun, catchy new song proves country women like to have a little fun in a pickup truck, too — just as long as it doesn't get spread around town.
"But if that tailgate ever tells, I'd be the small talk of the town / I'm sure I'd catch all kinds of hell for every time we've laid it down / In the back of the race red F-150 / We get to kissin', we get to slippin' off clothes / And nobody knows / And only will if that tailgate ever tells," she sings in the chorus.
RaeLynn wrote the song with Corey Crowder, Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard and Canaan Smith, and Crowder and Hubbard co-produced it. The lyrics tell a relatively innocent story of two teenagers in love, doing "dumb things you do when you're 17," and reflecting, "Mama don't need to know everything."
The instantly-singable track blends contemporary country and hip-hop elements with a chorus that is memorable.
“The day we wrote ‘Tailgate’ I told Canaan, Corey and Tyler that if the song doesn’t make me want to dance then I don’t want to cut it," RaeLynn says.
The new song follows on the heels of "Queens Don't," a female empowerment song RaeLynn released in March. They are the first new songs she has dropped since March of 2017, when she released her debut album, WildHorse. That project spawned two singles, "Love Triangle" and "Lonely Call."
Did You Know? RaeLynn's first truck really was a Ford F-150, and she still drives it to this day.
RaeLynn's "Tailgate" Lyrics:
We were a couple kids in a pickup fooling around / We learned how to keep it so nobody found out / Mama don't need to know everything / Some things you keep to yourself / Like dumb things you do when you're 17, on the DL
Chorus:
But if that tailgate ever tells, I'd be the small talk of the town / I'm sure I'd catch all kinds of hell for every time we've laid it down / In the back of the race red F-150 / We get to kissin', we get to slippin' off clothes / And nobody knows / And only will if that tailgate ever tells
Tailgate, don't tell on me, don't tell on me / If that tailgate ever tells
You, me, we had bare feet hanging off the edge / Two drinks, then we'd lay it on back in the bed / Mama don't need to know everything / Some things you keep to yourself / We knew that's all that we'd ever be, on the DL
Repeat Chorus
Tailgate, don't tell on me, don't tell on me / If that tailgate ever tells
What happens on a dirt road stays on a dirt road out here / What we're doin' in the dark when we're underneath the stars is our own business
Repeat Chorus