Morgan Wallen is closing out 2024 with a surprise song drop.
He shared his new song, “Smile,” on New Year’s Eve (Tuesday, Dec. 31). It’s a stripped-back, mournful ballad about the lonely reality that’s going on in a couple’s life just outside the frame of a seemingly happy photograph.
Romantic loneliness is a theme over Wallen’s previous 2024 releases, like “Lies Lies Lies” and “Love Somebody,” and this song just might be his darkest yet. That’s partially due to the song’s music video, which seems to be a riff on his real-life superstardom.
Set at a fictional late-night talk show where Wallen is playing a New Year’s Eve special, the clip shows him in his dressing room. He casts glances at a woman sitting in a chair across the room, but doesn’t say anything to her before leaving the room and heading to the stage.
Stepping into the spotlight, Wallen looks at a teleprompter, which flashes the first lines of “Love Somebody” — the hit song he’s apparently supposed to be singing.
But instead, he goes rogue with a left-turn performance of “Smile,” crew and stage managers panicking behind the scenes as Wallen goes off-script. Meanwhile, the woman from the dressing room sidles out into the crowd to watch Wallen’s performance and he locks eyes with her.
After he finishes the song to rousing applause, the crowd goes wild with a New Year’s countdown, and confetti flies around the studio as the clock strikes midnight. But Wallen’s not there to celebrate: He’s back in his dressing room, and the woman is nowhere to be found. He sinks down in his chair and rings in the New Year alone.
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Fans could be forgiven for reading Wallen’s personal life into his new song. Not only does its music video seem to take inspiration from the pressure and loneliness of fame, but Wallen has talked a little bit about the ups and downs of his life in the spotlight in recent weeks.
In a social media video that he released to mark the end of his successful 2024, the singer thanked fans for their support of his massive One Night at a Time Tour, but also admitted that he’s struggled over the course of his decade-long career in music, saying he “doubted myself” and “doubted God’s plan” at points during that time.
Wallen’s wildly successful country career has been marked by its fair share of controversy. Most recently, he pled guilty to two counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment in Nashville in mid-December, in connection with a chair-throwing incident on the rooftop of Eric Church‘s Lower Broadway bar that took place in April.
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His plea deal allowed him to avoid further jail time after his initial arrest, but he was ordered to spend seven days in an alcohol education center and will serve about two years’ probation.
Wallen spent some time out of the spotlight at the end of this year, skipping the CMA Awards, where he won Entertainer of the Year. He did release a video message exclusively to fans who purchased tickets to his tour, letting them know that he was “taking a little bit of time for myself” but still “working,” and promising to see them in 2025.
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Fans have already gotten to hear some of the new material that the singer’s got in the works. In addition to releasing “Smile,” he also ended the year by teasing a freshly-written song on social media. This one appears to be another song about a relationship gone south, but unlike in some of Wallen’s other recent heartbreak material, he’s happy to bid goodbye to the relationship.
Wallen co-wrote “Smile” with Ernest, Rocky Block, John Byron, Ryan Vojtesak and Luis Witikiewitz.
Morgan Wallen, “Smile” Lyrics:
I can’t remember the last time / You looked as happy as you did tonight / Your tipsy friend grabbed that bartender / Gave him her phone and pulled us over there with her
He counted to three / And baby I haven’t seen that side of you in forever / And I hate it’s the truth / But baby you never do when we’re alone together
Chorus:
It was good to see you smile / Girl, you know it’s been a while / It was good to see you smile / Even if it was just for the picture
They say a picture’s worth a thousand words / But you ain’t said one since you woke up / Silly me thinkin’ we could make it work / Can you blame me for getting my hopes up?
You know it took me right back / To how it used to be / Baby, seeing us like that / Is still a little bittersweet
Repeat Chorus
If someone were to see this they’d think everything’s alright / At least we got a pretty little moment frozen in time
Repeat Chorus