Music can serve many noble purposes - enjoyment, therapy, and escapism, for instance. Sometimes, however, artists have used their songs to throw shade at other artists, either obliquely or blatantly. As you are probably aware, feuds between singers can get pretty intense, even when they are not based on anything too serious. Performing a song about a tiff or an unintended slight can clear the air or muddy the snark-infested waters. We selected some examples of times when country songs became cudgels.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Lana Del Rey Shaded Morgan Wallen In "57.5"
It seems like Del Rey and the wildly popular and successful "I'm the Problem" singer allegedly shared a smooch at some point. Precisely when is unclear. She put his supposed reaction into a song titled "57.5," which reportedly refers to how many Spotify listeners Del Rey had when the track was crafted. Per People, she unveiled the song in late April at the Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California this year. There is a lyric in it that states, "I kissed Morgan Wallen / I guess kissing me kind of went to his head...." Plenty of people would love to kiss Wallen. I guess Del Rey was seemingly not one of them.
Morgan Wallen Threw Shade At Awards Shows Or Maybe His Fellow Country Music Artists In "I'm A Little Crazy"
Wallen's newest album, I'm the Problem, was a monster hit right out of the gate. His fans just can't get enough of this guy. Everything he does is successful on a huge scale. A track on the album, "I'm a Little Crazy," has a line which is making folks scratch their heads trying to decode it. It reads, "I'm a coyote in a field of wolves." Web site 1079rgvfm.com speculates that Wallen is shading awards shows. Per the outlet, he said, "That's my favorite line. At times in my life, I haven't felt like I was invited. And to me, that's what that line says—it's like, 'Hey, I know I wasn't invited, but I'm still eatin' and I'm still fed."
You may recall that Wallen was a conspicuous no-show at the 2024 CMA Awards when he won Entertainer of the Year. Or maybe he feels like a misfit or outlier among his fellow country singers. It's anyone's guess.
Eric Church Shaded Garth Brooks When He Sang "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way"
Church performed this 1975 Waylon Jennings song in concert on November 16, 2019. The tune decries the crass slickness of some country music. It also pays tribute to one of its most iconic and beloved figures, Hank Williams Sr. But Church also used it to snipe at Garth Brooks. He landed Entertainer of the Year honors a few days prior at the CMA Awards. Church was among the contenders Brooks edged out. Per Taste Of Country, "In the final verse of the song — 'Singing my songs, and one of his now and then / But I don't think Hank done 'em this way, no / I don't think Hank done 'em this way' — Church changed the words to 'And I know Garth didn't do it this way....'"
Kelsea Ballerini Shaded Morgan Evans With "Blindsided"
In 2023, when Kelsea Ballerini was a guest performer on Saturday Night Live, she seemed to toss some scorching shade towards her ex hubby, singer / songwriter Morgan Evans. Per Us Weekly, she apparently altered some of the lyrics to a song she co-wrote, "Blindsided (Yeah, Sure, Okay)." According to the outlet, she sang, "Now you're singing out loud on the radio. But you're the only heart that breaks. You would've searched the whole world over. Yeah, sure. OK."
