What does the lyrics of song X by Lil Nas mean
Lil Nas X's song 'Old Town Road' was on everyone's lips in 2019, but it's not just about horses. This is what the letter really means.
Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" is the anthem of 2019, but while everyone can hum the lyrics, what do they really mean? Lil Nas X's self-styled country rap anthem was released in late 2018 and gained popularity on the TikTok app, where it became the inspiration for the Yeehaw Challenge meme. A remix of 'Old Town Road' featuring country singer Billie Ray Cyrus was released in April 2019 and the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and stayed there for a record 19 weeks.
The song was on everyone's lips in the summer of 2019 and so there was a lot of discussion about the meaning of the lyrics of 'Old Town Road', and Lil Nas X had a little fun with it. In June 2019, he trolled on Twitter joking that 'Old Town Road' was a song about climate change. Later—after he came out during Pride Month and fans suggested the song must have some hidden homoerotic meaning—Lil Nas X shut them down by tweeting, "Old Town Road is literally about horses."
However, "Old Town Road" is not just about horses. In an interview with songwriting website Genius, Lil Nas X explained that the titular highway represents the road to success, and that the horse he rides suggests that while he didn't have much going on in his life at the time, he had the talent and the determination to succeed. Consequently, the phrase "You can whip your Porsche" suggests that he doesn't need the wealth and trappings often found in hip-hop to succeed.
Some fans of "Old Town Road" have interpreted the lyrics of the chorus (Can't nobody tell me nothin', You can't tell me nothin') as an homage to the similarly titled Kanye West song, but it's actually a message to people who didn't think they could make it in the music industry. It's Little Nas X's way of saying that, despite the naysayers, he's still trying his luck.
In the second verse of 'Old Town Road', Lil Nas X imagines what fame is. He's gone from horse to tractor, wears designer clothes like a "Gucci cowboy hat," but also adulters and uses drugs, suggesting the excesses of fame aren't that great. So while the lyrics to "Old Town Road" are about horses, on a deeper level they're also about the pitfalls of fame and the determination to pursue one's goals in the face of adversity.