How A Track Inspired By Koe Wetzel Became A Highlight On Parker McCollum’s New Album

Parker McCollum’s new self-titled album closes with a song that’s become one of his personal favorites, but he revealed it almost ended up in someone else’s hands. 

When he first started writing “My Worst Enemy,” McCollum had fellow Texan Koe Wetzel in mind, drawing inspiration from what Wetzel was going through at the time. Fortunately for McCollum, his fellow Texan passed on the chance to cut it and now the track holds a standout spot on the just-released album.

“I was writing it and then Wade Bowen was coming over to my house and I just sat down and I started writing it. I was like, ‘man, I feel like just thinking about Koe and everything he was going through at the time and some of the music he was putting out.’ And so I was kind of writing it with him in mind,” McCollum explained to Audacy’s Katie Neal.

McCollum originally pitched the track to his fellow artist who inspired the deep storyline, but he quickly had second thoughts. “I really wish I wouldn’t have done that,” he admitted, after realizing he wanted to cut the song himself.

He also offered Wetzel the chance to be a featured artist on the track, which he once agin declined.

“Luckily, he didn’t cut it, and then I asked him to sing on it with me, and he didn’t want to do that,” McCollum added. “And so I was like, alright, I’m going to cut it on this record. And it turned out to be one of my favorite songs on the record. I just love it so much. So I’m really glad he didn’t like it.”

The song is as raw as it gets, offering an exploration of self-doubt, internal battles, and loneliness. The moody melody mixed with pain-soaked lyrics paints a vivid picture of someone haunted by a toxic relationship with themselves and feeling trapped in a cycle they can’t escape the voice inside.

“Mirror, mirror could it be any clearer?/ Is there someone that I’m supposed to see?/ Ride or die, been this way my whole life/ Guess it’s all that I’m ever gonna be/ My worst enemy,” McCollum sings through his gritty vocals on the chorus.

In another conversation with Country Now and other outlets, the “What Kinda Man” singer opened up about this decision to place “My Worst Enemy” as the very last track of his self-titled collection.

“It felt real final. It felt like a great goodbye,” he explained. “It wasn’t really the last song on the record or hadn’t even talked about anything like that. And we were all kind in the studio looking at each other doing a live fade out and everybody’s kind of playing down and all of a sudden just that big outro, everybody just knew. I feel like you ride off into the sunset on that outro and we were sitting back listening to it. I was like, man, ‘That’s got to be the last song on the record.’”

“My Worst Enemy” perfectly fits into themes of authenticity and rawness that curses throughout the 14-track project. These songs give fans a deeper look into who Parker McCollum is and allows him to step expectations of others. As a result, he has embraced a sound that’s entirely his own.