Megan Moroney Shares A Track-By-Track Guide To Her Debut Album, ‘LUCKY’

Since moving to Nashville, TN, Megan Moroney’s determination and impeccable talent have put her music in front of countless country fans. Within this time, she’s earned her first set of wins and nominations, released songs that quickly became fan favorites, and in the background of it all, she’s also been building a full-length collection of songs that she’s finally ready to share with listeners. 

On May 5, Moroney unveiled her highly-anticipated debut album, LUCKY, via Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records.

The Georgia native starts the project off strong with a dose of lighthearted fun inspired by a true story in “I’m Not Pretty” before moving into the previously released title track and her clever take on self-reflection in “Girl in the Mirror.” Plus, the project wouldn’t be complete without her newly Platinum-certified viral smash, “Tennessee Orange” that’s earned a spot in the top 10 on Country radio. 

Within the remainder of the 13 tracks, Moroney cements her destiny for stardom as she showcases her ability to find a song in real-life experiences and fill it with her raw yet silky vocals. Produced by Kristian Bush, LUCKY gives an intimate look into all the love, loss, success and low points that Moroney has crossed paths with throughout her mid-twenties.

 “All these songs came from me writing about my life; I don’t ever put on a persona or try to be something I’m not,” Moroney explains in a press release. “I’m just a 25-year-old girl from Georgia who happens to be very in touch with her feelings, and knows how to turn them into songs.” 

Megan Moroney recently took the time to share more about each of the tracks off her new album. Keep reading to learn the stories behind the songs.

“I’m Not Pretty”

“So I kind of tell the story of ‘I’m Not Pretty’ in the song. It was 2am and one of my ex boyfriends new girlfriends, accidentally liked one of my photos from 2016 in Panama City. It’s still on my Instagram. You can go look for it. But yeah, I think I just took a situation that had happened and that I thought was like a little bit funny and I turned it into a song and it’s light hearted and not supposed to be too serious, but that’s a funny one.“

“Lucky”

“So ‘Lucky’ is the title track and I wrote that with Casey Smith, Ben Williams and Messy. I told Messy, our track guy, that I wanted a honky tonk song because I hadn’t had one. And I also had the title ‘you’re lucky I’m drinking,’ or the idea. And basically, the amount of times that, you know, if I was sober, I wouldn’t have responded. But the tequila starts tasting like, ‘he didn’t really treat me that bad.’ So I do respond. Yeah, that’s happened a lot of times. And so I knew I needed to put it in a song because I know other people can relate to that. So ‘Lucky’ is just a fun party song and it’s fun to dance to.“

“Tennessee Orange”

“’Tennessee Orange’ is my version of a love song. I’m a Georgia girl and I went to UGA and the song is about: I moved to Tennessee and you know that I’m willing to wear Tennessee Orange for someone and the song has really changed my life so it’s very special to me.“

“Kansas Anymore”

“So ‘Kansas Anymore.’ I actually thought of that idea when I was playing in the middle of nowhere at a casino in Kansas. I was just thinking about the Wizard of Oz. And I knew I had a write the next Monday with Rodney Clawson, Lori McKenna and Luke Laird. And so I was just thinking of like, ‘what are we going to write? What are we going to write?’ And I was thinking of the Wizard of Oz and how the whole thing is, we’re not in Kansas anymore. And then I was like, what if like Kansas was a metaphor for being in love, and then we hooked it to we’re not in Kansas anymore.“

“Girl In The Mirror”

“So ‘Girl In The Mirror’ is probably my most honest, most vulnerable song. I wrote it with Matt Jenkins and Jesse Joe Dylan, I’d actually met Matt Jenkins at a writer’s round. But I didn’t know Jesse Joe. And we got in the room and just started talking about our past relationships and what we were going through. And we actually talked for three hours, but we wrote the song in 30 or 45 minutes. But I think that song has the most important message on the whole record. And I played ‘Girl In The Mirror’ live for the first time. And, you know, sometimes when I play a song out a lot, it’s kind of muscle memory in my brain that I don’t, I’m not really thinking about the lyrics too much. And ‘Girl In The Mirror,’ obviously had to think about the words because I had never played it before. So I was like, really had to think about it. And it was just a moment where at the end of the cord, last chorus, I started to cry. And I think that was just kind of because it’s like, dang, I really wrote these lyrics and I’m really telling a room of people how I feel, and it was just very emotional.“

“Another On The Way”

“’Another On The Way’ is a song that I wrote with Casey Smith, Ben Williams and Messy, the same group that wrote ‘Lucky’ and we just were in the mood to write another tempo and we created this character Miss Daisy and Miss Daisy’s just kind of just giving me life advice at this bar and the bridge and that song is actually one of my favorite parts of the whole record.“

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“Traitor Joe“

“So ‘Traitor Joe’ is definitely a fun one. I came in with the idea. You’re a ‘Traitor Joe,’ because I naturally gravitate to the angry at men songs. But my co writer Ben Williams was like, why don’t we make it she’s a ‘Traitor Joe.’ And as soon as he, you know, made that switch, I immediately thought of like, ‘You Belong With Me’ by Taylor Swift. And we were just so excited to write it and yeah, that’s how that one came to be.“

“Why Johnny”

“So if I had to pick a favorite on the record, I would probably pick ‘Why Johnny.’ It’s, you know, a letter to June. And it’s kind of just like wanting to sit down with June and ask her. How did you know Johnny Cash was eventually going to be writing you love letters every day? And I think it took us like eight or nine hours to write, because we were just trying to get it perfect. And my fingers were actually bleeding by the time we got done with the song. So Connor Matthews brought in the idea ‘Why Johnny,’ but he was like, you know, ‘why Johnny did you have to set the bar so high?’ And I was like, ‘I’m down to write about Johnny and June. But I don’t know enough about the relationship to do that. So let’s dive in.’ And we were kind of looking at their relationship for like, an hour and a half on the internet. And we actually found out, I didn’t realize that they were married to two different people, and then that and Johnny Cash was an alcoholic. And they were just, you know, had to work through some things to get to where they got to. So I was it’s kind of just like a letter to June like, ‘how did you know that things were going to change’ and because everyone knows them as an iconic love story, which they eventually were but it didn’t happen overnight. So it’s a letter to June.“

“God Plays A Gibson”

“So I’ve always wanted to say that God is a Georgia Bulldogs fan. And so that’s what I-that’s where I put it, I put it in ‘God plays a Gibson.’ This one was actually the most frustrating to write because I could not decide on a bridge. I had changed the second verse and then I just couldn’t decide on a bridge and we ended up keeping the original bridge that I had written with Mackenzie Carpenter and Colin Neely. But yeah, this one’s special because I kind of just talk about not trying to complicate God and because that’s kind of how I like to look at things and, you know, talk to him. I feel closer to him when I’m talking to him like a friend rather than any other way.“

“Georgia Girl”

“Once again I’ve made Georgia my whole personality. But this one was cool because I wanted a song that kind of talked about where I’m from and where I grew up but it also has the bad bitch country in there because it’s a definitely a confident type of song. So, I love this one for that reason, and it also is another song where I plugged Georgia, so shout out to Georgia once again.“

“Sleep On My Side”

“’Sleep On My Side’ is the funniest song on the record. I think if you listen to it, I don’t have to do too much explaining but it’s basically about how me and this guy that I tried to date. We were just too different and it was never gonna work out. And my favorite part about that song is that my friend Alex is, she laughs at the end of it we’re like talking to each other. She was in the studio that day and I was like, come in here. Let’s let’s talk and laugh and we have her laugh in the end of that one.“

“Mustang Or Me”

“’Mustang or Me’ is another song about my personal life, surprise. I drive my high school car. It’s a 2010 Mustang. And I actually just wrecked it the other day and I don’t plan on getting it fixed. But I drive my Mustang and it’s basically about a breakup and going home. And I was really happy with how this one turned out because we made it the only piano song of the record so I’m excited for everyone to hear it.“

“Sad Songs For Sad People”

“So I wrote ‘Sad Songs For Sad People’ with Ian Christian and Jordan Fletcher. And they were kind of asking me what the record was missing. And I told them, ‘well, it doesn’t have a love song because I don’t write love songs. You know, sad songs make me comfortable. And that’s how we landed on this one because ‘Sad Songs For Sad People’ is a love song. And it was my favorite record in the studio because we got like the tracking in one take like once everybody had learned it, it just happened so quick and it was perfect. And it’s funny because it actually almost didn’t make the record. I almost gave it away because when we wrote it, I really liked the song but I was like, I said, ‘guys, no love songs. It doesn’t fit the brand.’ And yeah, I’m really glad that it ended up on the record because I think it really ties everything together and nothing like a love song on the last track.“