What is the Meaning of Old Town Road By Lil Nas X feat Billy Ray Cyrus

One day I was scrolling through the BillBoard top 100 and came across this song. At first, I thought it was a misprint.

How on earth could Billy Ray Cyrus, someone that faded from the spotlight a long long long time ago and is best known for making Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana, be on the top of a modern day billboard for music?

When I went to youtube to search for this song to listen to it, I thought it was still either a joke or fake because the song length is the shortest i’ve seen in awhile, just around or over 2 minutes depending on what version you play.

It makes you wonder if they really thought this song would take off or if they were sitting around drinking and making stuff up for fun without thinking much of it.

We can thank the sweet beat and melody for it’s success because it probably wouldn’t have mattered what the lyrics were, this song would be catchy regardless. It just so happens we have a country song produced to a modern day hip hop beat which is becoming more and more of a thing lately.

We can only bet that Miley Cyrus is a bit jealous with her dad stealing the spotlight again, but let’s jump into some lyrics here.

Before we start analyzing the different sections, the overall tone of this song screams “I don’t give a fuck, I’m rich bitch, but I can live simply”.

So the song starts off here:

Yeah, I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road
I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more
I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road
I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more (Kio, Kio)

As stated above, this is about being free. Horseback riding is a peaceful outdoor activity that usually gets you out of the city and into the countryside which is a representation of peace and worry free time.

I got the horses in the back
Horse tack is attached
Hat is matte black
Got the boots that’s black to match
Ridin’ on a horse, ha
You can whip your Porsche
I been in the valley
You ain’t been up off the porch, now

Again referencing busy life and money by talking about Porsches, this guy does not give a flying fuck he’s out riding his horse and relaxing. He’s put more thought into his outfit and riding than anything else.

Can’t nobody tell me nothin’
You can’t tell me nothin’
Can’t nobody tell me nothin’
You can’t tell me nothin’

Ever heard the annoying phrase, “You do you and I’ll do the same” or “You do you and I’ll do me”

Well, this is exactly what he’s doing here.

Ridin’ on a tractor
Lean all in my bladder
Cheated on my baby
You can go and ask her
My life is a movie
Bull ridin’ and boobies
Cowboy hat from Gucci
Wrangler on my booty

In this verse we finally get a little bit of insight as to what he was going through by the line cheated on my baby you can go and ask her.

That typically would mean that she’s telling everyone. So he could have made a mistake and everyone’s talking about it, instead of dealing with the shit, he’s decided to throw up the middle finger and leave everyone behind to go have a peaceful time in the country.

Wanting to get away from drama and everyone’s bullshit is a feeling a lot of us can relate to.

Again referencing his outfit, he’s clearly putting more thought into what he’s going to be wearing rather than what other people think of him.

Can’t nobody tell me nothin’
You can’t tell me nothin’
Can’t nobody tell me nothin’
You can’t tell me nothin’

Same as above.

Yeah, I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road
I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more
I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road
I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more
I got the

He’s going to just keep riding until he can’t ride no more, meaning he’ll stay out here as long as he can until everything blows over or maybe for good.

In summary, I am not sure if this relates to a specific event in either of these artists lives, that would be something worth looking into, however, the song appears to be about the catastrophic environment created from cheating on a woman and to handle the situation by basically not caring what others think and doing your own thing away from all of the drama.

It’s a pretty catch tune, you may have to listen to it a few times though.