“I Wrote the Book” by Morgan Wallen

Morgan Wallen took a risk in dropping “Dangerous: The Double Album”, a project whose standard edition consists of a whopping 30 tracks, in 2021. That venture paid off, as the LP went on to be both a critical and commercial success which firmly established him as a music star. And now he’s set to up the ante with the release of “One Thing at a Time”, which isn’t technically two discs but still boasts a 36 standard track playlist. Amongst the songs featured on that project is “I Wrote the Book”. This song was made public a month in advance of the LP on 31 January 2023.

CREDITS FOR “I WROTE THE BOOK”

This effort is backed by established industry titan Republic Records alongside indie label Big Loud Records. The latter label was founded by Joey Moi, an unwavering Wallen collaborator who also co-founded said company. It is Moi who produced “I Wrote the Book”. 

And whereas Wallen is obviously a proven songwriter, he’s also known to have the tendency to team up with others in that regard. For example, besides for Morgan another co-writer of this track is Hardy. This aforementioned co-writer is another Big Loud artist who is a proven country musician in his own right. 

Their authoring efforts were buttressed by Big Loud employee Cameron Montgomery. Cameron is a behind-the-scenes’ musician who has worked with the likes of Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. Most notably, up until this point, he is a regular collaborator of pop/country singer Ryan Follese.

WHAT BOOK DID MORGAN WALLEN WRITE?

For starters, the phrase ‘I wrote the book’ is actually a colloquial expression. What it points to is its utterer touting himself as an expert in a particular field(s). And in that regard, Morgan puts forth that he is masterful at:

• Boating
• Trucking
• Gathering wood
• Catching pigs
• Playing baseball, especially as far as pitching is concerned.

Or put more comprehensively, he’s along the lines of being a model country boy/man in terms of handling himself on his field.

WHAT BOOK DIDN’T MORGAN WALLEN WRITE?

But whereas this track may commence along the lines of outback braggadocio, the vocalist’s outlook humbles as it progresses. Or more specifically, Morgan also acknowledges there’s “one book (he) didn’t write”. That would be the most-important of all if you will, the Good Book, aka the Bible itself.

So his inability to master the “letters in red”, i.e. the teachings of Jesus, has resulted in the singer, as implied, living a less-than-ideal life from a moral perspective. That reality has manifested itself in some unfavorable consequences. One such consequence, as put forth in the third verse, is losing “a good girl” he was smitten with who was in fact on the straight and narrow.

Or as relayed conclusively, Morgan knows that he should be reading the Bible at a higher frequency. He know that he should be taking the Bible more seriously than he has up until now. He may be a jack of all trades in a manner of speaking, but such multi-faceted proficiency is ultimately bittersweet, as the vocalist also recognizes his shortcomings as far as living a moral life is concerned.