Lil' Us X's "Old Town Road" was on everyone's lips in 2019, but it's not just about horses. Here's what the lyrics actually mean.
"Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X is the 2019 anthem, but while everyone can hum the lyrics to the song, what do they really mean? Lil Nas X's self-described "country rap" anthem was released in late 2018 and gained popularity through the TikTok app, where it became the inspiration for the Yeehaw Challenge meme. A remix of "Old Town Road" featuring country singer Billy Ray Cyrus was released in April 2019 and the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and stayed there for a record 19 weeks.
In the summer of 2019, this song was on everyone's lips, and so there was a lot of discussion about what the lyrics to "Old Town Road" mean, and Lil Nas X had some fun with it. In June 2019, he trolled Twitter by joking that "Old Town Road" is a song about climate change. Later - after it came out during Pride Month and fans speculated that 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 only about horses. In an interview with songwriting website Genius, Lil Nas X explained that the titular road represents the path to success, and the horse he rides suggests that while he may not have had much in life, he had the talent and determination to succeed. Hence, the phrase "You can whip your Porsche" suggests that he doesn't need the wealth and trappings often found in hip-hop to be successful.
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 a tribute to Kanye West's song of the same name, but it's really a message to people who didn't think that he will be able to succeed in the music industry. It's Little Nas X's way of saying that despite the naysayers, he's still trying his hand.
In the second verse of "Old Town Road", Lil Nas X imagines what fame is. He switched from a horse to a tractor, wears designer clothes such as a "Gucci cowboy hat", but also commits adultery and uses drugs, which suggests that the excesses of fame are not so great. So while the lyrics to "Old Town Road" are kind of about horses, on a deeper level it's also about the attributes of fame and determination to achieve your goals in the face of adversity.
