In August of 2022, Hardy and Lainey Wilson released a song that left fans awestruck and harkened back to a style of country songwriting that isn't heard much in modern country music. That song is "Wait in the Truck," a slow-burning country murder ballad that tells the story of a man (portrayed by Hardy) who uses his own kind of justice against another man who abuses a woman.
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The song starts out with eerie guitar picking as Hardy describes the scene of driving down a dark road in the middle of a thunderstorm and spotting a woman standing in the middle of the road. He soon realizes that she's "bruised and broke from head to toe," and he knows that someone has done that to her. Without hesitation, he invites her into his truck and asks her one question: "Where is he?"
As the song continues, the singers take listeners on a suspenseful journey as the male protagonist shows up at the perpetrator's home, breaks down his door and takes him out using a "Judge under a seat" before the man can reach for his own gun. Wilson shows up to sing in each chorus, calling the man portrayed by Hardy an angel, even though "Angels don't do what he did." She also recalls the words he spoke before he ended the threat once and for all: "Wait in the truck."
The tune then fast-forwards, and the man who took justice upon himself has been sitting in a jail cell for 60 months. The woman in the story still comes to visit him sometimes, and although he's not sure when he'll be released (if ever), he doesn't regret releasing the woman from her personal prison.
"Wait in the Truck" was co-written by Hardy along with Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt and Renee Blair, and the inspiration came from a simple conversation between Hardy and Schmidt. Specifically, Hardy told Billboard, the conversation revolved around what each man would do if anyone were to hurt their respective partners (Hardy is married to Caleigh Ryan and Schmidt is engaged to Blair). Hardy answered that he would ask his partner where the perpetrator lived and he'd drive there and tell her to wait in the truck. That's the moment the lightbulb went off.
"We just kind of laughed," Hardy says. "And then we had that songwriter moment where we looked at each other and we were like, 'Oh sh*t. 'Wait in the truck' is a good song title.'"
According to the publication, the two then wrote the majority of the song at Schmidt's studio, and they looked to Blake Shelton's "Ole Red" for inspiration. When writing, they decided to have Lainey Wilson tell the story in the chorus and sing the words "wait in the truck," so that it would come off in a "non-chauvinistic way." They also purposely had the villain in the song reach for a gun before Hardy's character ended his life so that the main character would keep a "redeeming quality," knowing that the action was also in self defense.
When chatting with The Tennessean, Hardy said the song came about somewhat easily and that the songwriting process was a "spiritual" one.
"Something very spiritual happened the day that we wrote that song," he said. "We just kind of looked down at our pen and paper and we looked up and the song was written, it was amazing to be a part of it. It speaks on something very important, domestic violence. At the end of the day I just really hope that this gives somebody a platform to speak out."
Wilson also said that the song is sure to "start a conversation" and possibly help victims who find themselves in a similar situation to the one addressed in the tune.
"Domestic abuse is a fragile subject, but I hope this song brings light to a situation that is more common than we'd like to admit," she says. "For the abusers, I hope this song haunts them. For the victims, I hope they know they're not alone."
"Wait in the Truck" hasn't yet made an appearance in the nominations at an awards ceremony, but Hardy and Wilson are set to perform the song live on the upcoming CMA Awards on Wednesday, November 9, on ABC. The ceremony begins at 8pm ET and will be hosted by Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning.
Both Wilson and Hardy are nominated at the event: Wilson leads the crowd with six nods and Hardy has three.
READ MORE: The 6 Best Hardy Songs, So Far
