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Last Night
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Date Aired
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March 14, 2023
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Running Time
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19:41
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Todd plays "Last Night" on the piano.
MORGAN WALLEN - LAST NIGHT
A pop song review
Todd: [inhales] Here we go.
Clip from a Garth Brooks concert
Todd (VO): So, to recap, I grew up listening to country music. I mostly stopped around the time I got old enough to realize I could listen to literally anything else.
Todd: During the pandemic, I hit [brief clip of commercial for Progressive] "turn-into-my-dad" years old, and I started getting back into it.
Clip of Morgan Wallen - "7 Summers"
Todd (VO): And of the new music I was listening to, my favorite was coming from a hot rising star named Morgan Wallen.
Morgan Wallen: Back then, you used to love the river
And sippin' on a sixer with me
Does it ever make you sad to know
That was seven summers ago?
He had about four or five sad ballads that just absolutely broke my heart. You know, maybe it was the pandemic, but that guy really put some tear in my beer. [clip of Morgan Wallen - "Whiskey Glasses"] He was easily my favorite artist of 2020. I pegged this guy as the first new superstar of the decade because he was clearly planning to go big, big places. [clips of Morgan Wallen singing on TikTok...] He was the first country artist to figure out TikTok, [...Diplo ft. Morgan Wallen - "Heartless"...] he was already making inroads into other genres collaborating with Diplo. [...and Morgan Wallen live performance] He was covering Jason Isbell for that indie cred. [clip ET news story about Morgan Wallen breaking lockdown rules] He did get in trouble one time for partying during the pandemic, which... You know, not smart, it got him booted from Saturday Night Live. [SNL promo clip featuring Morgan Wallen] But he smoothed that out, they brought him back.
Clip of Morgan Wallen on SNL
Morgan: To no consequences!
Clip of Morgan's Dangerous Sessions performance
Todd (VO): He dropped a monstrous double album at the start of 2021 [screenshot of headline "Morgan Wallen Debuts at No. 1 and Smashes a Country Streaming Record"] and it did huge numbers. It seemed like everything was going up and up. I said multiple times in multiple avenues that I was, quote, "All in on Morgan Wallen".
Todd: Direct quote, "All in".
Morgan: Cause that could be dangerous
Todd (VO): Ha, yeah... I know I have a bad track record for predictions, but...
Todd: Boy, even I'm surprised how quickly that one blew up in my face.
Clip from TMZ video of Morgan Wallen
Morgan: Hey, take care of this pussy-ass motherf****er
Todd (VO): Ok, um... You know how some of us in a certain age group grew up in a time when [clip of Eminem - "The Real Slim Shady"] casual use of slurs was fairly common and tolerated. [screenshot of Us Weekly article "Khloe Kardashian Apologizes for Using the R-Word: 'I Will Do Better'"] And some people have been [thumbnail for Jimmy Fallon interview with Jonah Hill] kinda slow to rid themselves of that habit? [clip from TMZ video of Morgan Wallen] Um...
Todd: Something kinda like that happened with Morgan Wallen.
Todd (VO): A video came out of him and his buddies calling each other slurs.
Todd: But uh, not one of the slurs from the '90s. It was, uh, the one slur that wasn't considered tolerable at any time ever.
Morgan: Hey, hey take care of this pussy-ass ni**er
Todd: [exhales]
Clip of Morgan Wallen - "Wasted On You"
Morgan: Looks like I'm learning the hard way again
Todd (VO): So right after his mega album dropped, right when he was on top of the world, he was instead being blasted all over everyone's screens [clip from TMZ video of Morgan Wallen] drunkenly shouting the n-word. In a way that's safe to assume it wasn't his first time doing that.
Todd: Now I'm not saying there's ever a good time for a white guy to be dropping the n-bomb, but...
Clip of press conference with...
Todd (VO): This came after four years of Trump, [clip of New York Times story about...] nationwide protests in the streets about racism. [clip of Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus - "Old Town Road (Remix)"] And after "Old Town Road", [clip of ABC Nightline story about "Old Town Road"] a whole lot of hard questions being asked about country music specifically and its history of being completely lily-white.
Todd: So this wasn't just one man disgracing himself and offending people. This was embarrassing to the entirety of country music and discouraging to any minority who wants to be a part of it, and damaging to anyone invested in Nashville's good reputation.
Clip of ABC News story about Morgan Wallen
Host: "When I read comments saying that 'This is not who we are', I laugh because this is exactly who country music is"; "I question on a daily basis as to why I continue to fight to be in an industry that seems to hate me so much"
Clip of NewsNation story about Morgan Wallen backlash
Todd (VO): And thus, the consequences were very swift. He was blackballed from radio stations across the country, he was banned from every major industry event.
Host: The CMAs says it will not allow country singer Morgan Wallen to claim its top prize. This comes months after Wallen was caught on camera using a racial slur.
That was two years ago. Now, I know a lot of you don't care about country music. Or music at all, I know for some of you, I'm your only source of any music news.
Todd: Don't know how that happened, but ok. So that might be all you know about Morgan Wallen.
Todd (VO): That he said the n-word two years ago, and maybe you heard me mention that he was trying to do some kind of apology tour last year. But if you wanna know what happened after that, here's how that went.
Todd: Morgan Wallen is, right now, bigger than Jesus.
Clip of Morgan Wallen from the 2022 Billboard Music Awards
Todd (VO): As I am recording this video, Morgan Wallen is about to have [screenshot of Billboard article "Morgan Wallen Notches First Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 With 'Last Night'"] the number 1 single in America.
Todd: That's huge.
Clip of "Old Town Road (Remix)"
Todd (VO): If you don't count "Old Town Road", which...
Todd: We're not having that argument again. But if you don't count that...
Clip of Morgan Wallen - "Last Night"
Todd (VO): Morgan Wallen has the first country song to hit number 1 since the '90s. [clip of ET Country Certified story about One Thing at a Time] He just released an even longer album, [screenshot of headline "Morgan Wallen's 'One Thing at a Time' Has Fifth-Biggest Streaming Week Ever for an Album"] and it's gonna take up half the top 10 and probably most of the top 50. By the end of the year, he'll probably be bigger than Harry Styles.
Todd: It's nuts, but yeah. That apology tour went about as well as it could have possibly gone.
Clip of "Last Night"
Todd (VO): If you ever need to survive a scandal, my suggestion is to watch what he did, because he basically did everything right.
Todd: Starting, to his credit, with not ever once whining about it.
Clip of Morgan Wallen's apology video
Morgan: I appreciate those who still see somethin' in me and have defended me. But for today, please don't.
Todd (VO): He said his apologies, he promised to do better, he kept his head down. He cut back on drinking and reportedly worked hard behind the scenes to educate himself. He kept making his music and hoping people still liked him enough to let him keep doing it.
Todd: And so, after living through [clip from...] the "Naggers" episode of South Park for a good year, he was just fully, 100% back.
Clip of Lil Durk & Morgan Wallen - "Broadway Girls"
Todd (VO): Oh, and the other major part of what he did right is that he got the co-sign from several black people.
Morgan: There's two things that you gon' find out
One of the bigger things he did was get a collaboration out with Lil Durk. And Lil Durk defended him in pretty strong terms.
Clip of Lil Durk being asked about Morgan Wallen
Lil Durk: Nah, he ain't no racist, that's my boy, you know what I'm saying. We had a long talk, he had his public situation, we had behind closed doors. I vouch for him and he's good.
Todd (VO): So if you wanted to listen to his music guilt-free, that was your green light. [screenshot of article "Kane Brown Says Morgan Wallen's 'N'-Word Incident Misunderstood"] And several of the black people in Nashville also stood up for him...
Todd: ...and said that people were doing too much.
Clip of Bobby Bones podcast interview with Jimmie Allen
Jimmie Allen: Was I personally offended or upset when he said it? No! So that's why a lot of black people, we laughed at it like, "Oh, ok well..." What really kinda rubbed me the wrong way a lot of times where I saw, you know, white people tweeting "I'm so offended, I'm so hurt." You're not hurt, that word doesn't bother you.
Todd (VO): You know what, you're right country singer/Dancing With the Stars contestant Jimmie Allen.
Todd: I'm not black [text appears: "As far as YOU know. (But why would I lie about this)"] This is not a conversation I need to be a part of.
Clip of Morgan Wallen SiriusXM interview
Todd (VO): I'm not here to say whether he has or hasn't or could ever undo the damage he did to country music. Or whether his presence does or doesn't make minorities feel unwelcome in Nashville.
Todd: I'm not there, I don't have that authority. I should just shut up and listen to the music. So here is...
Clip of "Last Night"
Todd (VO): ...Morgan Wallen and his big number 1 single called "Last Night".
Morgan: Last night
Todd: No, hold up, I can't- [buries face in hands] I can't just detach myself from the last two years of controversy.
Todd (VO): I'm not trying to talk over anyone, but I still have to decide how I feel, right? It's been something I've been struggling with a lot, especially as someone who came out hard for this guy pre-scandal.
Todd: I'd love to just tell you whether I liked this song or not, but all this background noise does affect me and how I hear music.
Clip of Morgan performing at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival
Todd (VO): Ever since the scandal, his songs have just not been hitting for me. And I've been trying to figure out whether that's because they weren't as good or because I just see him differently now. Or maybe I just resent him for making me think about things I'd rather not.
Todd: It's something as a critic I can't just ignore. And... Ok, look.
Clip from TMZ video of Morgan Wallen
Todd (VO): What he did, whatever you wanna say about it. [images of...] It's not Kanye, it's not J.K. Rowling, it's not Eric Clapton ranting about immigrants. Like, I know this is a low bar but...
Todd: What he did isn't intolerant, it's insensitive.
Todd (VO): Should it be impossible to move past that? Like, [sighs] I mean [cover art for "Bitches Ain't Shit" cover by...] I listened to Ben Folds cover Dr. Dre with full n-words intact on-record. He didn't get cancelled. [image of Rolling Stone magazine article about...] Rock legend Elvis Costello used the n-word once in a much uglier context. He also used the "I was drunk" excuse, he did his year of apologizing and he moved past it.
Todd: And what Morgan Wallen did was clearly less offensive than that. He didn't use it like...
Clip of Laugh Factory show from...
Todd (VO): ...Michael Richards berating an audience member. He wasn't [clip of ABC interview with...] Hulk Hogan saying he wouldn't let his daughter date black men. So it's like-
Todd: Oh my God! [buries face in hands] How do I have so many of these n-word incidents right off the top of my head!? Ugh, white celebrities, stop doing this!
Clip of "Last Night"
Todd (VO): So what I'm saying is that I don't necessarily think a guy like this has to be blackballed forever if he demonstrates growth. Outside of the screaming on the internet, I think that's what most people think. I mean, it's not like he assaulted any women, he's not supporting any hate movements.
Todd: But... Ugh!
Clip of Morgan performing at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards
Todd (VO): The Morgan Wallen redemption campaign has rubbed me wrong regardless. The first reason being that he didn't really suffer any consequences.
Todd: I mean, yes he did. From the industry there were consequences because he embarrassed everyone pretty badly. But from the public, he didn't.
Clip of Diplo ft. Julia Michaels & Morgan Wallen - "Heartless"
Todd (VO): For the entire two years since he released Dangerous: The Double Album, [screenshot of Billboard article "Morgan Wallen's 'Dangerous' Breaks Top 10 Longevity Record on Billboard 200 Chart"] that album has stayed in the Billboard top 10. Including 10 weeks at number 1.
Todd: His sales didn't dip at all, they actually [screenshot of article "Country star Morgan Wallen sees album sales spike despite industry backlash over N-word video"] went up after the incident. And knowing what I know about country music demographics, I guarantee you his career survived not in spite of the scandal, but because of it.
Clip of Best Picture acceptance speech from the 91st Academy Awards
Todd (VO): Like, you think Green Book won Best Picture because voters really liked it? No, it was because they [screenshot of article "'Green Book' best picture Oscar provokes backlash from film's detractors"] didn't like how much you hated it. [back to Best Picture acceptance speech] It was a backlash to your backlash. People saw the controversy and they doubled down.
Todd: And so Wallen's return has always felt kinda tainted for me. Like, people were supporting him cause they think saying the n-word is great actually!
Clip from a Morgan Wallen concert
Todd (VO): When he started his comeback tour, there was one report of his fans chanting "Let's go Brandon".
Audience: Let's go Brandon!
Morgan: My name ain't Brandon.
And it's just like... Man, I don't know.
Todd: [sighs] Ok, but those are, like, systemic problems, right? He can't control that.
Todd (VO): If I'm gonna get mad at someone for having right-wing fans, I'm gonna have to...
Todd: ...stop listening to most country music, and uh... Yeah, I'm way too [holds up a beer] sad and drunk to do that.
Clip of Morgan Wallen - "Sand In My Boots" live performance
Todd (VO): So all that stuff is happening, but he's just one guy trying to sing his heartbreak and drinking songs.
Clip of Morgan Wallen SiriusXM interview
Morgan: Some people around me are like, "Man, you know you're, like, different than you were even a year ago" or whatever, you know. And it's just, I'm glad to hear that. Cause that's something that I was- It's not on accident, you know.
He's just a singer trying to keep his nose clean and be a better person. Let's give him credit for that and move on.
Todd: So, here is his new number 1 hit song, "Last Night".
Clip of "Last Night"
Morgan: I know that last night we let-
Todd: No, hold on. [buries face in hands] Is he- Is he a better person?
Clip of Morgan Wallen SiriusXM interview
Todd (VO): I mean, that's a tough question. Do I think he's done the work? Uh...
Todd: I think he's done the work to be a guy who doesn't say the n-word anymore.
Todd (VO): I don't know if that's the same thing as being a better person. Pitchfork called his apology tour [screenshot of Pitchfork article] "The bare minimum". Which, I mean, I don't think I can really dispute that. Like, what's he said, done, demonstrated? Not a whole lot.
Todd: But at the same time, what do I want him to do? [image of...] Put on a "Black Lives Matter" shirt? [images of a university lecture...] Give a dissertation about the history of racism in Nashville? [...and Macklemore's apology text to...] Apologize to Kendrick Lamar?
Todd (VO): I can't imagine anything he could do that wouldn't strike me as self-serving and phony.
Todd: And I can tell you why.
Clip of Morgan performing "Don't Think Jesus"
Morgan: Boy gets a guitar and starts writing songs
Todd (VO): Last year, Wallen released a song that was sort of crossways about the incident where he basically apologized for being such a fuck-up.
Morgan: I don't think Jesus done it this way
Cover art for...
It was called "Don't Think Jesus". Which... that's a funny title. Cause you add some exclamation points after every word...
Todd: That's exactly what I would've said to him two years ago.
Clip from TMZ video of Morgan Wallen
Morgan: Hey, hey take care of this pussy-ass ni**er
Todd (VO): DON'T!
Todd: [taps forehead] THINK! JESUS!
Clip of Morgan performing "Don't Think Jesus"
Todd (VO): It was a big showy song about how he knows he's an idiot and he's trying to be better and how he's grateful for Christian forgiveness.
Morgan: If I was Him, I'd say,
"To hell with you, ain't no helping you"
And I just hated it. It sounded so showy and fake to me. I mean, that's basically how he got past the scandal, by mostly not doing things like this. I don't want this.
Todd: Just give me your Notes app apology and let's be done with this shit.
Clip of ET Country Certified story about Morgan
Todd (VO): And that's what he's done. And now that he's made it through that rocky, controversial patch damaged but alive, he wants to get back to doing what he does. And boy is he ever doing it.
Host: Features 36. Yes, 36 deeply personal songs.
He has released his next record, One Thing At a Time. A gargantuan 36 song album, which is insane.
Todd: He's basically gonna destroy the charts with this, he's gonna have the entire top half of the Hot 100 basically to himself.
Clip of Morgan Wallen - "Thought You Should Know"
Todd (VO): Everyone else has moved on, and... I think I made this video so that I could move on too. For a good while, none of his songs were working for me. But in the build-up to this new album, he released a couple songs that I was able to admit to myself "Yeah, these are actually pretty good."
Todd: I feel like I can be objective about this again.
Clip of "Last Night"
Todd (VO): And as the first country artist to hit number 1 in decades, he deserves an unbiased look with none of the baggage.
Todd: Here, at last, is me actually reviewing Morgan Wallen's "Last Night". [leans on piano]
Morgan: I know that last night we let the liquor talk
I can't remember everything we said, but we said it all
You told me that you wish I was somebody you never met
But baby, baby something's tellin' me this ain't over yet
No way it was our last night
Todd: [beat] Yeah, this song's dogshit.
Morgan: You, you know you love to fight
Todd (VO): Out of three dozen songs on that album, I would rank it dead last. I-I hate it.
Todd: You want my opinion about "Last Night"? My opinion is it sounds like Maroon 5.
Clip of Maroon 5 ft. Megan Thee Stallion - "Beautiful Mistakes"
Adam Levine: It's beautiful, it's bittersweet
Todd (VO): It's a Maroon 5 song with a drawl, Maroon Wallen. [image of Morgan Wallen's logo...] His logo even looks like [...and that of...] Maroon 5's
Todd: I know I compare Maroon 5 to a lot of things.
Clip of Maroon 5 - "Memories"
Todd (VO): And I think it's fitting that Maroon 5 were so generic that I use them as the generic word for generic.
Todd: But here specifically, I am not just calling the song boring. It sounds specifically like Maroon 5.
Clip of "Last Night"
Morgan: Last night that we break up
I see your tail lights in the dust
Todd (VO): The stupid song factory-melody and the way it goes up and down perfectly like [image of "The Complete Hack's Guide to Songwriting"] it says to do in the manual. The shitty, perfectly of-the-times trap beat with its too loud bass drum going DUN! DUN!
Todd: And most especially in the way...
Todd (VO): ...that it's about a supposedly complicated, drama-filled relationship.
Todd: But he stops to humble-brag about all the hot, hot sex they have.
Morgan: Last night I kissed your lips
Make you grip the sheets with your fingertips
Todd: I mean, you can hear it right?
Todd (VO): Put it into Adam Levine's range and imagine him singing it. [clip of "Memories", Todd sings in a high-pitched voice] Baby, baby something's telling me this ain't over yet.
Todd: [normal] It's dead on!
Morgan: You call your momma, I call your bluff
In the middle of the night, pull it right back up
Todd (VO): Like, it's just a vague image of an attractive romance with a little dash of arguing to give it some drama. But this is not a song about frustration or romantic longing, or even horniness. It's just bragging.
Todd: Like, of course this is the most successful song on the album.
Todd (VO): It's the one that sounds the most like nothing with almost all of its genre signifiers sanded off. The only real country thing about it is the corny double-meaning title.
Morgan: Last night we said we'd had enough
No way it was our last night
"Last night can't be our last night", get it? "Last" meaning previous but also "Last" meaning final. Ugh.
Todd: Look, I enjoy some good country music double-meaning titles.
Todd (VO): But honestly, that's some pretty weak wordplay. I mean...
Todd: ...he has a song on that album called [screenshot of One Thing At a Time on Spotify] "Days That End In Why". Get it, Y? [sound of a crowd booing] A good country pun should be exactly that painful.
Todd (VO): This, this is just nothing. "Last Night" is gonna be in the top 10 for a good long while, but it is a colossally empty, lifeless song.
Todd: Like, I did all that wind-up not just to pad out a review of a song...
Todd (VO): ...that's really not worth a lot of thought. I'm also making a point here.
Todd: You think I'm twisting myself into knots listening to this guy. Imagine how much he must be in knots being this guy.
Clip of Morgan Wallen's apology video
Todd (VO): He nearly destroyed his career in two seconds. He had to dig himself out of a hole for more than a year. [clip of ABC news interview with Morgan] The Pitchfork review said that in interviews, he talks like a guy who is scared to make any sudden moves.
Todd: That's what I hear from this guy now. This is a guy who is only gonna make the safe choice.
Clip of Morgan Wallen - "You Proof"
Todd (VO): He released an album that's longer than Casablanca. Full of tunes that all basically sound the same about [image of broken heart and a Jack Daniels bottle] the same two topics.
Todd: It does have a couple songs I like, which... I mean, it's two hours long, it better.
Clip of Morgan Wallen - "One Thing At a Time"
Todd (VO): But I know my taste in music, and trust me. When you have exhausted even...
Todd: ...my appetite for songs about being wistful and drunk, you have written too many songs about being wistful and drunk.
Todd (VO): The title track I'd go to bat for and a couple others. But on the whole, it's just a much worse album than the last one. Even for country music, it's repetitive.
Todd: Why did he release it like this? My theory: because he can.
Clip of Drake - "Jumbotron Shit Poppin"
Todd (VO): The only person who can get away with this is Drake. [clip of "One Thing At a Time"] He's trying to be country music's Drake.
Todd: And he skipped [album covers of...] Take Care and he went straight to Certified Lover Boy.
Todd (VO): It sounds to me like he's trying as hard as possible to be as big as possible. And his brush with cancellation has left him scared to pursue anything except slick professionalism. [clip from the Dangerous Sessions] I used to think of him as a musically ambitious guy and maybe I was right, maybe I was wrong.
Todd: But if he was, he sure isn't anymore.
Clip of "Last Night"
Morgan: Can't remember everything we said, but we said it all
Todd (VO): Now he just wants to rack up points. And that's why he made this album, headlined by this radio-bait filler of a song about absolutely nothing.
Todd: I mean, this guy is gonna be as big as Garth in a couple years. And this is what he's doing with that? We gave you a second chance for this? Way to blow it again, Morgan Wallen! [gets up and leaves]
Morgan: No way it was our last night
Todd: Hey, you know what is good music?
Clip from The Dark Side of the Moon Project
Todd (VO): Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. And my fellow YouTuber, Polyphonic, has a great breakdown of that entire album track-by-track. Which you can watch exclusively on [ad clips for...] Nebula. A creator-specific platform where you can watch great videos from other creators like Hbomberguy, Adam Neely, and myself. And now if you sign up with my link, you get free access to Nebula Classes. Where our creators host classes on how to be a creator. You will not only get access to all of the great stuff Nebula offers plus Classes.
Todd: But you will get it for a little over 2 dollars and 50 cents a month. And you'd also be directly supporting me which, you know, I'd appreciate it.
Brief clip of Nebula logo
Todd (VO): So click the link in the description and check it out below.
Todd: Thank you for listening, and goodnight.
Closing Tag Song: Avenue Q Cast - "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist"
THE END
"Last Night" is owned by Big Loud Records
This video is owned by me
THANK YOU TO THE LOYAL PATRONS!!