You don’t often hear a woman compare her heart to a truck, and mean it.
But that’s exactly what Lainey Wilson does in “Heart Like a Truck,” and somehow it doesn’t sound like a stretch.
It lands with grit, pride, and a kind of emotional mileage that doesn’t need to be explained. You either get it, or you don’t.
Released on May 20, 2022, and co-written with Trannie Anderson and Dallas Wilson, “Heart Like a Truck” became a breakthrough hit for Wilson.
It climbed to No. 2 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, reached No. 29 on the Hot 100, and won Female Video of the Year at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.
Produced by Jay Joyce, the song pulls from Wilson’s early years hustling in Nashville and folds that lived experience into her Bell Bottom Country sound.
The message is part warning, part invitation: if you want in, brace yourself. This ride’s already seen some wear.
I got a heart like a truck
It’s been drug through the mud
Runs on dreams and gasoline
And that old highway holds the key
Wilson doesn’t tiptoe around pain. She turns it into traction. Her voice, unvarnished and full of southern steel, delivers each line with the kind of conviction that comes from living it.
This isn’t about heartbreak as performance. It’s about endurance as identity.
The music video, directed by Elizabeth Olmstead, sidesteps the obvious and heads to the ranch.
Wilson plays a stable hand learning to tame a wild horse. There are no dramatic revelations or last-minute breakthroughs, just consistent effort and slow trust.
The parallel is clear. Healing isn’t a big moment. It’s repetition, patience, and showing up anyway.
There ain’t no brakin’ when I throw it in drive
Don’t always keep it in-between the lines
That line hits harder than expected. It’s not just about driving. It’s about living outside neat boundaries, about refusing to flatten yourself to fit someone else’s map.
The truck isn’t a metaphor for toughness. It’s a metaphor for reality. It’s scarred, not pristine. It still runs.
The song became a defining moment in Wilson’s discography. In addition to its chart success in the U.S., it also went 2× Platinum in Canada and earned Gold certification in Australia.
It pushed her sound to a wider audience without diluting its roots, blending traditional country grit with modern production that never overreaches.
Fans didn’t just hear it. They recognised themselves in it. Reddit threads dissect the metaphor like a therapy session.
YouTube comments call it an anthem for people who have “been through it and kept driving.” One listener put it bluntly: “It’s not about the truck. It’s about surviving.”
Wilson herself has said as much. During her CMT Awards speech, she called the song a reflection of “finding freedom and strength,” adding, “It’s about not being afraid of the scratches and dents and bumps along the way. We all got a story to tell.”
She isn’t interested in polishing the damage. She’s giving it a purpose.
And that might be the reason “Heart Like a Truck” keeps gaining ground.
It offers no promise of smooth roads, just the assurance that you’re not broken for needing to take the long way.
It’s not a song that rescues. It’s a song that drives beside you, headlights off, knowing the way.
So what would your story look like if you let the wear and tear show?
If you enjoyed this article, you may also like our in-depth analysis of the lyrics and meaning behind other iconic songs, such as The Meaning of Wait in the Truck Lyrics by Hardy and Lainey Wilson.
Stay tuned for more captivating explorations of music and its significance in our lives.
