What I Want is a pop-country duet laced with red flags, flirtation, and mutual self-sabotage — the kind that feels like fun until it isn’t.
Released on May 16, 2025, What I Want pairs Morgan Wallen’s weathered drawl with Tate McRae’s smoky clarity — and somehow, it works.
Tucked into Wallen’s sprawling 37-track album I’m the Problem, this collaboration brings unexpected chemistry to a tale of romantic wreckage that’s self-aware enough to laugh about the mess mid-kiss.
From the jump, the production leans into modern minimalism. Trap-kissed percussion, soft guitar strums, and reverb-heavy vocal layering form a track that blurs genre in service of story. It’s pop. It’s country. It’s a duet of damage control.
Their collaboration — Wallen’s first female feature — captures the emotional exhaustion of modern love, where desire lives alongside distrust, and attachment comes pre-packaged with a history of exits.
Fan speculation ran wild — from Megan Moroney to Miranda Lambert — before Tate McRae revealed her involvement with a subtle orange ‘MW’ jersey on Instagram.
It wasn’t just a surprise; it was a crossover move that fans didn’t see coming.
Wallen said the song had been in the works for a while: “We had been talking about doing a song for a while… just hadn’t worked out until now.”
Despite not recording together in studio, he praised McRae’s vocal delivery and emotional depth: “She just absolutely crushed every single part of the song.”
The production, courtesy of Joey Moi and Charlie Handsome, leans into a familiar Wallen aesthetic: trap-country with just enough gloss to sneak onto pop playlists.
It’s no coincidence that What I Want bears structural and sonic similarities to Wallen’s hit Last Night as both tracks share songwriters, avoid traditional bridges, and are anchored by choruses that hit upfront.
But McRae’s verse brings needed variation. Her delivery, while restrained, provides a richer tonal palette than Wallen’s repetition-heavy phrasing.
One Redditor joked, “It’s like the opening of a movie — and never quite moves past the first scene.” And maybe that’s intentional. What I Want doesn’t build. It loops. It stalls. It sighs.
“You ain’t gotta worry ’bout no trust issues with me / I got ’em too”
The first verse is a confession dressed as reassurance. Wallen doesn’t pretend to be unscathed, he is rather honest.
When he sings “I got ’em too”, it’s not an apology, it’s a dare. They’re both walking caution signs. There’s humour in the honesty.
“If you’re in a hurry / Nah, you ain’t gonna hurt me tonight”
Here, he’s not pleading for love — he’s offering a low-risk arrangement. Emotional detachment masquerades as maturity.
The line “It won’t be the worst thing” reads like someone who’s practiced disappointment and figured out how to make it sound chill.
“She said, ‘You don’t want this heart, boy, it’s already broke’”
The hook is where the track opens up — not just melodically, but narratively. The woman at the centre of this story is done hiding the damage.
There’s clarity in the chaos: she’s not here to be saved. McRae sings it like a statement, not a tragedy. And Wallen?
He replies “Baby, you should know that’s what I want.” They’re not here for healing — they’re here for distraction.
One YouTube comment summed it up best (and we’ll claim it as our own): It doesn’t feel like she changed herself to meet the genre — she brought her own gravity into the space.
And it shows. The blend is seamless because they’re not trying too hard.
“There are no hard feelings if you only wanna act like lovers do”
McRae’s verse is the emotional pivot. It’s wistful and dangerously relaxed, like she’s already making peace with disappearing before sunrise.
“Sometimes in the mornin’, go back to bein’ someone you never knew” hits like a punchline delivered with a soft exhale — it’s sad, but it’s also seductively numb.
“Baby, don’t you worry / You ain’t gonna hurt me tonight”
It’s a mirror. This time, she’s the one setting boundaries. Or pretending to.
There’s something about two people insisting they’re fine with casual destruction that feels less like empowerment and more like emotional detachment with nice lighting.
“She said, ‘You don’t want this heart, no, it can’t be fixed’”
Here’s the twist: by the final chorus, the stakes feel slightly higher. The emotional honesty doesn’t shift into romance — it just deepens the resignation.
The repetition of “That’s what I want” stops sounding like desire and starts to feel like deflection.
The instrumental backbone is simple: gentle guitar loops, hi-hat pulses, and layered harmonies.
Where Last Night relied on 808s and sharp snaps, What I Want opts for softer percussive textures. Both, however, suffer from over-processed vocals.
Wallen’s signature grit — his twang — is smoothed into near-nasality, and while McRae’s voice fits better in the mix, one wishes for more dynamic interplay.
The song lacks a bridge or instrumental shift. Structurally, it mirrors Last Night to a fault.
While the outro stays true to the song’s cyclical nature, some fans have imagined alternate versions that explore even more interplay between the two artists — such as a vocal handoff or an improvised tag that leans into their chemistry.
Suggestions on Reddit included references to Beyoncé and Post Malone’s Levii’s Jeans or Ja Rule and Vita’s Put It On Me, where the duet becomes a conversation.
While McRae largely mirrors Wallen’s phrasing here, the subtle harmonies still offer a gentle echo of connection that complements the track’s themes.
Despite its missed opportunities, What I Want fits. It fits McRae’s thematic world of anxious-avoidant spirals.
It fits Wallen’s brand of emotionally distant storytelling. It fits because neither singer is pretending.
Wallen gushed about her range and restraint: “Her low tones… she didn’t ask us to change the key… she’s got something unique.”
Their harmonising on the second chorus is subtle but compelling — a rare instance of sonic alignment.
At its best, the track showcases the unexpected synergy between the artists. There’s an ease in their exchange — understated but honest.
What I Want is about two people too self-aware to fall in love, but too lonely to walk away. It’s not about heartbreak.
It’s about choosing the mess you already understand. It’s casual destruction with chemistry — and while the production could be tighter, and the outro more daring, the message is crystal clear: we want something we know won’t last, and we’re okay with that.
For a song with minimal growth, it’s strangely comforting. Not every love story needs a second act.
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What I Want Lyrics by Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae
Chorus: Morgan Wallen
She said, “You don’t want this heart, boy, it’s already broke”
Told me everything she touch just goes up in smoke
Only stay a couple nights, then she gon’ be gone
I said, “Baby, you should know that’s what I want”
Post-Chorus: Morgan Wallen
That’s what I want, that’s what I want
That’s what I want, that’s what I want, that’s what I want
What I want
Verse 1: Morgan Wallen
Nah, you ain’t gotta worry ’bout no trust issues with me
I got ’em too, I got ’em too
Nah, you ain’t gotta worry ’bout no exes that’s crazy
I got ’em too, you know I do
Pre-Chorus: Morgan Wallen
If you’re in a hurry
Nah, you ain’t gonna hurt me tonight
And it won’t be the worst thing
If this is all it is, and in the middle of a kiss
Chorus: Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae
She said, “You don’t want this heart, boy, it’s already broke”
Told me everything she touch just goes up in smoke
Only stay a couple nights, then she gon’ be gone
I said, “Baby, you should know that’s what I want”
Post-Chorus: Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae
That’s what I want, that’s what I want (That’s what I want)
That’s what I want, that’s what I want, that’s what I want (That’s what I want)
That’s what I want (Oh)
Verse 2: Tate McRae
There are no hard feelings if you only wanna act like lovers do
For a night or two (Oh, oh yeah)
And sometimes in the mornin’, go back to bein’ someone you never knew (Hey, yeah)
You never knew
Pre-Chorus: Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae
Baby, don’t you worry
You ain’t gonna hurt me tonight
It won’t be the worst thing
If this is how it is (I said), then he (She) kissed me again
Chorus: Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae
And said, “You don’t want this heart, boy, it’s already broke
Told me everything she touch just goes up in smoke
Only stay a couple nights then she gon’ be gone
I said, “Baby, you should know that’s what I want” (What I want)
She said, “You don’t want this heart, no, it can’t be fixed” (Ah, yeah)
And I ain’t ready to try on a night like this
But if you still wanna stay, there ain’t nothin’ wrong (No, there’s nothin’ wrong)
I said, “Baby, you should know that’s what I want”
Post-Chorus: Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae
That’s what I want, that’s what I want
That’s what I want, that’s what I want, that’s what I want (Ooh)
That’s what I want, hey, yeah, yeah, oh
That’s what I want, that’s what I want, that’s what I want (Ooh; mm, yeah)
That’s what I want (Hey, yeah, uh)
Outro: Tate McRae
That’s what I want, that’s what I want
