Most breakfasts end with a full stomach and sink full of dishes, but at Morgan Wallen’s farmhouse, guests leave the table with a new hit single: “I Got Better.”
Wallen’s “I Got Better” off his 2025 record “I’m The Problem” tells the story of personal growth experienced within the aftermath of a heartbreak. The song dropped in June 2025 and landed a spot at No. 5 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and No. 7 on the Hot 100. The track takes listeners through a whirlwind of emotional honesty, but Wallen recently revealed to Billboard how the hit came together and the full story behind the song.
During a breakfast songwriting session at Wallen’s farmhouse, Blake Pendergrass, HARDY, ERNEST, Charlie Handsome and Chase McGill gathered to craft lyrics, not knowing it would create “I Got Better.” The conversation turned religious, with discussion of the Old Testament tale of Noah’s ark. “ERNEST was going off of that conversation,” Pendergrass recently told Billboard of how the song came together. “He just sang that melody, like, ‘The world got bigger since the Bible got wrote.’”
The phrase was revised and soon turned into “I got better since you got gone”. The song’s unique blend of all major sevenths and minor chords derives from Handsome’s half-finished track he had started prior to the songwriting session. Wallen insisted on keeping the lyrics simple, in order to paint a clear picture of the situation, the outlet reported.
“The girl could be anything to me,” Wallen continued. “It wasn’t necessarily a relationship with another human. It could have been a relationship with anything in your life that was holding you back, and the only thing that you did was eliminate that, and everything became clearer in your life.”
The first verse consists of simple, regular activities such as hunting, sports and nights out at the bar. HARDY eventually took control of writing the chorus and melody by turning it up a tune higher, as Wallen shares his excitement for going back to who he used to be.
“We went through all kinds of different ways to write it, and in my mind, the song needed to be a certain way, and everyone else kind of had a different idea about it,” McGill explained to the outlet. “I was adamant that I wanted it to be where the guy literally didn’t change anything in his life other than the girl was gone.”
As the second verse begins to compare the narrator’s current ways of life to life experienced with the ex-girlfriend, it dives deeper into how she was the center of chaos between the narrator and his friends and family, before finally heading into the therapeutic bridge.
“‘I ain’t saying you’re the weight on my back, but it’s not there anymore’ — it’s kind of just a funny way of saying everything without saying it,” Pendergrass added. “I think it’s just a great summary. That was the goal, at least.”
The first demo was recorded at Nashville’s Blackbird Studios in early 2025, with Dave Cohen on the keys, Tom Bukovac on the guitar and Wallen hitting each note that carries a sense of poignancy. Wallen told Billboard that a good song has a way of bringing out complicated feelings that may not be in the forefront, making those emotions easier to come out.
“It is one of my most personal songs on the entire record,” Wallen admitted, “and it’s a song that a lot of fans are relating to.”
“I Got Better” appears on Morgan Wallen’s latest album, I’m The Problem, which arrived on May 16, 2025. I’m The Problem includes 37 tracks, including “Smile,” “Lies Lies Lies,” “Love Somebody,” “Just In Case” and “I’m A Little Crazy,” as well as “Superman,” a heartfelt track he wrote as a letter to his son, Indigo, “Interlude,” “20 Cigarettes,” “TN,” “Don’t We,” “Falling Apart,” “Kick Myself,” “Genesis,” “Kiss Her In Front Of You” and more. The project also features collaborations with his musical hero Eric Church, along with Post Malone, Tate McRae, and longtime friends and collaborators HARDY and Ernest.
The East Tennessee native is currently on the road in support of the project on his headlining 20-date I’m The Problem Tour. The trek, produced by Live Nation, features rotating direct support from Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett and Koe Wetzel, with additional support from Gavin Adcock, Corey Kent, Ella Langley and Anne Wilson on select dates.
Tickets for Morgan Wallen’s I’m The Problem Tour can be purchased via his official website at MorganWallen.com.
