Viral TikTok star Megan Moroney has been gaining some serious traction with her current song “Tennessee Orange.” The song lyrics tell the sweet story of a girl who falls in love with a boy from East Tennessee. And, while the narrator in the tune grew up on the rival team, the Georgia Bulldogs, she finds herself sporting the color orange as a nod to her specific love interest, who is a fan of The Tennessee Volunteers.
“I met somebody, and he’s got blue eyes / He opens the door, and he don’t make me cry / He ain’t from where we’re from, but he feels like home / He’s got me doing things I’ve never done / In Georgia they’d call it a sin / I’m wearing Tennessee orange for him,” Moroney sings throughout the chorus of the tune.
The catchy track debuted on Friday (Sept. 2) ahead of The Volunteers’ mid-October game, which saw the football team claiming victory over another one of its rivals – the Alabama Crimson Tide with a final score of 52-49 at Neyland Stadium. Before that game, however, “Tennessee Orange” was already growing popular on TikTok.
But the song itself isn’t all that sparked attention. After some internet sleuthing, fans raised theories that the tune was inspired by Morgan Wallen. Another theory that arose is that Moroney is in a relationship with the country superstar.
So who is Megan Moroney?
Well, she’s not new to social media. With a growing fan base that includes over 400k TikTok followers, the University of Georgia alum, 25, has become one to watch thanks to her music and personal life updates. A rising country artist, in 2020, Moroney packed her bags for Nashville to jumpstart her music career. Aside from releasing “Tennessee Orange,” she has dropped a song called “Wonder” and debuted an EP titled Pistol Made of Roses, produced by Sugarland’s Kristian Bush.
But “Tennessee Orange,” written with Paul Jenkins, David Fanning and Ben Williams, has become a topic of conversation after she posted a photo of herself sporting a shirt with the Vols logo spread across the front – an indication that the song is a real-life story about her and someone else. Adding to the speculation, fans noticed Wallen, a proud Knoxville native who sings a lot about his hometown, commented underneath Moroney’s post.
“GBO [Go Big Orange],” he wrote, to which Moroney responded with a blushing emoji.
Wallen has continued to comment on Moroney’s posts, leaving the words, “Well I surely saw you,” in a response to a picture she shared on Instagram.
“Did we ever figure out who’s shirt this is??” He also wrote, alongside another post on her Instagram page.
Morgan, however, isn’t the only country artist in question when it comes to Moroney’s song. Some people have turned their eyes and ears to Conner Smith after realizing his track, “Orange And White,” which dropped in August, shares the flip-side storyline to Moroney’s country ballad.
Even Smith commented on Moroney’s socials, posting “Joint music videos?” to which she responded, “cost-effective 🤝.”
Coincidence? Possibly, but only Moroney can confirm that. And so far, she’s only revealing that there is some truth to the song.
“I always say I cannot confirm or deny who the song is about,” she told People, revealing her intentions of keeping the unnamed boy anonymous “And I don’t think I’ll ever tell anyone who the song is about because I told the story in the song. So that would be giving it away too much!”
Despite all the chatter surrounding who Moroney is romantically involved with, the hard-working independent artist says she’s beyond thrilled over how far the song has taken her, as it was streamed over 1 million times in just a short five days of being released.
“I love that it’s like a waltz. And when you hear it, you just want to fall into it. I love how on TikTok, it’s become a trend because people make my story their own,” Moroney said of the song. “They substitute teams and colors and all the things! It’s just cool to see what kind of reach this song about me and SEC [NCAA Southeastern Conference] football has. That’s what music does.”
“I don’t think I realized how special the song would be. It was one of those things, where I’d worked on for so long, and I didn’t know if it was good or not,” she added. “Then we decided last minute when we got the opportunity from Spotify to put it out. And it’s crazy. I’m new to all of this. But, I’m like, this is cool.”
“The growth of ‘Tennessee Orange’ has been incredible! The song is connecting with fans all over the world and the stats speak for themselves,” Claire Heinichen, the country music editor for Spotify, said. “This song has been a dream to watch grow through our playlist ecosystem — from Fresh Finds Country all the way to Hot Country.”
Moroney is currently on the road as direct support for Larry Fleet’s One For The Road Tour.
