Carrie Underwood’s ‘The Bullet’ Was Motivated by Las Vegas Shooting
Carrie Underwood's new single "Love Wins" isn't the only track from her new Cry Pretty album to take on social issues. "The Bullet" is an even stronger statement.
"The Bullet" is not one of the songs from Cry Pretty that Underwood helped write, but during an interview with Stellar magazine she admits her performance (and the inclusion of the song on her sixth studio album) was partially motivated by the Oct. 1 shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.
"It's a beautiful and powerful song, and I though for a long time whether or not I was the one to deliver its message," she says. "Unfortunately, too many events have happened and not just on a grand scale ... any word I say right now is gonna be wrong [laughs]."
"But too many people are going to relate to it — whether in the military, if they're cops, or just people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time," she furthers. "It's a song that needed to be sung."
Taste of Country was on hand to hear "The Bullet" and the full Cry Pretty album at a listening event in August. The song describes a gun death and how a bullet keeps moving (symbolically) long after it has hit the target, ripping holes in the hearts of everyone the deceased knew and loved.
Marc Beeson, Andy Albert and Allen Shamblin wrote "The Bullet." The song does not specifically reference any particular shooting in American or world history, but the Route 91 shooting is particularly painful for the country music community, as Jason Aldean was onstage when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire, killing 58 country fans and injuring hundreds more.
Underwood's Cry Pretty album will be released on Friday (Sept. 14). The first single was the title track, which peaked just inside the Top 10.
Watch Carrie Underwood Talk About Cry Pretty