Those evaluating the weekly country radio adds report likely noticed one song’s conspicuous absence from the list — that of Maggie Rose’s “Girl in Your Truck Song.”
Launched as hype was building over Maddie and Tae’s bro-country-mocking “Girl in a Country Song,” Rose’s song offered the opposing perspective.
Through lyrics penned by Caitlyn Smith, Gordie Sampson and Troy Verges, Rose professed her desire to be the girl commonly saluted in the contemporary “Truck Song.”
Praised by a list of country “bros” that included Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell and Jason Aldean, “Girl in Your Truck Song,” though not the subject of the same favorable press given to “Girl in a Country Song,” was building momentum in the weeks prior to its August 4 impact date.
Like the Maddie and Tae track, it debuted in the same #58 position on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart precisely two weeks before its impact.
Then, on July 25, it became the victim of an unfortunate development. News broke that Rose’s label RPM Entertainment eliminated its promotion team as part of a decision to exclusively function as a publishing and management house rather than as a full label.
The development effectively put the kibosh on short-term radio ambitions for “Girl in Your Truck Song” and thus assured it would not get a chance to truly “compete” with “Girl in a Country Song.” It predictably received zero adds on July 28 and on its previously announced August 4 impact date.
Whether it was ever going to represent compelling competition for Maddie and Tae’s “Girl in a Country Song,” which is already up to #37 on Mediabase’s country airplay chart, will never be known. But based on its early momentum, it certainly would have made a bigger splash than it ended up making.
A new label can technically revive–and re-promote–“Girl in Your Truck Song,” but the prospect of that does not seem particularly bright. This was a song that stood to benefit from the press and momentum associated with the “bro country response” excitement. Now that the Maddie and Tae track exclusively owns that domain, it could prove very difficult to break this song with the masses.