Lauren Watkins admits she’s always felt like she was born in the wrong era, and with her latest release, “Marlboro Man,” she leans into that timeless spirit by embracing the true country music storytelling.
The song’s title was inspired by the Marlboro Man character that appeared on western themed advertising campaigns for Marlboro cigarettes throughout the 1900s. Originally marketed to women, the brand shifted its focus to men in the 1950s after seeing a decline in sales. They did so by introducing the Marlboro Man campaign, aiming to appeal to men through imagery of rugged cowboys.
While the use of humans or cartoons in tobacco advertising is now prohibited in the U.S., Lauren Watkins is tapping into the essence of the Marlboro Man character. The song, penned by the Nashville-born artist alongside Jeremy Spillman and Natalie Hemby, abandons the connection to cigarettes and instead reclaims the image of the character in a new way.
The inspiration to dive into this clever idea stemmed from Watkins’ constant desire to feel nostalgic by looking back on her life and different eras, along with her appreciation for vintage advertisements.
“Something about the way they look just feels so much cooler than what you see now,” she said of the timeless ads.
Plus, the Marlboro Man character offers a personal connection to her upbringing as it reminds her of her father who smoked.
“Growing up, my dad smoked, so we’d get Marlboro ads in the mail, and for some reason one day I just thought, ‘Marlboro Man’ would be such a cool song title. He’s this mysterious, masculine character – kind of the picture of what a lot of women want in a man. I held onto the idea for a while and when I finally got to write with Natalie Hemby and Jeremy Spillman, I brought it in because I knew they’d help me nail it,” she explained to Country Now.
Watkins brought this idea to life effortlessly. Her haunting vocals placed among the smoldering tune embodies the spirit the American West by delivering the kind of story that centers around a woman’s desire to find her own cowboy who, much like the Marlboro Man, is independent, unapologetically masculine and mysterious all at once.
She paints the tall figure in an alluring light through imagery that describes him as being “rugged as a prairie in the middle of July” and “rough around the edges like the outer county lines” while “blowing smoke rings at the sky.”
Moving onto the chorus, Watkins begs the question, “What ever happened to the Marlboro man?”
Listeners can hear the gears in her brain start to turn while wondering if she will ever find the kind of man that holds the kind of values and persona she’s been searching for. Unfortunately, she also comes to learn that the kind of love she’s searching for is one that never seems to stick around, although it always leaves a mark on the heart.
“Did he finally tame the west? Ride off in that sunset/ Was he looking for a wild flame to light him up again?/ ‘Cause right now I could use a Marlboro, Marlboro man,” she sings with a dusty, pleading edge in her voice.
At the time she wrote the song, Lauren Watkins was still single, yet to be married to her now-husband, Will Bundy, and she was in the midst of searching through the dating pool. This journey left her feeling hopeless, as she continued to meet the kind of guys who she says simply “were just not men.”
“They’d act confident or put on this tough front, but deep down they were immature and couldn’t follow through on anything. It was so frustrating – I wanted someone who was really grounded, who knew who he was and could take care of himself. That’s what “Marlboro Man” came from – just wanting to find a real man,” she continued.
It turns out, the old-school romance song would eventually predict her future because she has finally found the person who she deems to be “the most manly man I know – in all the best ways.”
Continuing to gush over her partner, Watkins said, “He’s strong, confident, a little mysterious, but mostly he’s just solid. He keeps his word, he knows how to handle things, and he’s the kind of person you can count on. It’s funny how I wrote this song before I even met him, but it ended up being about him.”
Watkins also shared that while there’s “a lot of imagery” interlaced throughout the story of “Marlboro Man,” she has yet to plan the perfect music video to capture her vision.
“I’d love to do one. I think there’s so much you could do with it visually, so I’m definitely thinking about it.”
The new release comes hot on the heels her empowering anthem, “I’ll Get Through It” as well as “Lose My Cool,” which marked her first taste of her new chapter following her acclaimed 17-track debut, The Heartbroken Record. Now that Lauren Watkins is happily married, she is leaving heartbreak behind and leaning into growth and more joy than ever with her next era of music.
Watkins also has plans to stay busy on the road through the end of the year, touring with Riley Green this summer before joining Lainey Wilson and Kameron Marlowe in the fall.
The post Lauren Watkins Taps Into Classic Country Storytelling with ‘Marlboro Man’ appeared first on Country Now.