Ask, and you shall receive.
Koe Wetzel is giving the fans what they want: a solo version of “High Road.” Since the announcement of Wetzel’s forthcoming album, 9 Lives, he has also released teasers of all the tracks to be featured on the record. Fans instantly connected with “High Road,” leaving many confused as to why Koe teased it as a solo single and then released it as a duet with Jessie Murph.
Koe, however, was not taking the heat and stood by his decision to release it as a duet, saying everyone will always “b*tch about something.” In his statement, he mentioned a single version would come eventually, but that’s not how he wanted to come out of the gate.
“Yeah, the first time I saw that there was anything being brought up about it, I didn’t really understand it at all. Jessie’s just such a bad**s. And so I think we had a plan… the ‘High Road’ version, the single version, will eventually come out.
But I was asked if we wanted to put it out sooner rather than later, and I was like, screw that. I believed in this version since Jessie cut her part on it. I think she kind of made the song what it is, and so yeah, that song, it fit with both of us. It fits with us both very well.”
Koe made the right choice by releasing the song with Jessie Murph. It was the first official single he sent to country radio, and the single debuted in the top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100. Say what you will about Murph’s inclusion in the song, but the proof is in the pudding that it’s a hit.
However, that “eventually” for a single version came much sooner than people expected, as today, Koe Wetzel released a single version of “High Road.”
Now fans get the best of both worlds: They can listen to which version tickles their fancy and stop “b*tching” about not having the version Koe initially teased.
I must admit that the addition of Jessie Murph has grown on me, and I love the depth the second chorus gets with a female voice on the track. However, I like Koe’s original verse in this version slightly more than Jessie’s.
“Call me son of a b*tch
For being honest,
Yeah, that’s what I get
F**k it, I quit
You keep losing your head
About some girl, I ain’t with
The rumors always turn into
Yelling and fighting
And once it’s in your mind
Only one way you’re driving…”
His verse really drives home the toxic verbal cycle this relationship has and that he has to let her go so he doesn’t keep getting sucked into the screaming and fighting matches. Realizing he needs to take the “High Road,” he is finally walking away from another fight of low blows and words you’d regret later.
What a stellar surprise drop for this Friday. Fire it up.