Hardy has certainly created a big buzz in the country music scene with his collaboration song, “McArthur,” that dropped last Friday, January 30.
Before the project had even been fully announced, three fellow big names in country music, Morgan Wallen, Eric Church, and Tim McGraw, joined Hardy in stirring the pot by dropping four cryptic posts to Instagram with their corresponding fictional McArthur personas.
Of course, fans were swirling with what this vague message could mean, and speculations were all over the place. Even after it was announced that the mystery collaboration was a song and post-release day, many are still trying to pull back the curtain to investigate if there’s more to come from this quartet.
Centered around a lineage storyline about what’s passed on between generations and the inevitability of mortality, many have been praising the track, as well as begging to see its thought-provoking story come to life. Following the McArthurs from John’s (Tim McGraw) death in the early 60’s to Junior (Eric Church) in the Vietnam War and his son Jones (Hardy) to finally Hunter’s (Morgan Wallen) ultimate question of greed or preserving roots, the story lends itself well to a potential visual depiction.
In a recent interview with Billboard, Hardy discussed the song’s origins as well as addressed the feedback from fans. Interviewer Melinda Newman posed the question that’s been on everyone’s mind, “Are you thinking about a video?” Vaguely responding but leaving room for the possibility, he responded, “We are, but I’m not sure that we would play the characters. I’m not really sure how that would work. We’ve tossed around some ideas like making it a longer video and have real actors and actresses come in, but we haven’t made a ton of headway, so I’m not quite sure yet.”
Additionally, many can’t get enough of this star-studded collaboration and are craving a more full-length project. Newman expands on this, asking, “Is there going to be a full album coming from the four of you? Could this be like The Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson?”
Unfortunately, nothing concrete has been put into the works, but Hardy is optimistic about the idea, saying, “We have definitely thrown out the idea. It will take a lot of work, and it’s obviously four people that are heavy hitters and very busy. But, for the record, I would love to expand on this concept, truly. So the discussion has been had.” He adds on, “There is no confirmation that it will happen, but we talked about it and if we could all somehow get together and have some time to write a storyline or the rest of a record than I would love for that to happen.”
Obviously, if this story trope were to develop into a short film, a series, or even more intertwined songs, there are a few plot holes that would need to be addressed. Hardy points these things out, such as if the McArthurs had brothers, and “why did the other brother not get the land or the other sisters?” While he hopes to tie up these loose ends and put something bigger into fruition, the defining discussions are still in the works.
However, one answer he does leave for complete fan interpretation and has no plans to for sure clarify is the song’s ending. Billboard asks, “The song deliberately leaves it vague as to if Hunter ultimately sells the land after he hears the voice in the pines. What do you think happens?” In response to this ambiguity, he sets his opinion straight but keeps the debate unsettled, saying, “I would hope that he doesn’t sell. I think that everybody hopes he doesn’t sell. But I love that we leave it open to interpretation.”
He continues by alluding to Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film, Inception, saying, “It’s like, if you’ve ever seen [Christopher Nolan’s movie] Inception, at the very end, [Leonardo DiCaprio’s character] spins the top to see if he’s still dreaming, and then the movie ends, and you never really know. That’s kind of the way the song ends, and I like it that way. You can decide what you think Hunter does at the end.
So unfortunately for fans, the mystery of the McArthur’s lives on (which is honestly very fitting for a song whose whole message surrounds this forewarning question of existential dread). On the positive side, there’s still a glimmer of hope that these four will continue to work together in the future.
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