He doesn’t miss.
This past Friday, Kip Moore released a two-song project called Dyin’ On The Vine, which features two incredible songs in the title track, as well as “Janie’s Song (Original American Heartbreak).”
After extending 2025’s Solitary Tracks to a massive 26 tracks later in the year, back in May, he dropped his seventh studio album, Reason to Believe, which delivered nothing short of a knock-out punch. Filled with standout songs such as “Wild Things Like You,” “Josephine,” “Long Time Coming” and the title track, the record found Moore in his sweet spot once again as he dealt with the grief of the loss of long-time friend and collaborator, Brett James, and continued search for something bigger than himself.
And these songs are a continuation of his musical genius, and he explained that
“I’ve never wanted to feel confined when creating music. I try to write and record music that represents where I’m at during that specific time in my life. I don’t think about genres, the current sonic landscape, or anything that could restrict where I’m being pulled. That leaves you open to criticism of abandoning what you were or what the public has known you to be. I’ve learned to be okay with that because I’d find no joy in making the same record over and over.
I want to release music while I still feel a deep connection to it. Most artists are nine months or more removed from making music by the time it comes out. You can feel like a different person by then. I wrote and recorded both of these tracks recently and told myself I don’t care if I just dropped a whole record a few months ago. I want to release this now.”
On the title track, which was written by Moore, Hillary Lindsey and Thomas Salter, it sees him lamenting about the state of the union lately, proclaiming that “this world is a mess.” Here, he’d point to the exhaustion he feels lately watching the news and seeing a world “hell-bent on destroying itself.”
“With ‘Dyin’ On The Vine,’ I see the madness of this world and I simply can’t make sense of it. I don’t know where it’s all headed, but it ain’t looking good. I get cynical sometimes and try not to let it overtake me. I have zero answers, and I’ll never come on this platform acting like I do.
I wrote about the exhausting nature of a modern world that seems hell-bent on destroying itself. I’ve been an individual my whole life. I don’t walk with the herd, I’m not swayed by my tv, and I belong to no team. I see nuance and my faith lies in something bigger than man. I hope we course correct.”
As for “Janie’s Song (American Heartbreak),” longtime fans of Moore should be familiar with the character. First appearing on Wild World’s spectacular track, “Janie Blue,” she’s also been referenced on the likes of “Payin’ Hard” and, most recently, “The Darkness” from Reason To Believe.
Here, we get what looks to be the final chapter of her story. It’s very much a heartland rock-inspired track, right up his alley, as Moore reveals that the former muse is currently living on the street after finding another man who didn’t give her the love she deserved, lamenting that she went “from American dream to American heartbreak.”
He says it’s the last of her character, and he was inspired after seeing a girl recently pushing a cart full of her belongings and thinking about how she was “once someone’s little gigrl,” and now, “she’s lost in a deep, suffocating trench of despair”:
“’Janie’s Song’ is the last thread of a character I’ve stretched across seven albums. While in a city recently, I saw a girl pushing a cart full of her belongings every day for a month. I kept wondering how she got there. She was once someone’s little girl, and now she’s lost in a deep, suffocating trench of despair.
I’ve been on my own a lot in life and felt despair in different situations, but none measure up to what I imagine hers must feel like.”
It’s very deep, and it opens with him explaining how Janie’s dad left and how she grew up with her mom in a rough situation, lost and angry that her life turned out this way:
“Momma got angry and daddy got poor
And holding it together was a hell of a chore
Used to share a lot of love but it all went south
Ain’t no getting it back, not now
And it’s a hard thing to shake
Going from American dream to American heartbreak
Momma’s still angry and daddy moved on, yeah
Paint peelin’ from the fence little Janie’s all grown
Daddy’s got a new life, new wife, new kids
He only calls little Janie ‘Come babysit”
And it’s a hard thing to shake
Going from American dream to American heartbreak”
He closes it out by revealing to the listener that Janie is on the street now, and her dad might not even have a clue that his little girl is living like that:
“Janie’s on the street, that’s the last I heard
Pushin’ on a cart full of all that hurt
I wonder if her daddy even knows that she’s stuck
In a dream he sold that went bankrupt
And it’s a hard thing to shake…”
Kip put out a music video to go along with the song, which starts with Janie talking to her mom, who is ready to drink and has already had a few, as Janie tells her she’s going out with friends. her mom wants her to stay, but Janie ends up at a party in a fight and comes back to her mom passed out on the couch.
She has a striking moment where she just lets it all out with a scream, where the video ends, and it was the perfect video to represent the song. Kip’s music has so much depth and nuance, and I think this song and video shows off the best parts of his artistry.
He’s not afraid to go there, he’s writing raw and real stories that speak to truth and human nature, and in my humble opinion, he remains one of the most underrated artists in mainstream country music… no one’s doing it like him, and this just another example.
Do yourself a favor and check it out:
“Janie’s Song (Original American Heartbreak)”
“Dyin’ On The Vine”
