The conspiracy theorists are out in full force for this new Timmy Tyler Childers record, eh?
We’re a couple weeks removed from the release of Tyler Childers latest studio album, the Rick Rubin produced, Snipe Hunter, which has garnered some of the polarizing mixed reviews I’ve seen in quite some time. I’ve written quite a bit on what I think of it so far, but overall, I find it pretty enjoyable. And maybe that’s because I don’t have a dog in this weird political race that is seemingly holding Tyler Childers fans captive, but maybe it’s also because I see this album for what it is… just Tyler Childers having fun.
Of course, there is a certain group of Tyler Childers fans, or perhaps ex-Tyler Childers fans, who think he went “too woke” and have sworn off every album since Country Squire. And as a Conservative myself, I find that to be pretty dumb. Tyler clearly leans to the left politically, but I get the impression that his political beliefs are informed by a genuine compassion for mankind, not some kind of self-righteous, virtue signaling, moral superiority that demands all of society bend the knee to accommodate their rabid narcissism. Silly or not, he personally feels bad saying “Indian,” who cares? Compassion is a good thing.
But there also seems to be this newer group of Tyler Childers fans who see him as some kind of poster boy for their own progressive causes, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ causes, etc… and that is the lens by which they view every single thing he does and says. And to be fair, I actually think “Long Violent History” is a great song that uses art to make people consider a different viewpoint, to place themself in someone else’s shoes… not lecture you from the stage and tell you who to vote for. But fans have started combing through every single song, line by line, in an effort to hijack Tyler’s new album and turn it into some vehicle to advance their own false narratives and political agendas. Once again, that rabid narcissism…
Perhaps the centerpiece of this conversation is the album’s very first single, “Eatin’ Big Time.” You will not believe the amount of theories I’ve seen about this song being an “eat the rich” anthem, it’s about hunting billionaires, it’s an “F you” to the corporate country music machine (which Tyler has never really been a part of), a nod to Beyonce and an endorsement of her Cowboy Carter album, it’s a middle finger to his old, more Conservative fanbase that he now can’t stand, the whole album is a prank (or snipe hunt, rather) to weed out the true fans, it’s a shot at Zach Bryan… I’ve seen so many TikToks and Twitter comments, Reddit threads, dissecting every secret, “hidden meaning,” and I’m here to tell you right now… it’s not about any of that.
In fact, I don’t think the album is that deep at all, I think it’s mostly Tyler just having fun and seeing how wacky he can get in the studio with the likes of Rick Rubin and Nick Sanborn.
‘Eatin’ Big Time’ Origin
Do you want to know what this song is really about? The song “Eatin’ Big Time” is about Tyler Childers being very rich and successful, and still being a country boy at heart. A funny, almost self-deprecating in some ways, celebration of Tyler and the boys finally “making it” by the sweat of their brow, and doing it the right way, after all those years of working hard to turn this dream into a reality.
For those who know their Tyler Childers lore, “Eatin’ Big Time” has been a motto for Tyler and his band, The Food Stamps, for years as they’ve continued to grow in success. It started off as a funny, tongue-in-cheek expression they’d throw out when something “big” happened, and when you’re packing 6 guys in a van to play a room of 150 people, “big” could mean getting an extra appetizer at Applebee’s because the server recognized you. This old tweet between Tyler and his wife probably best illustrates the genesis of the phrase:
Of course, Eatin’ Big Time is also something people who get food stamps will joke about since the government assistance program moved towards an debit card system in the late ’90s. When it moved from actual paper to the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card system, people would joke they were “Eatin’ Big Time” when they’d swipe their card. And with his band being named the Food Stamps, it’s really been the perfect motto over the years.
Now that Tyler is very rich and successful, he’s actually “eatin’ big time” and the motto has sort of taken on a more literal meaning, and that’s more or less what the song is about in a rather funny and sarcastic way. But if we want a look into what this song is actually about, how about we take a look at what Tyler has actually said about it, eh? Seems like a great place to start. In that GQ puff piece, the only real interview Tyler gave about the album, Tyler says the song is him asking himself:
“If there was a hyped-up rap song about being in the hustle and gathering the fruits of your labor, what would be the Tyler Childers version of that?”
Gathering the fruits of your labor… remember that.
But the problem lies just a few lines above that quote, and this is where some of the interpretation started to fall off the rails. The writer of the article throws out some line about Tyler Childers hunting a billionaire in her interpretation of the song, and it’s really easy to confuse that as something Tyler said or endorsed. The article reads:
“The song starts out with Childers hunting a billionaire. Is it just some rich dude that pissed him off, or is he imagining what he would deserve if he left his roots and buddies behind for the spoils and shallow promises of fame?
Except that’s not what’s happening in the first verse of this song… not at all. To be honest, I’m not ever sure how we got there…
Breaking Down The Lyrics
I think we can go through this line by line and really get to the crux of the meaning, and you’ll find that it’s all pretty literal… there’s not a bunch of hidden meanings in this song at all. And granted, all music is open to interpretation, and the listener can take what they want from it, fair enough. But while everyone on the internet is making bold interpretations about rich people, capitalism and Beyonce, I’m gonna make mine… it isn’t about any of that.
Here we go…
I wasn’t braced and kissed my face with the scope of my rifle
I had shot it from a blind, as in you’d be blind not to see
That there’s a man in the doorway of a motherf***in’ mansion
Aiming at the feeder where you’d sat to take a feast
This opening verse is really simple… Tyler Childers is hunting feeder deer from a big and fancy hunting blind, one the size of a “mansion,” that any deer should be able to see. He literally says “I shot it from a blind,” so not sure where the confusion is about him hunting a billionaire or him even hunting from his own front door. The running theme in this song is Tyler’s success, but also how he’s maintained his country boy ways and has tried to stay true to himself. So yeah, he still hunts and prepares his own deer, as we’ll see in the next verse, he just does it with a lot more resources.
That’s what I said, that’s what I did
And it did not cut one corner
As I carved that fat-neck-mother right down to the bone
I let him hang for several days
And then I cut off hide and scriffin’
I cut it thin, then throw it in a Tupperware to soak
Another real simple one… he’s preparing the deer and he’s doing it the right way. Like anything in life, you get a better finished product when you don’t cut any corners, so that’s what he’s doing here. Letting it hang to cool down and properly age the meat before he processes the cuts. And then you want to soak your hide in a water and salt solution before you start the tanning process to make a deer fur.
I fried some pieces while I worked
It tasted like I’d made it
Fried in Wagner casted butter in a quiet country place
With albums gold and platinum overflowin’ to the ceiling
Eatin’ big time is a feelin’ with the friends that I have made
Once again… pretty straightforward here. He’s cooking a few pieces of the deer and enjoying that he hunted and processed it himself. Trust me, it does taste better when you put in the work yourself. And then the next piece of comedy… his house is packed with Gold and Platinum records because he’s become an incredibly successful recording artist. So while he eats the deer that he shot from his big, fancy, blind, it’s not lost on him that his successful music career paid for it. Enjoying the fruits of his labor… as he said.
Keep my time on my Weiss
Ye goddamn right, I’m flexin’
‘Cause a thousand-dollar watch is fine enough flex for me
Have you ever got to hold and blow a thousand f***ing dollars?
It runs for 40 hours, and then it winds itself to sleep
Tyler bought a fancy watch, not super fancy as far as watches go, but most people do not, and will not ever, be able to spend a few thousand on a watch. And Tyler even admits it’s just a flex for him. I’ve seen people say that the 40 hour line is in reference to a 40-hour work week, but Weiss watches actually have a 40+ hour power reserve, meaning if you’re not wearing the watch, it’ll run for about 40 hours before its needs to be wound again. Pretty literal…
It’s fought for like a b*tch, and it’s a b*tch to keep it goin’
When they ain’t nobody knowin’ any prayer you’ve ever sang
See me now, I’m on the sow, and I’m ridin’ to your city
Eatin’ big time, ain’t she pretty, ain’t she witty, ain’t she great?
These next few verses are were we get slightly less literal, but overall, not too hard to figure out. He’s talking about his success here and how hard it is to get there, and how hard it is to keep it going once you’ve finally made it, but at the same time, we only see it from the surface. We don’t know the struggles he endured to get here, the prayers he made and the grind of chasing this dream. The sow (a female pig) is a reference to being “high on the hog,” and touring around the world.
Ain’t she great, ain’t she grand?
In my world, she’s irreplaceable
I’m her surfboard in the kitchen
My blessings come in waves
She’s my rebirth, she’s my lemonade
My gravy and my biscuits
Mama, I’ve been out there hunting
I’ma need you to make a plate
She pets my head and whispers
You poor thing, you must be famished
I just knew that this would happen, I got all the fixin’s made
I’ll get tick-full ‘fore I ever pull myself off of this table
Eatin’ big time, ain’t she pretty? Just rollin’ in the shade
Eatin’ big time in the holler, ain’t it lovely, ain’t it great?
Now the end is where I keep hearing about this nod to Beyonce, and some have argued as far to say that it is an endorsement of her belonging in country music because it mentions “irreplaceable,” “surfboard,” and “lemonade.” And I’ve seen a lot of people saying that “rebirth” is the literal French translation for “renaissance,” the title of a Beyonce album, and that is more evidence to credit this Beyonce theory.
However, I think he’s just talking about his wife, Senora May, and referencing some everyday southern things like lemonade, biscuits and gravy, and some good old fashioned kitchen table love-making. Yep, these last few lines are about sex, people. Riding him like a surfboard, blessings come in waves… are we really thinking he kicked off the album with this celebration of how far the band has come only to make a hard pivot towards paying tribute to Beyonce? Someone who has nothing whatsoever to do with his journey? C’mon…
And look, if Tyler wants to tell me I’m wrong, than so be it, I’m wrong. Maybe there’s multiple layers at play and that’s Tyler level of genius, as some have alleged, but for my money, and based on what I know about Tyler, his career and his brief remarks on the song itself, all the evidence points to this song just not being that deep. And like I said, I don’t think the whole album is that deep… I think it’s mostly just Tyler having fun. And for as much as all these dorks on TikTok are begging for this song to be some kind of “eat the rich” anthem, I think it’s quite the opposite. And don’t get me wrong, Tyler doesn’t take himself too seriously at all so I think there is a slight air of tension with the amount of wealth he’s accumulated, given where he grew up in Appalachia, but at its core, I think Tyler introduces this new album with a simple toast to him and the boys, and his wife Senora May, gathering the fruits of their labor.
Life is good, by God, and it certainly wasn’t always that way. Hard work pays off, and even a boy from Lawrence County, Kentucky, can make it… Tyler Childers is the proof.
