"Rednecker" introduced Hardy to country America, but his new single "One Beer" is a much better representation of what he does as an artist and songwriter.

The new collaboration with his "God's Country" co-writer Devin Dawson and Lauren Alaina is a very modern-day "There Goes My Life" (Kenny Chesney in 2003), shaped with an equally melancholy melody and the selfishness of youth. The main characters' lives are upended by an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, but they grow to appreciate the surprise as a blessing. Hardy's delivery is more spoken-word than country songs of the '90s and early '00s. His storytelling draws back an arrow pointed at small-town America, and his aim is true.

The delivery — and perhaps a hangover from his wild debut single — may cast a shadow over some fine songwriting. Along with Hillary Lindsey and Jake Mitchell, Hardy packs powerful descriptions into tight places throughout each verse and chorus. Every word brings emotion and color to a familiar tragedy couched in a song about beer. Of course, he's not really singing about beer. With "One Beer" Hardy is singing about how life can go wrong and right at the same time. The time is right for reminders that sunshine always follows dark nights.

Did You Know?: "One Beer" is the new single from Hardy's Hixtape Vol. 1 album.

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Hardy (Feat. Lauren Alaina + Devin Dawson)'s "One Beer" Lyrics:

Seventeen in this small town / Weak knees in a CVS / Door locked in the bathroom / What's it gonna be waitin' on that test / Never thought that they'd be / Puttin' those life plans on the shelf / A couple American babies raisin' one up their self.

Chorus:
One beer turns into a lit cigarette / Burnin' into a two-beer buzz / Three beers turns into five and six / Then a love drunk kiss in the back of that truck / Just like that, everything rearranges / Life changes out of the blue / It's just a Bud Light, but ain't it funny / What one beer can turn into.

Sesame Street on the TV / A race car rollin' on a cardboard bridge / Crayon stick figure family / Stuck right there front center on the fridge / Flash back to two pink lines / A whole bunch of prayin' and doubtin' / Felt like the end of the world / Now the world don't spin without 'em.

Repeat Chorus

A boy and a girl and a three on the tree / K-I-S-S-I-N-G / First comes lust, then the shotgun marriage / Six months later come a baby in a carriage / You know what, y'all, you know what, y'all / The whole thing started with some alcohol / The whole thing started with some alcohol.

Repeat Chorus

A boy and a girl and a three on the tree / K-I-S-S-I-N-G / First comes lust, then the shotgun marriage / Six months later come a baby in a carriage / That's not all nah that's not all / Here we go again, drinkin' alcohol, yeah.

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