Lainey Wilson‘s new ballad, “Somewhere Over Laredo,” is a different kind of sampler song.

It’s been a popular trend over the last few years for country songs to pull themes or lines from older hits — check Cole Swindell‘s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” Kane Brown‘s “I Can Feel It” or Dustin Lynch and Jelly Roll‘s “Chevrolet.”

Wilson’s new ballad takes a similar tactic with the popular lullaby “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” In her new song, Wilson is on a plane high in the sky — but she can’t think about the world, and the ill-fated relationship, she left behind on land in Texas.

The original “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” dates back to 1939, and it’s heavily associated with The Wizard of Oz, where Judy Garland (playing Dorothy) wistfully sings it as she dreams of her home back in Kansas.

So it’s no surprise that Wilson’s “Somewhere Over Laredo” does more than just conjure up nostalgia for an old familiar song: It creates a whole, whimsical world. She may not have been swept up in a tornado, and she may not be wearing ruby slippers, but Wilson’s lost relationship might as well be in a whole other dimension.

“Somewhere Over Laredo” follows a big night for Wilson at the 2025 ACM Awards, where she was crowned Entertainer of the Year.

The singer also recently shared a new collaboration with Miranda Lambert and Reba McEntire, called “Trailblazer.”

Here Are Lainey Wilson’s “Somewhere Over Laredo” Lyrics:

Caught me a red eye flight out of Houston / Find me a window seat with a view / Headed out West for South California / One Tito’s in, I’m thinking ’bout you

In that little border town / Where the desert glows gold when the sun goes down / My head’s 30,000 feet in the clouds / Knowing 20 minutes from now / I’ll be..

Chorus:

Somewhere over Laredo / Dreamin’ about those rodeo nights / Laid there on the banks of the Rio / New silver buckle on your jeans next to mine / Couple wrong for each other / Lone Star-crossed lovers / Born to get gone from the get go / But you’re on my mind every time I’m chasing this neon rainbow / Somewhere over Laredo

I’m flyin’ high on a 737 / Yeah, boy, I’m eye level with these stars / You’d think I’d be five miles closer to Heaven / But I reckon Heaven’s down there where you are / Do you stop and stare / At the Texas sky / Up in the air / And wonder if I am…

Repeat Chorus

Where the blackbirds fly / Once in a lullaby / For a second I’m still yours / And you’re still mine

Repeat Chorus