Songfacts®:

• Over blazing '90s guitars, Carrie Underwood sings of a past relationship that refuses to fade away. Despite her ex's attempts to move on, she warns him he will always be reminded of her every time he gets into his truck.
• Underwood imagines her former lover driving down the same roads they once traveled together.
  
  My memory remains, stuck
  So good luck trying to rid me out of that truck
  
  Like her 2005 hit "Before He Cheats," Underwood uses a truck to explore themes of revenge and heartbreak. In contrast to the blatant destruction in "Cheats," "Out Of That Truck" portrays a more nuanced way of getting back at her ex. "Well, it was inevitable, I guess. I knew someday I'd have a truck song that I wasn't, uh, I wasn't wreckin' it," she joked in a clip shared on Twitter.
• Underwood co-wrote "Out Of That Truck" with her producer David Garcia, and with Lydia Vaughan, the co-writer of "If I Didn't Love You," her duet with Jason Aldean.
  
  "The inspiration behind 'Out Of That Truck' is basically just about the physical markers that somebody can leave behind in your life, and I feel like we've all got those to some extent," said Underwood. "Whether you're like walking through the house that you grew up in and you see things of your parents or some book or piece of jewelry or something that it's like, those things remind you of somebody and feel like if you grew up in a small town like I did, you spend a lot of time in your vehicle."
  
  "When I think back to friends or people that I dated or whatever, it's kind of like you remember being with them in vehicles, and if you have something that you've had for a long time, you can definitely kind of look over to the seat next to you and almost see the other person there," she continued. "So, that's kind of what it's all about, you know, a love that is no more, but you've kind of left your mark everywhere."
• The singer also co-produced the song alongside David Garcia. Underwood wanted to create a driving, guitar-heavy sound without making the song too aggressive. Instead, she aimed to imbue it with energy so listeners could sing along and be transported by its vibe. "It's kind of just one of those wanting it to take you somewhere and you can sing along with it," Underwood explained. "It's just kind of a cool vibe. Just trying to do country truck songs in a different kind of way, just wanting it to be moving and kind of a tempo song."
• Carrie Underwood shared an in-studio video of herself recording the vocals for "Out Of That Truck." She revealed that there was one particular line in the first verse that proved quite challenging for her to sing correctly:
  
  That messed up tape deck's still stuck playin' that mix I made for you
  
  Underwood struggled to get the phrasing right and can be heard singing gibberish before bursting into laughter. "That is the hard line," she jokingly told Garcia. "Hardest line I've ever had to sing."
  
  It's worth noting the irony here, as Underwood could have easily written a simpler line for herself but instead chose to challenge herself and push her vocal abilities.
• Carrie Underwood released "Out Of That Truck" on her 40th birthday, March 10, 2023. It was her first music since her ninth studio album, Denim & Rhinestones, dropped in June 2022. This song and the first single from that project, "Ghost Story," share a common thread in their subject matter: both songs offer a haunting depiction of a past relationship that continues to linger in the present. But this time, carefree '90s country-style instrumentals complement Underwood's commanding vocals.
• "Out Of That Truck" is the latest in a series of songs released in the 2020s that touch upon the enduring memories of past relationships associated with a vehicle. Others include Tim McGraw's "7500 OBO" and Dylan Scott's "New Truck."