Is Darius Rucker’s ‘Straight to Hell’ a Hit? Listen and Sound Off!

"Straight to Hell" is a unicorn on Darius Rucker's most recent studio album. An otherwise tightly packaged project comes loose for a single song. The only thing like it in his catalog of hits is his last hit collaboration with Charles Kelley.

Yes, it's easy to compare "Straight to Hell" with "Wagon Wheel," Rucker's Grammy-winning song from 2013. Both are covers, both rely on tipsy, acoustic guitar lines and both become massive singalongs by the time the final verse (the last of many) rolls in. There's a minstrel spirit that's both familiar and unique against any two songs on the radio.

The truth is, Rucker probably didn't even need Kelley, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean to make this song a hit.

But the 52-year-old finds new energy among his friends. With the pressure off of him, he's able to embrace the lazy shuffle that makes this vagrant story come to life. Rucker keeps a firm grip on his best ballads and most emphatic uptempo love songs, but this story of a young man's poor decisions is allowed to roam free aside from a few bumps from four identifiable country vocalists.

Did You Know?: An Atlanta-based Southern rock band called Drivin' and Cryin' originally recorded "Straight to Hell." Rucker had always wanted to cover it, but one day Kelley called him out of the blue suggesting they collaborate.

How Darius Rucker Got His Friends to Help Cut "Straight to Hell"

Darius Rucker (Feat. Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Charles Kelley)'s "Straight to Hell" Lyrics: 

I grew up just west of the tracks / Holdin' me to hold me back / Around your door she's callin' out my name / She said son, won't you go outside / I come in at 5 a.m. / And she is waiting for me / She said where have you been / I said I was out / She said you're no good ‘cause you're running without love.

Chorus:
And I'm going straight to hell / Just like my mama said / I'm going straight to hell / I'm going straight to hell / Just like my mama said / I’m going straight to hell.

The black widow and the ladies' man / Met down at the laundromat / And tried to make me understand / Just then her mother burst in / And said you're the son of that bitch in the wind / Get out of my house / And hit the road / And I kept falling like a Rolling Stones song.

The stars came out and warned me so / As I walked on down the road / Fifty bucks and a suitcase steered me clear / She took my hand as we walked into the sun / A new day's promise had just begun / We'll make it alone whether you like it or not / And I turned around and shouted help me, mama cause ...