Tommy Womack’s latest single, ‘Just Another Shooting’, tackles attitudes towards gun ownership in the United States. It’s a controversial topic that frequently makes the news due to the frequency of shootings in schools and other public spaces. Indeed, the song was written in the aftermath of the 2023 Covenant School shooting in Nashville. Womack says, “It’s one thing to see it on the television week after week, then it happens at home, and for some stupid reason, it means more when it happens at home.” His almost-casual delivery throughout the song and the repetition of key lines serve the song’s purpose well, indicating a lack of value placed on the lives lost: “It’s just another shooting // Just another shooting // There’ll be another one next week // And another // And another // And another // And another…It’s no big deal.” Musically, ‘Just Another Shooting’ lays a catchy vocal melody over a strong rhythm – the result is easy to listen to and feels immediately familiar, which reinforces the message.
Womack says of the song’s weighty theme: “Written from the (very ironic) perspective of a serious gun owner. The kind of guy who likes his picture made carrying his AR-15. It’s also about every damn American. My countrymen. A shooting happens, the left all look down, shake their heads and whisper, “Ah, jeez,” and the right jump up and down about how all our freedoms are at stake if you take away our God-given right to show up to work with an automatic rifle and spray the room. I hope this song will offer some strange comfort to some people and make other people want to kick my ass.”
Of the video, Womack adds: “I think I remember that country music festival in Las Vegas when that prick on an upper floor of a hotel decided to amuse himself by sticking one of of his several guns out of his window and started killing and wounding however many people he could. Ahh… just another shooting, people think. How else can you deal with it? I’m a gun nut in the video. I’m often smiling. I’m smiling because I’m this same guy, the same guy who shoots everybody every time it happens, because it makes me happy, or purged, or closer to God or the Devil or whichever one I’m hoping to be introduced to someday. Irakli Gabriel and Anana Kaye did a fantastic video. It’s dark, black and white and beats out in an ominous quality any contentment the guy (me) ever shows. This video won’t change the world, but we all have to do our part to stomp those guns in the dirt maybe save one school from dead and fractured lives.”
The single is from the forthcoming album “Live a Little” from the Nashville-based singer. Due out on 5th December 2025, the new record – Womack’s ninth studio release – promises to be a reflective collection, written from the perspective of someone older and wiser, who has experienced what life has to offer and has lived and learned and grown as a result. Uncomfortable subject matter is balanced by humour. Womack shares: “The most memorable moment for me was hearing ‘Just Another Shooting’ come through the speakers with the vocals done and everything. I can’t picture people listening to that without being affected somehow.”
Produced by Eric ‘Roscoe’ Ambel, ‘Just Another Shooting’ is a powerful, deliberately provocative song that demands your attention – check it out.
