‘Oneida’ by Tyler Childers - Lyrics & Meaning

Much like ‘Nose on the Grindstone’ - the lead single from Tyler Childers’ 2025 studio album, Snipe Hunter - ‘Oneida’ is a longstanding fan-favourite that Childers aficionados had given up hope of ever being given an official streaming release.

However, to our surprise, in 2025 we got a teaser trailer for Snipe Hunter, which featured a character named ’Oneida’ being called up for a haircut, as the protagonist looks furtively her way. Shortly after, Childers revealed he'd be dropping ‘Oneida’ as the second single from Snipe Hunter on Wednesday, July 2nd 2025.

The Kentucky maverick first performed the lovestruck ode in 2016 during his second Red Barn Radio session, with ‘Oneida’ being given a fresh lick of paint by Rick Rubin in 2025. It follows a boy who falls madly in love with a woman much older than him.

It's been suggested that the ‘perfectionist’ religious Oneida society of New York, which was founded in the 1800s and was characterised by practices such as group marriage and communalism, inspired the name of this song. The Oneida society reportedly encouraged older women to act as sexual ‘mentors’ to younger men.

With fans becoming familiar with the acoustic version of ‘Oneida’ for the best part of ten years, many were wary as to how Tyler Childers and Rick Rubin would reimagine ‘Oneida’ for Snipe Hunter. Thankfully, for the majority of the song, ‘Oneida’ maintains the stripped-back composition of the Red Barn Radio version, which mirrors the intimacy and gentility that permeates these rose-tinted first few lines.

Then, as the song approaches its crescendo, Childers and Rubin introduce a euphoric wave of instrumentation, with horns and strings creating a sense of untethered jubilation.

As was the case on ‘Nose on the Grindstone’, Childers’ vocals are as clear and lucid as they've ever been, with his haunting, yearning croons piercing through the bright guitar riff.

“Back before birthdays were something she dreads
Back before children had settled her friends
Back when the radio spoke to her heart
Oh girls, they wanna have fun”

Right out of the gates, Tyler Childers makes it clear the woman he is singing about is an older woman, referencing how she has reached an age where she dreads her birthday, and virtually all of her contemporaries have settled down with children.

He implies she didn't go down this route, before giving us a hint as to her age by revealing Cyndi Lauper's 1983 hit, ‘Girls, Just Wanna Have Fun’, is one of her favourite tracks.

“I lay here awake and I laugh at her jokes
She is referencing movies I'm too young to know
And I'm letting her lead as we dance in the dark
Oh girl, I'm falling in love”

However, despite their age gap, the protagonist underlines that he remains utterly infatuated by Oneida, with Childers warmly describing the lead character as laying awake for hours on end as he laughs at her jokes. He again touches on the discrepancy in age, as he admits he's too young to get most of her movie references.

Nonetheless, they enjoy each other's company and dance gleefully with one another in the dark. The fact that the protagonist outlines that he is letting Oneida lead the dance could be a veiled nod to the Oneida community, with this portrayal hinting that the woman is seemingly fulfilling a mentor role to our main character.

“Oneida, I know that I'm younger than most
But I'm willing if you've got the time
To buy us some wine
I’ll play my guitar
I've been workin' on learning that song you’ve been dying to sing
About weddings and rings
I'll strum in the back
And come in where I can harmonize on a line or two
But this song's all you”

Throughout the longing hook, the protagonist pleads with Oneida to look past their age difference and embrace their romance. He endearingly reveals he's been learning a song she loves on his guitar, so that he can serenade her the next time they're together. Childers fondly remarks, “this song's all you”, giving himself the harmonies on just a line or two, which highlights how he wants her to be centre-stage. It's perhaps implied in the opening verse that Oneida has never had things work out the way she planned in life, and that she potentially feels a little left behind. Our protagonist heartwarmingly wants to make her see how special she really is.

“Pleading my case with the bro at the door
Buddy, I know we've been through this before
You can't let me go in but if I wait outside
Will you give her a message for me?”

As the song progresses, we get a snapshot of a scene where the protagonist is begging Oneida's brother at her door to let him in. The listener is left to fill in the blanks, and we can either assume that Oneida reciprocates his feelings, but doesn't want to continue their affair because she feels it isn't right, due to their significant age gap, or, we can speculate that she doesn't, in fact, feel the same way, and our protagonist can't accept that. We have to remember, of course, that we're being told the entire story through the perspective of the younger boy.

When performing it for the first time during his 2016 Red Barn Radio session, Childers explained the story behind the song, “This one's been collecting dust in the closet. This is one I wrote, probably right before I played last time [in 2013]. I probably ain't played it but a handful of times since. This is about loving older ladies”.

“Back before birthdays were something she dreads
Back before children had settled her friends
Back when the radio spoke to her heart
Oh girls, they wanna have fun

-

I lay here awake and I laugh at her jokes
She is referencing movies I'm too young to know
And I'm letting her lead as we dance in the dark
Oh girl, I'm falling in love

-

Oneida, I know that I'm younger than most
But I'm willing if you've got the time
To buy us some wine
I’ll play my guitar
I've been workin' on learning that song you’ve been dying to sing
About weddings and rings
I'll strum in the back
And come in where I can harmonize on a line or two
But this song's all you

-

Pleading my case with the bro at the door
Buddy, I know we've been through this before
You can't let me go in but if I wait outside
Will you give her a message for me?

-

Tell her, "Oneida, I know that I'm younger than most
But I'm willing if you've got the time
To buy us some wine
I'll bring my guitar
I've been workin' on learning that song you've been dying to sing
About weddings and rings
I'll strum in the back
And come in where I can harmonize on a line or two
But this song's all you”

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