Chris Stapleton’s hit “White Horse” is not a love song with a tidy ending. With Josh Brolin in the story, it feels like a clear warning about the road, the ego, and the damage people pretend not to see. It comes from Higher, his 2023 album, but the story behind it has been waiting for years to be told.
Stapleton and Dan Wilson wrote it around 2012, aiming for The Lone Ranger soundtrack, and Disney turned it down. Instead of polishing the edges, Stapleton kept the grit, and the lyrics admit he is not the hero someone wants.
In this new cinematic chapter, filmed in Marfa, Texas, he plays the lawman chasing a Bonnie-and-Clyde couple into chaos. Mae McKagan and Tommy Martinez carry the run, and the tension hints at a father watching his daughter slip away. Stapleton and Morgane even appear, like a quiet reminder that real life follows every headline and every mile.
The directors at Running Bear Films built it with Strange Arcade, and even the car explosion feels personal. Maybe that is why “White Horse” swept big stages, winning two Grammys in 2024 and two top CMA awards.
Chris Stapleton – White Horse (Official Music Video)
All of that weight in “White Horse,” the broken myth, the bruised ego, and the quiet violence, is not just in the lyrics. The casting, the desert setting, and the cold stare from Josh Brolin only make full sense once you watch how the chase plays out moment by moment. This is the piece that turns Stapleton’s warning into a full neo-Western scene, filmed in the dust and distance of Marfa, Texas.
Chris Stapleton – White Horse (Official Lyric Video)
Stapleton took “White Horse” to the CMA Awards on Nov. 8, 2023, in Nashville, with a wall of guitars and that raw roar. With Morgane on harmonies, the song feels less like a performance and more like a reckoning. It is no surprise it later won Single of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2024 CMA Awards, then earned two Grammys in 2024.