NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Nashville country music singer’s new song is making waves across the country, especially with SEC football fans.

Conner Smith is a Nashville native and his latest song, “I Hate Alabama,” has gone viral. The song really took off on Saturday night after Alabama’s football team lost their first game since 2019.

Smith said he wanted to release the song in time for college football season, which is why he posted a short clip of it on social media. The attention it got prompted his record label to decide to release it the next week, which just happened to be the day before the Crimson Tide lost.

The song’s lyrics, “I hate Alabama, ever since ’06. They get us every season, wish I could say that’s the only reason that I hate Alabama,” focuses on the Tennessee Vols’ losses to Alabama. Smith is a diehard UT fan, and said the inspiration was easy to find.

But the song itself isn’t just about football.

“The song is about football and it talks about how Alabama beats you every year, but at the end of the day, the reason you hate Alabama is because that’s where you lost your girl,” said Smith. “It brings back memories. I make the analogy of when you have a favorite song, but it’s tied to your ex, it ruins the whole song. You don’t really hate Alabama, you just hate the memory.”

Smith said he has had a number of Alabama fans reach out to him when the song was released saying they liked it, but after the loss, he definitely got a little more hate from upset fans.

Smith has another single out now called “Learn From It,” which is on country radio. He’s also on tour right now, which includes a stop in Alabama. For more of Smith’s music, go to connersmithmusic.com.