Wright wrote the song following an incident in which a lady in a minivan told her she was supporting "baby killers", which are the United States Marine Corps.

It initially only reached number 54 on the US Hot Country Songs chart, marking her lowest peaking single since "She Went Out for Cigarettes" from 2000.

[2] She told Billboard magazine that in mid-2003, she was driving in Nashville when a motorist in a minivan behind her noticed the Marine Corps sticker on the artist's bumper.

She went on to say that when the woman finally pulled up next to her and motioned for her to roll down her window she screamed "Your war is wrong.

[4][8] Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in his review of The Metropolitan Hotel, described the song as follows: "[T]he cloying 'The Bumper of My S.U.V.'

is well-intentioned but is one of the more awkward Iraqi war songs — but those missteps only enhance the feeling that this album is a personal work for Wright, and that she's willing to make mistakes along the way.

The music video features her performance of the song on the Grand Ole Opry intercut with footage shot during her visits with troops in Iraq.