Contemporary country music
There are several recent country songs whose lyrics I like. I thought I'd start sharing these here, it's not a genre most Sphereans are likely to encounter much, and I think many here might enjoy the wordsmithing. First up:
"Written in the Sand" by Old Dominion I'm not a huge fan of the video itself, which is the same generic "glamor of a band on tour" presentation everyone has seen a million times. But I love the song, and the way those internal rhymes add so much torque to the idea being presented. (The video is the sanitized version, but I'm leaving the profanity in the lyrics below because of the rhyme.) According to Wikipedia, "Lead vocalist Matthew Ramsey wrote the song with group members Trevor Rosen and Brad Tursi, along with Shane McAnally, who produced it." Lyrics: Turn me on, turn me off, then you turn me back on by the weekend And you won’t say the words that I want but you flirt when you’re drinkin’ I see those bubbles pop up like you’re texting then they disappear Let's cut through the shit then let’s get to what we’re doing here Are we just a backseat, tryna get it while we can? Are we names in a tattoo, or just a number on a hand? Are we last-call kissing or will we be reminiscing with each other for the next forty years? Are we written in the stars, baby, or are we written in the sand? Yeah, I want you to want me to take you back home to my mama Put my name on your lips, call me yours and forget all this drama (forget it all) Your makeup is next to my toothbrush but you never put it away on the shelf I'm asking you baby 'cause I’m tired of asking myself (tired of asking myself) Are we just a backseat, tryna get it while we can? Are we names in a tattoo, or just a number on a hand? Are we-last call kissing, are we dancing in the kitchen, baby tell me what it is or what it isn't? Are we written in the stars, baby, or are we written in the sand? Are we just a backseat, tryna get it while we can? Are we names in a tattoo, or just a number I should wash right off my hand? (wash right off my hand) Are we last-call kissing or will we be reminiscing with each other for the next forty years? Are we written in the stars baby, or are we written in the sand? Are we written in the stars baby, or are we written in the sand? |
Thanks, Julie. I think this will be a fun thread. There's lots of great story-telling ballads in country music, of course--and so-called alt-country has produced some great lyricists like Jay Farrar and Rhett Miller. But the first lyric that your thread brought to my mind is this recent "mainstream" country single from Ashley MacBryde. The content skirts close to Nashville cliche, but I find real dexterity in her wordplay.
A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega [Verse 1] To the bag packed, first love leaver The heart cracked, double down dreamer The homesick for grass that's greener And a slice of Mama's peach pie [Verse 2] To the flat broke, couch cushion gas money The worker bee that ain't gettin' no honey Missin' someone all the while runnin' Gunnin' for the brighter lights [Chorus] Here's to the break ups that didn't break us The break down, wrong turn that takes ya To a little dive bar in Dahlonega Hear a song from a band that saves ya, man It's hittin' rock bottom smoke 'em if you got 'em Nothing's going right Makin' the best of the worst day kinda night [Verse 3] We've all got a number that we don't wanna drunk dial And a good friend we ain't seen in a while And a slow dance left in these boots And a chance at putting down new roots [Chorus] Here's to the break ups that didn't break us The break down, wrong turn that takes ya To a little dive bar in Dahlonega Hear a song from a band that saves ya, man It's hittin' rock bottom smoke 'em if you got 'em Nothing's going right Makin' the best of the worst day kinda night [Chorus] Here's to the break ups that didn't break us The break down, wrong turn that takes ya To a little dive bar in Dahlonega Meet a girl outside Atlanta, man It's hittin' rock bottom smoke 'em if you got 'em Nothing's going right You're just singing along with your drink riased A pretty little blonde thing's looking your way Makin' the best of the worst day kinda night Yeah, it's making the best of the worst day kind of night [Outro] Oh Here's to the breakups It's that kinda night |
Just about any time I listen to country music I'm bowled over by some lyric or another. And still I only seem to listen by accident. Last week a band we'd come to hear at a park let a country singer do a short set in the middle of their performance. Among his songs was one (by Merle Haggard? Willie Nelson? The internet makes it easier to learn who's sung a song than who wrote it) with this great title:
"I'm Always Here at Home Till Closing Time" I remember Kurt Vonnegut preferring country lyrics to those of Bob Dylan. |
Dear Hate
by Maren Morris, featuring Vince Gill Dear Hate, I saw you on the news today Like a shock that takes my breath away You fall like rain Cover us in drops of pain I'm afraid that we just might drown Dear Hate, Well, you sure are colorblind Your kiss is the cruelest kind You could poison any mind Just look at mine Don't know how this world keeps spinning round and round You were there in the garden like a snake in the grass I see you in the morning staring through the looking glass You whisper down through history and echo through these halls But I hate to tell you, love's gonna conquer all Dear Hate, You were smiling from that Selma bridge; In Dallas, when that bullet hit, and Jackie cried; You pulled those towers from the sky But even on our darkest nights, the world keeps spinning round You were there in the garden like a snake in the grass I see you in the morning staring through the looking glass You whisper down through history and echo through these halls But I hate to tell you, love's gonna conquer all Dear Love Just when I think you've given up You were there in the garden when I ran from your voice I hear you every morning through the chaos and the noise You still whisper down through history and echo through these halls And tell me love's gonna conquer all Gonna conquer all ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ She sure does pen a good song. Pens a pretty good essay, too. |
Okay. Let's talk Kacey Musgraves.
Soooooo hard to choose only one song. She's written so many clever ones. Okay, I'll go with her 2014 Best Country Song Grammy winner. (Which beat out another of her songs that I love, also nominated, but recorded by another artist.) The song "Merry Go 'Round" contains the title reference for her album Same Trailer, Different Park (the 2014 Best County Album Grammy winner, BTW). Merry Go 'Round Written and performed by Kacey Musgraves If you ain't got two kids by 21 You're probably gonna die alone At least that's what tradition told you And it don't matter if you don't believe Come Sunday morning you best be There in the front row, like you're s'posed to Same hurt in every heart Same trailer, different park Mama's hooked on Mary Kay Brother's hooked on Mary Jane And Daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down Mary Mary quite contrary We get bored so we get married And just like dust we settle in this town On this broken merry go 'round And 'round and 'round we go Where it stops nobody knows And it ain't slowin' down This merry go 'round We think the first time's good enough So we hold on to high school love Say we won't end up like our parents Tiny little boxes in a row Ain't what you want it's what you know Just happy in the shoes you're wearin' Same checks we're always cashin' To buy a little more distraction Mama's hooked on Mary Kay Brother's hooked on Mary Jane And Daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down Mary Mary quite contrary We get bored so we get married And just like dust we settle in this town On this broken merry go 'round And 'round and 'round we go Where it stops nobody knows And it ain't slowin' down This merry go 'round Mary Mary quite contrary We're so bored until we're buried And just like dust we settle in this town On this broken merry go 'round And 'round and 'round we go Where it stops nobody knows And it ain't slowin' down This merry go 'round Jack and Jill went up the hill Jack burned out on booze and pills And Mary had a little lamb Mary just don't give a damn no more |
A nice, gritty lyric. But I find most contemporary country unlistenable, especially that by Gen-Xers with a choke in their voice.
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Good idea for a thread, Julie. I like Kacey Musgraves, and I think that is her best song.
I'll come in with this from the Pistol Annies. For those who don't know, they are a sort of "super group" made up of Miranda Lambert, Angaleena Presley, and Ashley Monroe, who also share songwriting credits on this: HOUSEWIFE'SS PRAYER I've been thinking about Setting my house on fire Can't see a way out of the mess I'm in And the bills keep getting higher All I need is a match and a gallon of gas God I'm getting tired Gonna set this house on fire I've been thinking about Going off the deep end My man can't get no overtime And the baby ain't been sleeping All I need is a washing machine These hands have gone fading I'm about to go off the deep end Well I've been thinking about All these pills I'm taking I wash them down with an ice cold beer And a love I ain't been making Oh, I feel like I'm burning up With words I ain't been saying And all these pills I'm taking I've been thinking about Setting my house on fire David R. |
Here's one I like by one one of the aforementioned Pistol Annies, Angaleena Presley:
DRY COUNTY BLUES one traffic light in front of the high school kids in the parking lot fixing to lie to an old worn-out deputy, don't even carry a gun there's a car full of pillbillies looking to score from one of them trailer court front porch drug stores and a tired coal miner on a long West Virginia beer run dry county blues, not a beer joint in sight half the county's laid off, laid up or gettin' high at the head of the holler there's a makeshift casino with a rusty pool table and blackjack and bingo ain't nothing illegal as long as the sheriff gets paid there's good Christian women locking their front doors praying their daughters don't turn into meth whores while their sons are out drinkin' and drivin' and trying to get laid nowhere to go, not a damn thing to do so you turn a blind eye, and barely get by dry county blues David R. |
One more for tonight, just cause I love it. I think Brandy Clark is a very good songwriter:
DRINKIN' SMOKIN' CHEATIN' I ain't been drinkin', but if I was drinkin' I think I'd be drinkin' bourbon And right now you'd be a blur And I wouldn't hear a word 'Cause I'd be good and drunk That's for certain I ain't been smokin', but if I was smokin' I know I'd be smokin' weed When you blow all our money I'd laugh, it'd be funny 'Cause high as a kite is where I'd be I love you, baby But sometimes, baby You dance on my last nerve And I get an insane kind of urge I ain't been cheatin', but if I was cheatin' That's right I'd be cheatin' on you I am just daydreaming Thank God I ain't been cheatin' 'Cause if I was I'd be losing you I ain't been drinkin', smokin' or cheatin' 'Cause if I was, I'd be losing you David R. (I'll be back later with some Margo Price.) |
Songwriters Brandy Clark (from Post #9 in this thread), Shane McAnally (from Post #1) and Kacey Musgraves (from Post #5) bring you
"Mama's Broken Heart" performed by Miranda Lambert (from Post #7) I cut my bangs with some rusty kitchen scissors I screamed his name til the neighbors called the cops I numbed the pain at the expense of my liver Don't know what I did next, all I know, I couldn't stop Word got around to the barflies and the Baptists My mama's phone started ringin' off the hook I can hear her now sayin' she ain't gonna have it Don't matter how you feel, it only matters how you look Go and Fix your make up Girl it's Just a break up Run an' Hide your crazy And start actin' like a lady 'Cause I Raised you better, Gotta Keep it together Even when you fall apart, But this ain't my mama's broken heart I wish I could be just a little less dramatic Like a Kennedy when Camelot went down in flames Leave it to me to be holdin' the matches When the fire trucks show up and there's nobody else to blame Can't get revenge and keep a spotless reputation Sometimes revenge is a choice you gotta make My mama came from a softer generation Where you get a grip and bite your lip just to save a little face Go and Fix your make up Girl it's Just a break up Run an' Hide your crazy And start actin' like a lady 'Cause I Raised you better, Gotta Keep it together Even when you fall apart, But this ain't my mama's broken heart Powder your nose Paint your toes Line your lips and keep 'em closed Cross your legs, dot your I's And never let 'em see you cry Go and Fix your make up Girl it's Just a break up Run an' Hide your crazy And start actin' like a lady 'Cause I Raised you better, Gotta Keep it together Even when you fall apart, But this ain't my mama's broken heart |
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