Diva Spotlight: Miranda Lambert

Miranda Lambert's single Kerosene came out on the radio when I was 13 years old, and even though I didn't follow her all the way from 2nd Runner Up on Nashville Star, I prayed that the girl wouldn't be a one hit wonder because that song was just too good. My prayer was answered thankfully, and now I almost have more Miranda Lambert music that I could know what to do with and I'm always looking for more. She's sassy, she's bold, she loves pink, and she loves animals - that's more than enough for me.

Here's a quick 30 second bio on Lambert if you're not familiar:

-Currently 36 years old

-Born in Longview, TX

-Married FDNY firefighter Brendan McLoughlin in January 2019

-Vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, pianist, washboard artist

-Has won 57 awards as of August 2020, including 13 CMAs, 28 ACMs, and 2 Grammys

-Has released 10 studio albums as of August 2020 (7 solo and 3 collaborations with the musical trio Pistol Annies)

As has become tradition, I've picked my three favorite songs from each of Lambert's 7 studio albums to highlight, but I highly recommend listening to the albums as a whole because they're all pretty good.

Kerosene (2005)

Lambert's debut country album was released March 15th, 2005 by Epic Nashville. Running at 46:26, it brought forth four singles: Me and Charlie Talking (10/23/2004), Bring Me Down (4/16/2005), Kerosene (9/27/2005), and New Strings (4/22/2006). The album was very successful, winning Album of the Year at the 43rd Academy of Country Music Awards, and it has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for having sold over one million copies since its release. Kerosene is a really fun first album with a definite honky tonk type feel, and it was super nostalgic to go back and listen to it. No questions asked, I knew what my favorite songs were right off the bat.

Track 1: Kerosene (written by M. Lambert, S. Earle)

This is still one of my top Lambert songs from her entire career and probably always will be. The music video is amazing, and it's a song that's perfect for cranking up super loud when you're driving down the highway.

I'm waiting on the sun to set 'cause yesterday ain't over yet/I started smoking cigarettes, there's nothing else to do, I guess/Dusty roads ain't made for walking, spinning tires ain't made for stopping/I'm giving up on love, 'cause love's given up on me/I gave it everything I had, and everything I got was bad/Life ain't hard, but it's too long living like some country song/Trade the truth in for a lie, cheating really ain't a crime/I'm giving up on love, 'cause love's given up on me

Track 4: New Strings (written by M. Lambert)

I think I'll always have a soft spot for this song in Lambert's repertoire, too. It shows off her vocals a little bit better than Kerosene does, and it's another really great driving song.

I bet this road'll take me outta here/Take me far away from Amarillo/I bet this car will go real fast, the wheels might even drive me past/The places that you said I'd never go, oh/This Texas sky is the biggest one I've seen/But it still ain't big enough for you and me/And all the things that make you mad and all the baggage in your past don't leave much room for a girl like me to be/So I'll fill her up with hope and worn out dreams/And I'll grab the wheel and I'll point it west, pack the good and leave thee rest/I'll drive until I find the missing piece/You said I wouldn't get too far on a tank of gas and an empty heart/But I got everything I'll ever need/I got this old guitar and a brand new set of strings

Track 7: Me and Charlie Talking (written by H. Little, M. Lambert, R. Lambert)

This song is so bouncy and fun on the surface with surprisingly deep and slightly sad lyrics underneath telling the story of young love changing over time. I liked it right away, and now I like to sing it to my dog Charlie because he gets excited hearing his name.

Me and Charlie Boy used to go walking/Sitting in the woods behind my house/When being lovers meant a stolen kiss/And holding hands with nobody else around/Charlie said he wanted to get married/But we were only ten, so we had to wait/Said we'd never let our love run dry/Like so many do these days/So we treat our love like a firefly, like it only gets to shine for a little while/Catch it in a Mason Jar with holes in the top and run like hell to show it off/Oh, promises were made when we'd go walking/But that's just me and Charlie talking

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2007)

Lambert's sophomore country album was released May 1st, 2007 by Columbia Nashville. With a 37:25 run time, this album gave us four singles: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (12/26/2006), Famous in a Small Town (4/2/2007), Gunpowder & Lead (1/14/2008), and More Like Her (9/1/2008), all of which are really, really good. The album has since been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA for selling over 1.5 million copies since its release. This album's a little rougher around the edges than Kerosene was, and that is a-okay because it's an absolute blast to listen to. There actually was a joke around the time that this album came out that of the three "leading ladies" of 2000's country music, if you cheated on them, Taylor Swift would write a song about you and make a million dollars, Carrie Underwood would vandalize your car, and Miranda Lambert would just straight up kill you. I had a little more trouble narrowing down my top 3 on this one, but it still wasn't too hard.

Track 1: Gunpowder & Lead (written by H. Little, M. Lambert)

This song is an ANTHEM for women who are done taking shit from anyone and everyone. Just listening to this song hypes me up to do just about anything I've set my mind to that day.

County Road 233 under my feet/Nothing on this white rock but little old me/I've got two miles 'til he makes bail/And if I'm right, we're headed straight for Hell/I'm going home, gonna load my shotgun, wait by the door and light a cigarette/He wants a fight, well, now he's got one, he ain't seen me crazy yet/Slapped my face and he shook me like a rag doll, don't that sound like a real man/I'm gonna show him what little girls are made of: gunpowder and lead

Track 7: More Like Her (written by M. Lambert)

This song is on the total opposite end of the spectrum from Gunpowder & Lead, but it's so simple and beautiful and sad it just breaks my heart. She really showcases the pain of losing the man she loved to his ex through her vocals and really makes you feel for her.

She's beautiful in her simple little way/She don't have too much to say when she gets mad/She understands, she don't let go of anything/Even when the pain gets really bad/I guess I shoulda been more like that/You had it all for a pretty little while/And somehow, you made me smile when I was sad/You took a chance on a bruised and broken heart/And then you realized you wanted what you had/I guess I should've been more like that/I should have held on to my pride/I should have never let you lie/I guess you got what you deserved/I guess I shoulda been more like her

Track 9: Guilty In Here (written by M. Lambert, T. Howard)

This song's just a lot of fun to listen to. I really like Lambert as a lyricist because she can be really funny at times, and this is one of the songs where that really gets to shine through.

God knows I tried everything I could to stay inside tonight/But that boy's like a sore in your mouth that you just have to bite/Him Number One is shaking hands with Numbers Two and Three/Is it guilty in here, or is it just me/I've made a point of not mixing love and pleasure in my life/'Cause daytime boys and nighttime boys usually don't see eye to eye/But I've been on a roll of late, and they're all down on their knees/Is it guilty in here, or is it just me

Revolution (2009)

Lambert's third country album was released September 29th, 2009 by Columbia Nashville. Running at 50:52, the album provided five singles to the radio: Dead Flowers (5/4/2009), White Liar (8/17/2009), The House That Built Me (3/8/2010), Only Prettier (7/26/2010), and Heart Like Mine (1/10/2011). Revolution has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA for selling over two million copies since its release. As far as radio listening, this is the album I'm the most familiar with because of how often the five singles were played on the radio so I know them all pretty well, and this album does have some of my favorite Lambert songs on it for sure, so here are my top 3.

Track 1: White Liar (written by M. Lambert, N. Hemby)

For a good while, this was my favorite Lambert song period until it was dethroned by one of my favorites on the following album. I love the video, I love the lyrics, and I love singing along to this song.

You better be careful what you do, I wouldn't wanna be in your shoes/If they ever found you out/You better be careful what you say, it never really added up anyway/I got friends in this town/Hey, white liar/Truth comes out a little at a time/And it spreads just like a fire/Slips off of your tongue like turpentine/And I don't know why, white liar

Track 2: Only Prettier (written by M. Lambert, N. Hemby)

I listened to and sang along with this song A LOT during my college years because it reminded me of my relationships with a lot of other women in my life at the time, both positive and not so positive. If you're from the south, you'll understand the sentiment behind this song better than most because it's how a lot of us were raised.

Well, I've been saved by the grace of southern charm/I got a mouth like a sailor, and yours is more like a Hallmark card/If you wanna pick a fight, well, I'm gonna have to say goodnight/I don't have to be hateful, I can just say, "Bless your heart"/And even though I don't belong with your high life friends/Doesn't mean we don't get together and try to make amends/It's easier, can't you see? Let's agree to just disagree/We don't have to like each other, but it's sure fun to pretend/So let's shake hands and reach across those party lines/You got your friends just like I got mine/We might think a little differently, but we got a lot in common you will see/We're just like you, only prettier

Track 10: The House That Built Me (written by A. Shamblin, T. Douglas)

This song has definitely become one of Lambert's best known, if not her "signature" song. It was actually supposed to go to her ex-husband Blake Shelton, but she asked if she could record it instead after she read through the song, and the rest is history.

I know they say you can't go home again/I just had to come back one last time/Ma'am, I know you don't know me from Adam/But these handprints on the front steps are mine/Up those stairs, in that little back bedroom/Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar/And I bet you didn't know, under that live oak/My favorite dog is buried in the yard/I thought if I could touch this place or feel it/This brokenness inside me might start healing/Out here, it's like I'm someone else/I thought that maybe I could find myself/If I could just come in, I swear I'll leave/Won't take nothing but a memory from the house that built me

Four the Record (2011)

Lambert's fourth album, a little more on the alternative side than just straight country, was released November 1st, 2011 by RCA Nashville. Running at 53:47, the album showed off five singles: Baggage Claim (8/22/2011), Over You (1/9/2012), Fastest Girl in Town (6/25/2012), Mama's Broken Heart (1/14/2013), and All Kinds of Kinds (6/24/2013). It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over one million records since its release. This is probably my second favorite Lambert album - I loved the slight difference in sound that she created, and my favorite Lambert song of all time (as it stands currently) is on this album as well.

Track 1: All Kinds of Kinds (written by D. Henry, P. Coleman)

This song is so catchy and it gets stuck in my head constantly. It's also got such a good message - quit pointing your finger at people that are different than you, because we've all got something weird about us and it takes all of us to make the world work.

Ilsa was an acrobat who went and fell in love with that/Horatio the Human Cannonball/A wedding 'neath the big top tent, with barkers, clown, and elephants/Sideshow family oddities and all/The Dog-Faced Boy howled out with joy/As the Tattooed Lady was crying/Ever since the beginning, to keep the world spinning/It takes all kinds of kinds

Track 5: Mama's Broken Heart (written by B. Clark, K. Musgraves, S. McAnally)

Here it is - my number one, gold medal Miranda Lambert song. I loved this song before I even knew Kacey Musgraves helped write it, but that definitely helps cement it as a favorite and it's for sure my favorite of Lambert's music videos.

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 bar flies and the baptists/My mama's phone started ringing off the hook/I can hear her now, saying she ain't gonna have it/"Don't matter how you feel, its only matters how you look/Go and fix your makeup, girl, it's just a breakup/Run and hide your crazy and start acting 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

Track 10: Over You (written by B. Shelton, M. Lambert)

Here's another simple yet beautiful song, this time that makes me cry roughly nine times out of ten. Shelton and Lambert wrote this together about Shelton's brother who was killed in a car accident as a teenager, with Lambert taking over the recording and performing of the song when Shelton told her he wouldn't be able to handle it but would be honored for her to sing it.

Weather man said it's gonna snow/By now, I should be used to the cold/Mid-February shouldn't be so scary/It was only December, I still remember/The presents, the tree/You and me/But you went away/How dare you, I miss you/They say I'll be okay/But I'm not going to ever get over you

Platinum (2014)

Lambert's fifth album, this time with a more pop country sound than alternative, was released June 3rd, 2014 by RCA Nashville. Running at 58:15, it released four singles: Automatic (2/17/2014), Somethin' Bad (5/19/2014), Little Red Wagon (1/12/2015), and Smokin' and Drinkin' (6/22/2015). Platinum won Best Country Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards and has been certified Platinum (lol) by the RIAA for selling over one million copies since its release. To be honest, this isn't my favorite album as a whole because it sounded like it was trying too hard to be poppy, but it does still have some bangers on it.

Track 5: Priscilla (written by J. Robbins, N. Hemby, N. Galyon)

I honestly hadn't even heard this song until I started doing research for this post, but damn is it a good one. Knowing how close this album was to Lambert's impending divorce from Blake Shelton gives a whole new level to the lyrics as well as she seeks advice from Priscilla Presley (Elvis's ex-wife if you didn't know).

We look like we got it made, don't we? Permanent accessory/On their arms and always on their minds/Rings, we gotta wear big rings, big smiles like figurines/Big hair for the real big kind/When they turn it on and slick back their hair, we turn around and the world's right there/Woman to woman, I'm starting to see what happened to you is happening to me/Priscilla, Priscilla, how'd you get him to yourself/Between the whistle calls and the southern dolls, it's enough to put a home through hell/Priscilla, Priscilla, he's always in high demand/How do ya or don't ya get the love you want when everybody wants your man/It's a difficult thing, being queen to the king, and I feel ya/Priscilla

Track 6: Automatic (written by M. Lambert, N. Hemby, N. Galyon)

Though Lambert's a little bit older than me, she hits me in the gut with her nostalgia trip in the lyrics of this song because I do still remember a lot of the things she talks about. While it is nice and convenient for a lot of things to be so automated nowadays, something does get lost in not having to wait and have patience for a lot of things anymore.

Quarter in a payphone, drying laundry on the line/Watching sun tea in the window, pocket watch for telling time/Seems like only yesterday, I'd get a blank cassette/Record the Country Countdown 'cause I couldn't buy it yet/If we drove all the way to Dallas just to buy an Easter dress/We'd take along a Rand McNally, stand in line to pay for gas/God knows that shifting gears ain't what it used to be/I learned to drive that '55 just like a queen, three on a tree/Hey, whatever happened to waiting your turn, doing it all by hand/'Cause when everything is handed to you, it's only worth as much as the time put in/It all just seems so good, the way we had it/Back before everything became automatic

Track 12: Somethin' Bad ft. Carrie Underwood (written by B. James, C. DeStefano, P. Renea)

This song coming out was a dream come true for me - two of the queens of country music singing a duet together was something I'd wanted for YEARS and I couldn't believe it was finally happening. Though Lambert and Underwood have extremely different vocal styles, they created something really fun with this song that's a really good time to listen to.

Pulled up to the church, but I got so nervous/Had to back it on up, couldn't make it to the service/Grabbed all the cash underneath my mattress/Got a real good feeling something bad about to happen/Ran into a girl in a pretty white dress/Rolled down a window, "Where you headed to next"/Said, "I'm heading to the bar with my money out the mattress"/Got a real good feeling something bad about to happen/Stand on the bar, stomp your feet, start clapping/I got a real good feeling something bad about to happen/Drinks keep coming, throw my head back laughing/Wake up in the morning, don't know what happened/Oh, something bad/Oh, something bad

The Weight of These Wings (2016)

Lambert's sixth album, back to a more alternative country sound, was released November 18th, 2016 by RCA Nashville and Vanner. Running a whopping 94:01, this album produced four singles: Vice (7/18/2016), We Should Be Friends (12/12/2016), Tin Man (4/3/2017), and Keeper of the Flame (4/30/2018). The Weight of These Wings has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over one million copies since its release. This is my favorite Lambert album by far because it just feels so raw and real and emotional, almost like she had more control over what she was getting to write so she could do it purely her way. The album is actually broken up onto two discs, so I thought it was only fair to pick my top 3 from each disc.

Disc 1: The Nerve

Track 1: Runnin' Just in Case (written by G. Sebastian, M. Lambert)

There's just something about this song that I really love - I think it's a mix of the steady, somewhat basic beat with the emotional vocals. This album, with this song starting it off, is back to how I felt about Lambert's earlier albums in that they're perfect road trip driving songs.

There's trouble where I'm going, but I'm gonna go there anyway/I hate Sunday mornings, 'cause they always seem to start this way/I'm looking for a lighter, I already bought the cigarettes/Guess I picked me up a habit on my way out of Lafayette/Eastbound and down, I turn it up 'cause that's sure how I feel/My mind is racing through the pines, my hands are shaky on the steering wheel/I'm going north on 59, but I know good and well I'm headed south/'Cause me and Birmingham don't have a history of working out/What I lost in Louisiana, I found back in Alabama/But nobody ever taught me how to stay/It ain't love that I'm chasing/But I'm running just in case

Track 6: Pink Sunglasses (written by L. Dick, N. Hemby, R. Clawson)

This is a song I turn on to cheer myself up when I'm having a bad day because, like the titular fashion accessory, it has magic powers that make me feel better. It's just such a fun bop that I never skip when it comes up on my phone.

I put them on whenever I sit down to read the paper/Can't explain the way they seem to work like magic/I put them on to keep it positive/Don't mean to tell you how to feel, but I'm a firm believer in the power of plastic/Positive plastic/In my pink sunglasses, always makes the world look a little bit better/In my pink sunglasses, you can try 'em on anytime you need a change of the weather/For $9.99, I'm perfectly disguised, when I'm walking by, I wanna roll my eyes/In my pink sunglasses, my pink sunglasses

Track 8: Vice (written by J. Osborne, M. Lambert, S. McAnally)

Damn, this song is just so good. I'm obsessed with the first verse being a cappella, and the song only gets better from that point onward.

Steady as a needle dropping on a vinyl/Neon singer with a jukebox title full of heartbreak/Thirty-three, forty-five, seventy-eight/When it hurts this good, you gotta play it twice/Another vice/All dressed up in a pretty black label/Sweet salvation on a dining room table waiting on me/Where the numb meets the lonely/It's gone before it ever melts the ice/Another vice, another call/Another bed I shouldn't crawl out of/At 7 AM with shoes in my hand/Said I wouldn't do it, but I did it again/And I know I'll be back tomorrow night

Disc 2: The Heart

Track 1: Tin Man (written by J. Ingram, J. Randall, M. Lambert)

This song never ever fails to make me emotional, whether my eyes just fill up or if I full on cry. It's beautiful, simple, and incredibly emotional because I think everyone can relate to it on some level from some point in their life.

Hey there, Mr. Tin Man/You don't know how lucky you are/You shouldn't spend your whole life wishing/For something bound to fall apart/Every time you're feeling empty/Better thank your lucky stars/If you ever felt one breaking/You wouldn't want a heart

Track 2: Good Ol' Days (written by A. Hood, B. Cobb, M. Lambert)

This song brings to mind some of the classics of country music and creates a calming, nostalgic atmosphere while you're listening to it. Everybody wishes sometimes they could go back in time to when life wasn't so hard, right?

Oh, southern breeze, knock me to my knees/I believe you're the only one who can/The religious and the rest, they've all tried their best/Well, I guess some things you just can't understand/Oh Lord, when will the road run out, I'm on the road but I'm in doubt/And I don't know why still I second guess my pace/If I stand to lose from winning, to find the truth, I'm willing/To start back at the beginning of the good ol' days, the good ol' days

Track 5: Well-Rested (written by A. Raitiere, A. East, M. Lambert)

I love Lambert's vocals on this song - they're a big part of what makes it so beautiful to me. I also find the chorus very relatable as someone with anxiety who has a hard time slowing down to rest sometimes.

Well, this moment is heavy/For me, I'm not ready/Like a caged bird, barely set free/Forgive me, I'm finding my wings/Well, my body is present/My heart is absent/And my mind is racing/And my feet pacing/It's your tail that you're chasing/It's the past I'm erasing/And your heart can't be tested/If it ain't well rested

Wildcard (2019)

Lambert's seventh album, this time with a rock tinge to the country, was released November 1st, 2019 by RCA Nashville and Vanner. Running at 48:53, it has so far produced two singles: It All Comes Out in the Wash (7/18/2019) and Bluebird (12/9/2019). Since its release, it has sold over 110,000 units in these last almost ten months. I LOVE this album - it's so much fun to listen to from start to finish and every song is super good.

Track 2: Mess with My Head (written by L. Dick, M. Lambert, N. Hemby)

What a banger. I'd love this one to show up on the radio because it's so classic Miranda.

Maybe it's wrong, but it feels right to me/Reveling in reverse psychology/You complicated with your lying lips/I'm waiting on a kiss/I let you mess with my, mess with my head/I let you mess with my, mess with my bed/Waking up to a wreck with blue jeans on the floor/If it ain't love, then I like it better than before/I let you mess with my, mess with my head/I let you mess with my, mess with my, uh

Track 5: Holy Water (written by B. Cobb, M. Lambert, S. Taylor, M. Harris)

This song sounds like it could belong on one of her Pistol Annies albums and I totally dig it. I love that old southern gospel feel in the melody so much.

They're pushing concrete at the courthouse whether you like it or not/So tell the bank man to cash your paycheck so you an piss in a pot/I'm stuck at home wishing I could just go fishing and throw some bait on the line/You can't skip a stone where the river's all but gone, and there ain't even a cloud in the sky/Give me some of that holy water/Just a bit of that holy water/A nip of that holy water/Holy water gonna make us drown/Take us down

Track 12: Tequila Does (written by J. Ingram, J. Randall, M. Lambert)

My country music upbringing secures that I will always love a song about tequila. The slow verses interrupted by the quicker, more upbeat chorus is super fun as well.

I'd sure like to find a cowboy tonight/To get me back in the saddle/But the boys around here drink domestic beer/They're all hat, no cattle/But I won't sleep alone, 'cause my old pal Patrón/Is taking me home tonight/They don't love me like tequila does/Nobody can/They don't give me that border town buzz/Like tequila does

Hopefully this gave you some good, fun music to listen to this week whether you were already familiar with Miranda or not. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!