OK, so I came back to Miranda Lambert sooner than I thought. I’ve been playing this album a lot lately and I really like the juxtaposition between yesterday’s heartbreaking, vulnerable song and today’s frenzied, boot-to-the-teeth one. This is what’s commonly referred to as range, ladies and gentlemen.
There is a long tradition of country break-up songs, from the cry in your beer stuff to the twisted revenge fantasies. It’s nice to see the new generation picking up that torch and running with it, whether it’s Carrie Underwood slashing her name in her ex’s leather seats or Miranda Lambert having the presence of mind to leave her pistol in the car when confronting her former lover at a bar.
The interesting (and scary) thing about Lambert is that she ain’t play-acting. Her dad is a former cop who’s now a private investigator partnered with her mom and she’s been an avid hunter and gun enthusiast since she was a kid. There’s a pretty good chance that at any given moment she’s packing. I’m guessing her boyfriend, fellow country musician Blake Shelton, is exceedingly faithful.
I saw her mustang and my eyes filled up with rage
I brought my pistol, but I ain’t some kind of fool
So I walked right in barehanded, she was on his arm while he was playin’ pool
Just like I used to do
She kissed him while I got a beer, well she didn’t think I’d show up here
I’m a crazy ex-girlfriend
I watched her for a while but I didn’t like her walk
Came across kinda cheap to me, but hey, how’s that my fault?
She looked at my man like he didn’t have on a stitch
Somebody tell that girl to step up to the plate, I’m gonna pitch
Little bitch
Those pretty girls can play their game
But they’re damn well gonna know my name
I’m a crazy ex-girlfriend
Well I started throwin’ things and I scared folks half to death
I got up in his face and smelled whiskey on his breath
Didn’t give a second thought to being thrown in jail
Cause baby to hammer everything looks like a nail
And I was mad as hell
Well those pretty girls they’re all the same
But they’re damn well gonna know my name
I’m a crazy ex-girlfriend
I’m a crazy ex-girlfriend
I’m a crazy ex-girlfriend
Meet Me In Montauk 
My first thought: “Ah, that’s where last week’s status update came from.” 🙂
I always assume it’s a lyric from some song I don’t know, but I’m pleased to place it – even a week too late.
I don’t think country music is the only form of music where you find songs from the broken-hearted or vengeful, but they certainly leave subtlety behind in their versions. This song is not quite whimsical enough for me after just one listen. The title promises that it might be, but the song itself is actually pretty straightforward. Still, it’s probably just what you want to put on if you’ve just been wronged by your man.
Look forward to the 3rd cut off her album tomorrow. 😛
No, I don’t think whimsy is what she’s going for here. 🙂
This song really doesn’t do much for me, and, as far as vengeful woman songs go, it doesn’t hold a candle to UNderwood’s “Before He Cheats.”
I like them both, though I prefer this one.
No, no, this isn’t debatable. Underwood’s song is objectively better.:)
Here is Exhibit “A”
How much fun must it have been to shoot that video? 🙂
I know Dana is kidding about the song being “objectively” better, but I wholeheartedly agree that it is the superior song from the perspective of a crazy ex-girlfriend.
Whimsical was the wrong word to use, but I was expecting more of the humor from the Lambert track that Underwood’s song displays. Biting humor to be sure, but humor just the same. The lyrics I particularly admire are …
“Right now, he’s probably buying
Her some fruity little drink
‘Cause she can’t shoot whiskey”
and
“Right now, she’s probably up singing some
White-trash version of Shania karaoke”
and
“Right now, he’s probably dabbing on 3 dollars
Worth of that bathroom Polo”
aka the “Righ now” verses 🙂 Admittedly, I’ve always been a sucker for particular details such as those. Anyway, for what it’s worth, while I like both songs, I’m definitely playing Underwood’s if I’m getting ready to go all Elin Nordegren on my soon-to-be ex.
As I gear up for tonight’s 3rd audition round, I happened upon this gem 🙂 :
I personally really like both songs ^_^ They both have good parts to them. And both girls should go to some therapy sessions 😛
I’m with you, Maddie.
Amy, your comment brings me back to the discussions we had about lyrics vs. music, with your preference for the Underwood song centering on the clever lyrics.
As I said, I like them both so I won’t launch into some major defense of Lambert’s song. I will say that the music and performance have as much to do with my affection for it as the lyrics, though, and that it benefits from the mood and quality of the songs surrounding it… that album would definitely have been in my top 2-3 of whatever year it came out.
Finally, Underwood is smoking hot in that video (and in general) and it’s fascinating to see her before she had handlers… apart from the bad makeup, she’s actually hotter as a “real” woman, especially schlepping that cow feed. 🙂
okay, I just heard both songs again, one after the other. Sorry, still no contest. The Underwood song is musically more interesting, lyrically more interesting and generally better produced and performed. The Lambert song just sounds like a fairly basic blues riff throwaway so she could have a title track.
And, by the way, my preference is not based on familiarity, as Underwood’s song kinda knocked me out from the first time I heard it.
I think you may favor Lambert because, at least within your/our world, you “discovered” her and are now pushing her, while we (and most of America from AI forward) beat you to the punch with Underwood. Just sayin’…:)
Oh, give me a break… please just allow for different strokes. I know you put a smiley face after your “objective” comment but I think you might really believe it! You dismiss a “basic blues riff” as if that’s not one of the most elemental, fantastic things in music.
If anything, you should argue that I favor Lambert because she’s the far more critically acclaimed of the two and I’m jumping on that bandwagon. I hardly “discovered” her. I was beaten to the punch on both of these artists, but that has nothing to do with how much I like listening to their albums.
I was, of course, kidding about the song being “objectively” better.
As for the discovery issue, as I said, I was not suggesting that you discovered her first in some general or public way, but rather that you seem to be taking more ownership of her within your universe since your most loyal bloggers have more familiarity with Underwood and her hit song than Lambert and this SOTD.
(Oh, but thanks for serving up my fallback argument–that you favor the more critically acclaimed artist) (Smiley face omitted here lest it be misinterpreted)
Didn’t we get the Underwood album within a couple of weeks of each other? She was on Idol long before you started watching.
Besides, I didn’t compare Underwood’s song unfavorably to this one… I mentioned them both as belonging to the same genre and as I’ve said repeatedly, I like Underwood’s song quite a bit.
Well, yes within a couple of weeks, but we got it first (smiley face omitted, but desired by author)
And I’m not suggesting we “discovered” Underwood from Idol, although she has returned to the show a few times, and so we have gotten to know her through AI in that sense.
She’s like a daughter/sister/mistress to you! 🙂 <– smiley face
Okay, we’ve clearly come to Shania Twain about a decade and a half too late, but MAN was she a great judge on AI last night. I’m rushing out to get all of her albums today, Clay, so you’re on notice 😉
I like this one better.
She was quite the star back in the day. What happened to her (apart from American Idol appearances)?
boy, is “the day’ now considered the 90’s…i (We) are getting old…..
I love the second one mom 🙂