Miranda Lambert’s second album, 2007’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, made her a star with critics. She was hailed as the brightest new country music voice in a generation — the next Loretta Lynn.
She was also a hit with country fans, her album reaching #1 on those charts for the second time, though she didn’t enjoy much crossover success.
Much of the press around Crazy Ex-Girlfriend centered on the Lambert’s gun-toting, revenge-minded persona, epitomized in the title track and opening song ‘Gunpowder and Lead,’ today’s SOTD. Lambert’s childhood home had doubled as a shelter for battered women and she took up their cause on record in rousing fashion.
But the album is far more than a tough-girl revenge fantasy. On achingly beautiful tracks such as ‘More Like Her’ and ‘Desperation,’ Lambert proved that her soft side (as both a singer and a songwriter) was just as effective as the rough stuff.
In keeping with the ‘entry album’ theory, this record (the first of Lambert’s that I heard) remains my overall favorite. As you’ll see in the days to come, she has stretched out in marvelous ways, but as an introduction to her immense talents, you can’t go wrong with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Nothin’ on this white rock but little ol’ me
I got two miles till he makes bail
And if I’m right we’re headed straight for hell
I’m goin’ 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 a little girl’s made of
Gun powder and lead
Well it’s half past ten
Another six pack in
I can feel the rumble like the cold black wind
He pulls in the drive
Gravel flies
He don’t know what’s waitin’ here this time
Hey I’m goin’ home, gonna load my shotgun
Wait by the door and light a cigarette
He wants a fight well now he’s got one
And 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 a little girl’s made of
Gun powder and lead
His fist is big but my gun’s bigger
He’ll find out when I pull the trigger
I’m goin’ home, gonna load my shotgun
Wait by the door and light a cigarette
He wants a fight well now he’s got one
And 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 a little girl’s made of
Gun powder and gun powder and lead
Gun powder and lead
Meet Me In Montauk 
Like this better than yesterday’s song. A bit more bluesy, a lot less twangy. This feels more like it was inspired by Aerosmith than Loretta Lynn.
I never took this song literally, though, after reading your post, perhaps I should have. Rather I saw Lambert as subverting the old adage/poem that little girls are made of “sugar and spice and everything nice.” Instead, she seemed to announce (and, yes, threaten) with confidence, they’re made of gunpowder and lead.
Regardless, I’ve always loved this song, which was definitely my entry into Lambert’s music. Not only are the lyrics simultaneously powerful and darkly comic, but the music is tremendously fun to listen to.
She’s definitely subverting the sugar-and-spice adage, but I don’t know if that precludes the song from being literal.
Dana, I’m curious about your negative comments about Lambert’s southern twang in both posts so far this week. Do you feel the same way about spoken southern accents or just sung? Are there any other accents that turn you off in songs? British? Jamaican?
Yeah, I’m not fond of British accents in songs either generally, which is part of my dislike for someone like Morrisey. Not really bothered by Jamaican accents.