Continuing my ranking of the songs from Miranda Lambert’s new album Palomino…
#6. ‘Pursuit of Happiness’
This charming bluegrass number finds Lambert embracing the restlessness of a life on the road. She has often been compared to Dolly Parton, and the sweet vocals and old-school twang of this track definitely call Dolly to mind.
#5. ‘Strange’
Palomino was written during the Covid quarantine, and this song is the one that most reflects our new shared reality. “Times like these make me feel strange,” Lambert sings against a slithery blues rock background. The chorus of this one never fails to get stuck in my head for hours.
#4. ‘Carousel’
Palomino‘s final track is also its gentlest, a heart-wrenching acoustic ballad about the lost love of a former trapeze artist. Lambert has a gift for making these specific stories feel universal, and when she sings “you don’t know the magic’s gone until the lights go down,” it feels like a mournful ode to faded glory of all kinds.
My fair lady
She walked the high wire back in the 80’s
Feathers and sequins
She shined like a chandelier
Hanging from the top tent rafters
Till the spotlight disappeared
Harlan Giovanni
What a sight to see
The way he earned her trust was on a 20-foot trapeze
She fell so hard because he always let her fly
Till he left her heart suspended
In a cotton candy sky
She still don’t know why
Every show must еnd
Every circus leaves town
You don’t know thе magic’s gone
Until the lights go down
Now she’s back in Nacogdoches
And I hear she’s doing well
She only misses Harlan when she hears the carousel
Pretty Elaina
Made herself a nest
Her sequins and her secrets
Buried in her cedar chest
No one around here knows about her other life
Johnny Davis went and made her a mama and a wife
And maybe that’s alright
‘Cause every show must end
Every circus leaves town
You don’t know the magic’s gone
Until the lights go down
Now she’s back in Nacogdoches
And I hear she’s doing well
She only misses Harlan when she hears a carousel
Smith County Fair
Mid-September
She walks the midway
And smiles when she remembers
Every show must end
Every circus leaves town
I didn’t know the magic left
Till all the lights went down
Now I’m back in Nacogdoches
And I swear I’m doing well
I only miss my Harlan when I hear a carousel
I only miss my Harlan when I hear the carousel
Meet Me In Montauk 
I was so intrigued by the place Nacodoches I had to look it up. It’s the oldest town in Texas and famous for blueberries among other things. I agree that this song is “a mournful ode to faded glory” well said 😊
Thanks for looking up Nacodoches, Peg. I was curious about that reference as well.