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Song of the Day #5,941: ‘Living on the Run’ – Miranda Lambert

Continuing my ranking of the songs on Miranda Lambert’s new album, Postcards from Texas…

#8. ‘Looking Back On Luckenbach’

Another wistful ode to a Texas town, this song nods to Luckenbach (pronounced Luke-en-bach), a tiny town 90 miles west of Austin.

The city had its heyday, such as it was, in the late 1800s and early 1900s before becoming a ghost town through most of the 20th century. Its current listed population is three — yes, three. But it is still home to frequent musical events and one of the only active businesses is a souvenir shop where you can pick up a t-shirt featuring the town’s motto, “Everybody’s Somebody in Luckenbach.”

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Song of the Day #5,940: ‘Santa Fe’ – Miranda Lambert

Continuing my ranking of the songs on Miranda Lambert’s new album, Postcards from Texas…

#10. ‘Dammit Randy’

This song is an indictment of a former lover who never appreciated the singer until she was out of his life. Lambert isn’t exactly Taylor Swift, but this album seems to be pulled from her personal life more than most. I suspect her “Randy” is either Anderson East or Evan Felker, the two men she dated between her divorce from Blake Shelton and meeting her current husband.

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Song of the Day #5,939: ‘Alimony’ – Miranda Lambert

Continuing my ranking of the songs on Miranda Lambert’s new album, Postcards from Texas…

#12. ‘Armadillo’

My next two song selections are the album’s only humorous tracks, tunes meant to lighten the mood on an otherwise emotionally messy album.

Album opener ‘Armadillo’ spins the tale of the singer being carjacked by a stoned armadillo on the run from the law, with the chorus ending in a great punchline: “And I know it sounds crazy, but please believe me, baby, I swear that’s where I was last night.”

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Song of the Day #5,938: ‘Wranglers’ – Miranda Lambert

This has been a great year for new releases, specifically by women. Back in June, I did a countdown of my eight favorite new albums by the ‘Ladies of 2024,’ and that was before Sabrina Carpenter dropped the great Short n’ Sweet.

But as good as the year has been, it might have saved the best for last — albums by my two current favorite artists, Miranda Lambert and Lana Del Rey. I say “might” because Del Rey’s promised album doesn’t have a release date yet (and maybe it won’t be any good, though I doubt that).

As for Lambert, her ninth solo studio album, Postcards from Texas, came out last month and is every bit as good as I’d hoped.

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Song of the Day #5,937: ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ – Roy Orbison and The Candy Men

In the first week of October, 1864, Roy Orbison had his second (and final) #1 hit with the song most associated with him: ‘Oh, Pretty Woman.’

This was long before Van Halen has a Top 20 hit with the track in 1982, and even longer before Julia Roberts became a household name starring in a movie of the same name in 1990.

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