May 2013
CHALLENGE
Page 9
Dancing To Architecture™: Music Reviews & News with a Queer Ear by Bill Rea lma n Stella Welcome! Welcome Spring with sounds to put a spring in your step . This issue, it's music to listen to while walking in the warmer cool weather, or for quicker pursuits to make the heart beat faster. Or for sticking around a sidewalk cafe, small screen at hand, connecting to the cutie miles away — or across the room.
Kacey Musgraves ~ Same Trailer Different Park
May I introduce Kacey Musgraves and her songs if you haven't met yet. She has only reached that level of saturation where everybody knows who she is in Country Hits listening circles. But make no mistake, you will know who she is before long. Musgraves is a giant talent. Her promotions team has come up with hype which is no hype. Once you've heard her songs, none of the praise rings false. She's the rare songwriter whose real talents stand up to the statement that she's known for her "quirky puns, shrewd metaphors, and steely ironies." It's true, not mere words. Her team describes her personality with angles that aren't angles. They tell stories of destiny and steadiness, not your average, bought-and-paid-for boilerplate from the hyperbole machine. It's hype-free hype. "A MONTH BEFORE SHE GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL IN HER SMALL HOMETOWN OF MINEOLA, TEXAS, KACEY MUSGRAVES REACHED UP HIGH AND STUCK A PIECE OF PAPER ON A HALLWAY WALL. THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, RICKY STEPHENS, JUST LET IT SIT THERE, IN CASE THE SINGER-SONGWRITER GOT FAMOUS ONE DAY. WE DON'T KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT THAT MEMENTO OF MUSGRAVES' SENIORITIS — WHETHER THE EDGES ARE YELLOWING, WHETHER IT CONTAINS A SKETCH FOR ONE OF THE PORTRAITS OF HEROES LIKE WILLIE NELSON THAT MUSGRAVES USED TO PAINT IN ART CLASS, OR WHETHER MUSGRAVES SCRAWLED SOMETHING WRY AND REBELLIOUS ON IT […]. WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT FOR NASHVILLE'S MOST EXCITING RISING ARTIST TO WRITE A SONG ABOUT IT. THEN, BECAUSE MUSGRAVES CAN MAKE LITTLE THINGS LIKE A TORN SHEET OF NOTEBOOK PAPER SPEAK FULL REALITIES, THAT SONG WILL HELP US FEEL IT CRUMPLED IN OUR HANDS."
That's the kind of respect Kacey Musgraves commands. Same Trailer Different Park (and how cool a title is that, anyway?) clocks in at a svelte 40 minutes, 12 lean songs with Pop craftswomanship that fly despite Musgraves' young-20s age, displaying a level of songwriting discipline that reminds me of Carole King. These lyrics alone illustrates her lyrical prowess. Her hit: "Merry Go Round" " 'If you ain't got two kids by 21 / You're probably gonna die alone.' / Least that's what tradition told you. / And it don't matter if you don't believe / Come Sunday morning, you best be there / in the front row like you're supposed to. // Same hurt in every heart. / Same trailer, different park.// Mama's hooked on Mary Kay. / Brother's hooked on Mary Jane. / Daddy's hooked on Mary, two doors down. / Mary, Mary quite contrary. / We get bored, so, we get married / Just like dust, we settle in this town. / On this broken merry go 'round // And 'round and 'round we go / Where it stops nobody knows / and it ain't slowin' down. / This Merry Go Round. // We think the first time's good enough. / So, we hold on to high school love / sayin' we won't end up like our parents. / Tiny little boxes in a row. / Ain't what you want, it's what you know. / Just happy in the shoes you're wearin'. //
… Jack and Jill went up the hill. / Jack burned out on booze and pills. / And Mary had a little lamb. / Mary just don't give a damn no more. …
And 'round and 'round we go / Where it stops nobody knows / and it ain't slowin' down. / This Merry Go Round. // It's a rare talent that can write observationally So, make lots of noise. about the lives Musgraves and (Yeah!) Kiss lots of boys. her neighbors lived, without (Yeah!) Or kiss lots of girls, cutting them to shreds. if that's something you're into. the straight and narrow Rather, "We think the first When gets a little too straight, roll time's enough" clearly tells us up a joint (or don't.) she includes herself in the fold Just follow your arrow of imperfect people living, wherever it points. learning, loving. But then… then… There's this utterly charming song that's the flip side of "Merry Go Round"'s melancholy. It's also a rare talent who can write songs with endearing credos but not turn trite. Musgraves succeeds, with "Follow Your Arrow": If you save yourself for marriage you're a bore. / If you don't save yourself for marriage you're a (w)horrible person./ … If you can't lose the weight then you're just fat. / But if you lose too much then you're on crack. / You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't,/ so you might as well just do whatever you want. // So, make lots of noise. (Yeah!) / Kiss lots of boys. (Yeah!)/ Or kiss lots of girls, if that's something you're into. / When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight/ roll up a joint (or don't.) / Just follow your arrow wherever it points. / Yeah, follow your arrow wherever it points. / If you don't go to church you'll go to hell. / If you're the first one on the front row you're a self- righteous son-of-a- / Can't win for losing. / you'll just disappoint 'em. / Just cause you can't beat 'em,/ don't mean you should join 'em./ Say what you think./ Love who you love. / 'Cause you just get so many trips around the sun. / Yeah, you only, only live once. / So, make lots of noise. (Yeah!) / Kiss lots of boys. (Yeah!)/ Or kiss lots of girls, if that's what you're into./ When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight,/ roll up a joint (I would) / And follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah./ Follow your arrow wherever it points. (lyrics © 2013 Kacey Musgraves)
Paul Simon aside, I'm hard-pressed to think of a betterwritten, more beautifully produced set of songs in an American Folk/Pop vein since Carole King's Tapestry. The mainstream, more savvy than many critics, who look down their noses at her Nashville-meets-Brill-Building roots, loves Musgraves. Light-hearted and sure-footed, Kacey Musgraves is a delight. I strongly recommend her. I'm proud to report that after this issue was printed Kacey Musgraves was named one of the "25 REASONS TO BE EXCITED ABOUT ROCK RIGHT NOW" by Rolling Stone magazine (May 9, 2013 issue). (continued on new, online-edition page 15) Dancing To Architecture™ ©2013 Bill Stella. All ©, ® & ™ items included in the column for review purposes are ©, ® & ™ their respective owners. The stylized Q indicates albums by (or significantly contributed to by) Out Bisexuals, Gay Men, Lesbians and Transgendered persons.