Miranda Lambert has had a hell of a year. She split from her husband of four years last summer, she has a new boyfriend, she's been on tour almost all of the year, and she's been making new music. Her new single has been one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year, and luckily "Vice" lives up to the hype. It is one of the best songs Lambert has ever released. The song discusses sleeping around in a way that women of country don't often discuss, and it is also is a raw, candid look into Lambert's reaction to her divorce and how she began to move on.
Stereotypically, Miranda Lambert is known as the crazy ex girlfriend who kills her exes. There's an old joke in country music, saying that if you break up with one of the three top ladies in country music, Taylor Swift will write a song about you, Carrie Underwood will key your truck and Miranda Lambert will kill you. That image worked for a while, especially earlier in Lambert's career. But now, her music has more substance, and she's writing about real life. Working on Dave Cobb's concept album Southern Family may have been very good for Lambert's career. That album was full of songs talking about real life in the south, rather than fabricated revenge stories. "Vice" is a song about real life, something that hasn't been discussed much in mainstream country music in recent years.
Everyone and their second cousin knows about Blake Shelton and Lambert's divorce, and some could say that on this song, Lambert uses that in order to get people more interested in the song. But even though this song is about how Lambert reacted to the divorce, it's not as blatant as say, a Taylor Swift song. This song doesn't talk about Blake: this talks about her. As she wrote so eloquently in a recent social media post after "Vice" went No. 1 on iTunes:
Everyone and their second cousin knows about Blake Shelton and Lambert's divorce, and some could say that on this song, Lambert uses that in order to get people more interested in the song. But even though this song is about how Lambert reacted to the divorce, it's not as blatant as say, a Taylor Swift song. This song doesn't talk about Blake: this talks about her. As she wrote so eloquently in a recent social media post after "Vice" went No. 1 on iTunes:
"The last year of my life has been one of heartache and healing, ... Of learning to be honest .... Accepting the flaws and celebrating the smiles. Finding peace in dark places ... having some moments alone with me. Facing fears and feelings... All of them. I got to know my guitars...became friends with a pencil and paper ... Used melodies to lead me places I had never been.... Made music with my friends. Because music is medicine. This means the world to me. Thank you for joining me on this journey."
This song is not about the divorce. This song is about recovery. This song is a big step forward for Lambert, because she redefined the way she writes and records music with this garage-rock influenced country song. It's honest, it's raw, and it's great. What more can you ask for?
Overall rating: 5 crowns
Overall rating: 5 crowns
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