Miranda Lambert: Songs That Should’ve Been Singles

This month, we take a closer listen to Miranda Lambert's back catalogue and find eight gems that warrant airplay.

Written by Annie Reuter
Miranda Lambert: Songs That Should’ve Been Singles
Photo by Becky Fluke

The process of choosing a single for radio is often as arduous a task as writing the song. Each month, Sounds Like Nashville will feature a different artist and explore songs from his or her catalogue that we wish made it to radio. Make no mistake, this is no critique of the artist or label, it’s simply a list of songs we love so much that we think deserve to be in the spotlight. This month, we take a closer listen to Miranda Lambert’s back catalogue and find eight gems that warrant airplay.

“Greyhound Bound for Nowhere”  

An early indication of Miranda Lambert’s star power and prowess as a songwriter, “Greyhound Bound for Nowhere” off her debut album Kerosene is as vulnerable a song as they come. Lambert has said her debut isn’t autobiographical and instead embodies the theme of love gone wrong and this is evident on the track, which she co-wrote with her father, Rick. A tale of a woman stuck in the middle of a love triangle, the slowed acoustic guitar combined with Lambert’s somber singing style leaves a lasting mark.

“That ring that you were wearin’ don’t mean everything / The way that you stood starin’ as you watched me roll away / She loves you and you need me and there’s some things we can’t share / I’m on a Greyhound bound for nowhere,” she sings. Later, she concludes: “I’m gonna find some place I can ease my mind and try to heal my wounded pride.”

“Another Sunday In the South”

Who doesn’t want a lazy Sunday spent lounging in a porch swing while listening to Shenandoah, Restless Heart and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band? The Texas native takes us back to her Southern roots on this beautiful ballad that details the simple life. Sometimes songs remind us of the importance of slowing down and “Another Sunday In the South” is the perfect example of just this.

“Down”

This gritty barn burner shows the powerhouse that is Miranda Lambert and is a reminder that you best not mess with her. “Down” is an angst-ridden song from the perspective of a heartbroken woman who is out for revenge. “Stay away from me,” she warns. The nearly four-minute track is accompanied by fiddle and banjo jams that only heighten the dark and gritty track off Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

“Easy From Now On”

Once again trying to rid herself from a good-for-nothing man, this slowed ballad shows Lambert as more introspective and less vengeful. Accepting what is ultimately the end of a relationship, Lambert’s voice soars alongside pedal steel. The heartfelt ballad showcases just why Lambert has been named ACM Female Vocalist of the Year for seven consecutive years as the emotion is felt on each note she sings.

“Better In the Long Run”

Nearly six months after she wed Blake Shelton in 2011, Lambert dropped her fourth studio album Four the Record. The release featured this striking duet with Shelton that was written by Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley, Lambert’s best friend Ashley Monroe and Nashville hit songwriter Gordie Sampson. The tale of a couple trying to move on from each other, promising that things will be better in the long run, Lambert and Shelton’s voices blend impeccably throughout the song. Now a year after their divorce, the song holds new meaning within its powerful lines.

“You’ll move on and I will too / But still I don’t see gettin’ over you,” Lambert sings at the close of the song.

“Girls”

This track kicks off 2014’s Platinum and best sets up the record, which includes songs of female empowerment as well as showcases the singer’s vulnerabilities. “Girls” is a song that details the complexities of women and stresses that for many females, the world does not revolve around one single guy.

“Imagine a fighter with a centerfold face / Comes from a long line of blue collars and lace / With a grip like reins to a steed and kisses for days,” she sings at the song’s start.

As she continues to detail strong and beautiful women, Lambert stresses that a woman’s mind and heart are far from easy to change.

“If you think you’re the only one she’ll want in this world / Then you don’t know nothing ’bout girls,” she concedes.

“Bathroom Sink”

Perhaps the most honest song Lambert has ever written, “Bathroom Sink” airs the vulnerabilities every woman has surely faced in her lifetime. As she stares into the mirror at her bathroom sink, Lambert says everything women have thought to themselves so candidly.

“It’s amazin’ the amount of rejection / That I see in my reflection / And I can’t get out of the way,” she sings.

Detailing regret, fighting with her mom and hoping she’ll become the girl she wants to be, it’s as if she is reading directly from her own journal and it’s this reliability that makes Lambert one of the most beloved artists in the country genre.

“Holding On To You”

“Holding On To You” shows off Lambert’s soulful side. A bluesy song about the special moments spent with her love, she sings of how no sunset or exotic localation can beat holding onto her man. It’s a sweet sentiment that best showcases Lambert’s soft side and surprisingly sultry vocals like we’ve never heard before.