“Wordplay” is the name of this game. For her debut album with a major label, country artist Kacey Musgraves burst onto the scene with an album so witty your cheeks will ache and your neck will be ever-so-slightly sore from shaking your head and smiling wryly at every clever turn of phrase.
Every lyric more clever than the last
The single for “Same Trailer Different Park” released way back in mid-September, “Merry Go ‘Round,” caught the ears of the country audience by using old nursery rhymes to cast light on the gray reality of the façade of the picture-perfect ‘50s lifestyle. Musgraves laments, “Mamas hooked on Mary Kay / Brothers hooked on Mary Jane / and Daddys hooked on Mary two doors down.” I loved every twisted rhyme of this track and sensed a one-hit-wonder coming on from this then-unknown artist.
Apparently, Musgraves had no interest in being known for one pithy song. Instead, she brought this 12-track disc teeming with cleverness to the table. She repeatedly repurposes old colloquialisms to give old images new, rich meaning. In “Silver Lining,” she encourages listeners to “wear your heart on a ripped, unraveled sleeve.” She goes on to mock her enemies in “Step Off” by telling them they “sure look pretty in your glass house” and that “sticks and stones may build a throne / but you’ll be up there all alone.” The non-stop, powerful imagery forces listeners to mentally watch the album while they listen to it — making it terrible doing-your-homework music and perfect driving-and-dancing music.
Happy sound makes gleeful driving music
The bouncy banjo of “Same Trailer Different Park” makes this the perfect album to listen to when you’re happy, or when you want to get happy, without landing in obnoxious territory. When lyrics about mobile homes like “hitch your wagon / to the living room I’m draggin’” in “My House” suddenly repeat as “hitch your wagon / to the happiness I’m draggin’,” you can’t help but go right ahead. The down-home percussion beats help Musgraves’ very modern lyrics fit right in with ultra-Southern, yet contemporary, country. A washboard would feel quite at home in “Same Trailer Different Park.” “Merry Go ‘Round” is the most sobering song content-wise, but even its composition is so light that you can ponder the words without being dragged down.
Both “Merry Go ‘Round” and “Follow Your Arrow” show us a splash of Musgraves’ personality as each is a shrewd treatise against the status quo. Her quips ordering you to “follow your arrow wherever it points” make her message clear: Don’t do things just because you’re told to. And I’m thrilled her songs even have messages. Too much of modern music is shallow and hollow. Musgraves is a young artist who won’t get dragged into that.
One generic apple doesn’t spoil the bunch
“Same Trailer Different Park” was incredibly consistent, providing unique song after song. Unfortunately, “Blowin' Smoke” was the most generic hick tune on the album. It is my least favorite on the album, but not because it's bad. Rather, unlike the rest of this distinctive disc, “Blowin’ Smoke” could have been recorded by any number of artists. I felt similarly, but to a lesser extent, about the ballad "Back on the Map." These two songs were the only reason this isn't a five-star review; again, not because they were bad, but because they were average. And Musgraves is more than capable, because "Keep it to Yourself" and "I Miss You" are the wistful ex-love songs in her clever style that "Back on the Map" was trying to be.
At a little more than 40 minutes and only 12 songs, “Same Trailer Different Park” felt a little short for an album; however, it’s not uncommon for a debut to be only 10 or 12 tracks. Despite its borderline-short run time, Musgraves’ first album is a near-perfect entrance into the music world. Seasoned country legend Miranda Lambert must agree, as her newest single — and my favorite current song on country radio even before I learned this fun fact — “Mama’s Broken Heart” was co-written by Musgraves. This album is the start of a long, sharp career for Miss Musgraves, and I look forward to every witticism.
So when you want to tell the world “you’re getting too close to me with all your negativity,” just “Step Off” and cue up a little Kacey Musgraves.
