Every Song Off Kacey Musgraves's Album Golden Hour RANKED [Track-by-Track Review]

Kacey Musgraves's Golden Hour Review

Hey ya'll, Kacey Musgraves won album of the year this year at the Grammys! I love Kacey's music and I am proud of her for winning. In honor of this, let's talk about her album Golden Hour. This album is so good that I don't want to rank her songs because they ARE ALL GOOD BUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS. Like, I feel like I can't compare and contrast. The album as a whole is so cohesive. I feel like all the songs are all in the right order. They come together to make the finished product. This is some fine art.

13) Golden Hour

Golden Hour is my least favorite song because it's the least memorable which is interesting because the album is named after it! I think it is so low on my list because it is about love and ya'll know I don't have any experience with that. I do like the imagery of the sun between the clouds and the sky. The song also has a peaceful feel.

My Favorite Lyric: "I used to get sad/And lonely when the sun went down." (I still get lonely and sad cuz I don't have a significant other LOL).

12) High Horse

Everyone is shocked that this song is so low on my list. The critics really love this song. I don't think it is the best lyrically. I do think the over-arching metaphor is cleaver. This is a country song so we are going to talk about horses but let's talk about an idiom instead! I like the puns of this song. It's a good, danceable song. It really does remind me of disco which makes it unique! There aren't many songs I've heard recently that remind me of disco.

*NOTE: After High Horse, these songs are all really good and I love all of them 100%

11) Happy & Sad

"And I'm the kind of person who starts getting kinda nervous/When I'm having the time of my life." The thesis statement of this song is so relatable. You are so happy, that you are actually sad because you know it can't last forever.

10) Wonder Woman

This song is about how no one and nothing is perfect. "I can show you strong, I can fight for you I can try to move mountains if you want me to," is a beautiful lyric. It's very feminist because a lot of times the patriarchy says only men can do those things. It says only men can protect their loved ones. Kacey is saying that in her relationship, she will protect him and love him the best that she can. However, she is still human and can be weak at times or make mistakes. She expects the same from her partner. "All I need's a place to land I don't need a Superman to win my lovin'." She just wants someone to love. She doesn't expect him to be a Superman. She knows he will still try to protect and love her, but he will also be vulnerable and weak at times.

9) Mother

The perfect Mother's Day song. It's a very short song, but with the piano melody it is beautiful and touching.

8) Slow Burn

I was watching an interview and Kacey was talking about this song and she just blurts out. "I was on Acid." LOL. She sings "We should take a walk and look at all the flowers," in such a childish wonder voice. The song does sound like someone wrote it at their clearest moment while on drugs. A moment where everything makes sense. In this song, Kacey is telling everyone to slow down. To actually be present in the world. It's beautiful.

7) Lonely Weekend

I like this song because I can relate as I also do not have a lot of friends LOL. At least Kacey has a boyfriend - but unfortunately he is out of town. This song sounds happy. It doesn't seem like Kacey is too upset she doesn't have anything to do on the weekend. It makes sense that this song comes after Slow Burn. Being by yourself also slows you down. It also makes you think deeper. While you are feeling sad that no one is around you or that there is nothing to do, you can look at the flowers and say at least I have that. At least I have this world I am alive in. It's another opportunity to be present.

6) Oh, What a World

I love how she named her tour after this song, because I am sure every place she visits has something unique to cherish. "Oh, what a world," is a phrase that comments on the beauty and vastness of the world. This song is very zen. It's makes you focus on the present and savour the world around you. We sometimes get so lost in our routines that we forget how complex this universe is. If you really think about it, the world is amazing and interesting. We just forget because of our day to day tasks.

5) Butterflies

Butterflies is the ultimate crush song. "You give me butterflies" is such a cliche. But Kacey does something special here. She's a country artist and I like how she brings up nature throughout this album. Apparently, Kacey wrote this song after THREE weeks of meeting her now husband. Wow, she is a really good judge of character. My favorite part is, "Now, you're lifting me up 'stead of holding me down/You're taking my hand 'stead of taking my crown." That's important for feminist, ambitious women like me and Kacey. A lot of men do want to drag us down so when someone respects our success, it's great!

4) Love Is a Wild Thing

This song reminds me of "Oh, what a world," because of how it also names awe-inspiring natural phenomenon. The imagery of flowers growing in concrete is such a poignant way of describing love. I agree! Love is a wild thing because it is natural. Mothers have been loving their children since the beginning of mankind. If they didn't, we would all die out. Another thing Kacey points out is that you can't stop love. No matter what you do there will always be humans who care for each other.

3) Velvet Elvis

I saw Kacey Musgraves at The Beacon Theatre in NYC, and everyone jumped up at this song and started dancing! I was shocked that everyone else loved this song just as much as me because it hasn't been a single. I love this song because it is catchy and fun! It just has sweet vibes to it - and is also a little funny! "Soft to the touch, feels like love, knew it as soon as I felt it." This sentence could describe both the person she is in love with and the painting.

2) Space Cowboy

I LOVE THIS SONG. "You look out the window, while I look at you." I love that imagery, that parallelism of what each character in this song values. One values freedom and the other values the love. It's so heartbreaking. The song is sung with sad resignation. "Well, I guess that's the purpose of roads and boots so I can't get mad," is something the narrator is thinking. I also like the title of the song - even though it is misleading. I was hoping this song was about cowboys in space!!!

"Space Cowboy" has so many lyrical gems!!

"I know my place and it ain't with you."
"Sunsets fade and love does too. We had our day in the sun."

1) Rainbow

I have cried to this song so many times! I LOVE IT WITH ALL MY HEART. It's so simple, yet so beautiful. I feel like she is talking to me during this song, you know? "If you could see what I see/You'd be blinded by the colors/Yellow, red, and orange, and green/And at least a million others." These lyrics are some of the most compassionate, loving things you can say to someone. She is acknowledging their worth, their value, their uniqueness. She is showing real love here. It's my personal opinion that she is talking to someone with depression because of the lyrics: "It's hard to breathe when all you know is/The struggle of stayin' above the risin' water line." Trying to defeat depression can feel like that because you are always trying to survive.

ugh, it's such a perfect song. I am listening to it now and I just started crying!!

"There's always been a rainbow hanging over your head."

As a whole, this album is beautiful and deserves all the awards it won. It's an album about slowing down, enjoying the present moment, and looking at the world with loving eyes.

Let me know what you think in the comments: Do you agree or disagree? I think a lot of people will disagree with my comments on High Horse!!

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Saturday, February 16, 2019