Miranda Lambert has spent the last 20 years proving she is fearless, both in country music and in life. We are taking a closer look at four of her songs that prove that Lambert is tough as nails.
Videos by Wide Open Country
1. "Gunpowder & Lead"
Lambert wrote "Gunpowder & Lead" for her sophomore Crazy Ex-Girlfriend album, out in 2007. The song says in part, "I'm goin' home, gonna load my shotgun / Wait by the door, and light a cigarette / If he wants a fight, well, now he's got one / And he ain't seen me crazy yet."
"It's meant to be taken lighthearted in some aspects," Lambert tells The Boot. "But [this song is] also very real to me ... When I was younger, my parents took in abused women and their kids, so I saw firsthand what damage it can do to a family to be in an abusive relationship."
2. "Somethin' Bad" With Carrie Underwood
By the time "Somethin' Bad" came out in 2014, both Lambert and Underwood had proven themselves as country music powerhouses, unafraid to tackle tough topics. But with "Somethin' Bad," the two singers became the perpetrators, with the video revealing they end up in jail for their white-collar crime.
Singing "'Bout to tear it up down in New Orleans / Just like a real-life Thelma and Louise / If the cops catch up, they're gonna call it kidnappin' / Got a real good feelin' somethin' bad about to happen," Lambert admits she got a bit nervous singing with Underwood.
"I just had a moment of, 'What's happening?'" Lambert recalls to The Tennessean. "Because, she's a great singer, but it also pushes me to be better, so that's a good thing."
3. "Mama's Broken Heart"
Lambert has had her share of broken hearts over the years, but hopefully she handled them better than she did in "Mama's Broken Heart." Out in 2013, Lambert begins the song by singing "I cut my bangs with some rusty kitchen scissors / I screamed his name 'til the neighbours called the cops / I numbed the pain at the expense of my liver / Don't know what I did next, all I know, I couldn't stop."
Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally wrote the song, which Lambert wanted to sing after the first time she heard it. Ironically, Lambert asked Musgraves for the song at her rehearsal dinner for her wedding to Blake Shelton, where Musgraves was in attendance.
"At our rehearsal dinner, I went over and asked her," Lambert remembers. "I was like, 'Are you gonna cut this song, or can I have it?'"
4. "Run"
It's one thing to sing about going crazy after a breakup, or starting a fight with a crazy, abusive husband. But it's an entirely new level of tough to boldly sing about your own heartache and mistakes, which Lambert does in "Run," her current single. Lambert wrote the song for her The Weight of These Wings album, released on the heels of her divorce from Shelton. Still, she waited ten years before she was willing to share the autobiographical song.
Lambert has never explicitly said she wrote "Run" about Shelton. But with lyrics that include "Oh, this freedom I found, babe, sure wasn't free / I owe you a lifetime of apologies / I'm tellin' the truth now / I loved you so much," it leaves little doubt about the song's inspiration.
"I wrote this song 'Run' during 'The Weight of These Wings' era," Lambert shares on TikTok. "At the same time as songs like 'Tin Man' and 'Vice.' But wasn't ready to release it till now."
