FIRE'S DISCOG DIVES: Kacey Musgraves

 

FIRE'S DISCOG DIVES: Kacey Musgraves

What’s up guys, welcome back to Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes. And we got a VERY special article today -  I’m looking at Kacey Musgraves’s discography and ranking all of her songs from worst to best!

I don’t think any other article I’ve ever done on this blog has taken as much work as this one. On some level, that may be a surprise, we’re just limiting ourselves to one artist’s discography rather than a vast array of music to choose from in any given decade or even year, and Kacey Musgraves isn’t someone like Taylor Swift, who releases like 595695948469596795864675484586484835848586345456567656765456 different versions of all her albums or even The Beatles, who easily have upwards of around 200 songs, if not more. Here’s the thing: what do I count as a Kacey Musgraves song? Her first “official” album on a major record label was released in 2013, but she’s been making music on unreleased demos since 2002! And those unreleased demo albums are listed in Kacey’s discography on RateYourMusic. And that’s not to mention the numerous features she’s done. I’ll get into what I’m counting for this ranking a bit later on in this intro, but what even prompted me to take on this monstrously huge project? Well, in the days leading up to me going to The Eras Tour, my aunt said “maybe you could make an article on your blog called ‘Top 10 Best Taylor Swift Songs’!!” and then it kinda morphed in my head into being a full discog ranking. I was planning on doing an article like this for Taylor last year before going to the concert but I sorta...ran out of time to do it. So, in celebration of me going to see Kacey Musgraves in concert in September and her being my favorite artist of all time, I’m doing a ranking of her discography!! 

That said, what’s eligible for this ranking? Well, I’m counting anything that’s listed in Kacey’s discography on RateYourMusic, excluding anything that is nothing more than a remix of one of Kacey’s songs - this does not include songs by other artists where Kacey herself hopped on a remix for, so “She Calls Me Back” with Noah Kahan will be somewhere in this ranking but something like the Kue remix of “High Horse” won’t. I’m also not gonna be including anything from Kacey’s live albums. And if I accidentally skip a song...uh, I sowwy. And there will be some edge cases here that I’ll deal with later on in the ranking. Also there are over 160 songs to get through and I already have some other ideas for articles I wanna do this summer stacking up, so my reviews are gonna mostly be very very brief this time around. Keep in mind that this ranking is obviously not final, I’m sure some of these songs will shift around pretty wildly and obviously Kacey is still making music. I’m probably not gonna be updating this, so this ranking is as of July 3, 2024. So with all that in mind, how has Kacey’s artistry and sound evolved throughout her career?

Kacey recorded several unreleased demos when she was just a teenager back in the 2000s, which were...yodeling albums. I’d like to think they are still officially unreleased because Kacey is embarrassed of them, because yikes...they are pretty rough. When she officially got signed to Mercury Nashville in 2012, she received critical acclaim for her major label debut, Same Trailer, Different Park for her insightful commentary in her songwriting, one of the YouTube critics I follow even called it one of the best albums of the 2010s!! Since then, though, her sound did shift a bit on Golden Hour, opting for more peaceful and relaxing songs where the sentiment is “I’m at a good place in life and I want you to be in that good place too”, as a result, Golden Hour is arguably Kacey’s most acclaimed album to date and my personal favorite album of all time, we’ll see some of that way up in the ranking. But anywho, let’s start with, unfortunately, the terrible tier...

 THE 3/10s - TERRIBLE TIER

163. Chimebells

It really hurts for me to call any song from an artist I adore as much as Kacey Musgraves terrible, especially when she was 14 when she made this and it’s...quite embarrassing to put it mildly, but in the end there’s only so much slack you can cut for a kid. And “Chimebells” might just be Kacey’s yodeling at its most irritating and if this is trying to accomplish being a yodeling classic or something, it genuinely fails so catastrophically. No Kacey, mockingbirds don’t sing “yodelaydododayohdee” or whatever you were saying there. Movin’ On is by far Kacey’s worst album and even though she self-released it while she was independent, there is a reason she’s yet to put this up on Spotify even though she’s now signed. And we’re sticking with Movin On for the next song!

162. Can’t Shed A Tear

I’m sorry, this song’s message is genuinely stupid. It’s literally a song about how you can’t feel sad when you yodel and that a good yodel will perk up your day. But with how irritating the yodeling is here, this yodel would only make me depressed. This is only not last place here because the yodeling here is marginally better here than it was on “Chimebells”.

 THE 4/10s - BAD TIER

161. Heartache Song

From my understanding, this is a song intended for a children’s CD, and woooooooow, I don’t think this works at all. The production is far too graceful and boring to fit the content which I can only describe as being an anthem for misbehaving children. And I’m sorry, Kacey can’t sell this song at all, there’s no tempo or sense of rebelliousness in her voice or the production. I don’t know, maybe if I saw this song in the context of a classic Disney movie I’d like this a lot more, but yeah, this sucks. Kacey’s angelic voice really cannot save this for me.

160. Whatever Happened To Yodelin’ Cowgirls

Not lying, I considered this song the worst thing Kacey ever made for a while. And yeah, this did slightly grow on me, but this is still pretty bad and quite embarrassing, the yodeling seems to only amplify the stupid premise of the song in addition to just being irritating, where it feels like it’s trying to be a yodeling classic but it’s too stupid and also too recent to be that. I don’t know, maybe this’ll be a classic in 150 years or something, but at least right now, this is still really embarrassing. But in the end, there is a decent tempo and the high note at the end of the song is legit pretty impressive. Movin’ On does have a few songs in the higher tiers but it’s Kacey’s worst album for a reason, just saying.

159. Montana Medley

For Kacey’s yodeling to work even in the slightest way, there has to be a tempo, not this energy-less production. Now from what I can tell, this is a medley/tribute to the late country-western singer Patsy Montana, the first female country performer to have a million-selling single. An admittedly decent idea for a song, which is the reason it’s higher than “Whatever Happened To Yodelin’ Cowgirls” here, but unfortunately this is dragged down to being pretty bad because the production has no momentum or groove. But on that note...

158. Olympic Yodel

Yeah, another premise that I could probably see the potential in. It’s a song where Kacey goes to compete in the Olympics but her only skill is being a yodeler. She then lets out a yodel that wins her...wait there is no satisfying conclusion here! Seriously, the final verse and chorus goes “this yodel just won’t win the gold but maybe this’ll do. [yodel]”...and then it just ends? Yeah, if this were an Olympic yodel, I don’t think it even deserves the participation ribbon.

157. Texas Yodeler

Another very weak attempt at being a yodeling classic. Kacey doesn't even sound all that passionate with her yodeling here, she sounds so bored that the yodeling isn’t even irritating now, it’s just boring and embarrassing and she knows that it’s embarrassing. It only picks up any remote sense of interest towards the end, but by then I’ve already tuned out! I promise there is a TON of quality in Kacey’s discography  but there is sadly a lot of crap to go through.

156. Moonshine w/Foy Vance

This is just a huge snooze. And I can’t fault Kacey here, because she isn't the main problem with this! No, that would go to Foy Vance, who sounds like a bad cross between Darius Rucker and Morgan Wallen. He has negative chemistry with Kacey. Basically, this is the sort of generic schlock that makes me get why country music haters hate country music.

155. God And The Policeman w/The Flaming Lips

I don’t think any aspect of this song serves a point. The song’s premise makes a very vague mention of the narrator doing something awful and is now on the run from the police and God. For all we know, it could range from “I stole a $2.00 toothbrush once” to “I brutally murdered my wife and children” or something. The weird chime/synth noise that persists throughout the song is irritating as hell and, what role is Kacey even serving in this song? She only repeats everything Michael Ivins sings just changing the pronouns from “I” to “you”. Is she the voice in his head? A friend that’ll probably be charged for harboring a fugitive? Because she changes it to match exactly what Ivins is singing at the very end. This isn’t haunting, fun, or engaging in any way, it’s trying to ring out “Dial Drunk” by Noah Kahan out of a “Wait In The Truck” by HARDY.

154. breadwinner

I still find star-crossed as underwhelming as I did back when I first heard it in 2021, to the point where honestly I think it’s her worst major label album to date, where she doubled down on the poppy side of things and abandoned the country side of her music following in the wake of Golden Hour’s acclaim while failing to capture any of the same magic that album had. And “breadwinner” is comfortably the worst song on the album. It fails at capturing any coherent mood. It’s what I can only describe as having a “monomood”. Where the moods this song tries to elicit are just puree’d into mush, it’s only slightly better than Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” in that regard!! And that’s a shame because with better production, I think the lyrics could’ve really worked!! I’m getting “New Rules” by Dua Lipa by way of “Mama’s Broken Heart” by Miranda Lambert, I think (only slightly confident on the latter part of this comparison lol)?

 THE 5/10s - MEDIOCRE TIER

153. No Getting Over Me w/Ronnie Milsap

I can’t be the only one getting somewhat turned off by this song’s lyrics, right? Ronnie Milsap and Kacey both sound alright enough here but the lyrics depict two exes making the presumption that no matter how much their ex drinks, there’s no getting over them, because obviously they’re still so obsessed with each other. This might not be nearly as terrible as “Thinkin’ Bout Me” by Morgan Wallen (I’ve really soured on that song a lot to the point where I hate it even more than I already did when I made my 2023 worst list), but this song’s lyrics still hit similar notes for me. Not to mention the production is the definition of “generic country song”.

152. A Spoonful Of Sugar

I don’t know, this is a song I can’t even really measure its quality against the other songs here. This was a song Kacey recorded for a Disney compilation album and this is a cover of a song from the Mary Poppins soundtrack. I don’t know, maybe if I actually watched that movie, I’d appreciate this cover more, but as is, this just bored me sadly.

151. Sitting In The Corner w/Cuco & Adriel Favela

Not gonna lie, Cuco and Kacey have better than expected chemistry on this song, but whoever this Adriel Favela girl is sounds extremely disinterested. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t even that bad, but it still feels boring and like a dated leftover from the COVID lockdown era of pop music

150. 'Til There's Not A Cow In Texas

This is just a song about how Kacey’s gonna love you until [insert country cliche here] ends. If this were made by any male country singer, people would pan it for being a generic bro country song. This isn’t anywhere near that bad, but it’s really uninteresting regardless. Kacey doesn’t even yodel here, hell I might’ve actually preferred if she did that in this song! At least that’d make this song noteworthy.

149. When The Bloom Is on The Sage

At this point, I really feel like I’m repeating myself here. The production is too slow and not energetic enough to give Kacey’s yodeling any support to at least be somewhat tolerable. If anything, her yodeling here just kinda comes in outta nowhere and it’s really jarring.

148. Mama Was The Rose Of San Antone

This is just a very faithful cover of the original Jody Nix cover. There’s almost no changes to the lyrics from the original. I’ll give Kacey this: it’s certainly not a bad cover. She sounds just like a dedicated student trying to get an A+ on her choir assignment. There are certainly way worse covers I’ve heard, but this is still nothing remotely remarkable.

147. Sweet Prairie Muffin

My problem with this is the production; Kacey certainly sounds like she’s selling her love for this guy really well here, but this production is just so slow and shockingly un-lovestruck to the point where I’m reminded of Uncle Kracker’s “Drift Away”!! This isn’t close to being that atrocious, but it’s still mid as fuck.

146. gracias a la vida

This barely even feels like Kacey’s song, either this song is very reliant on a sample or it’s actually Kacey singing but with so many effects piled on her voice to the point of near unrecognizability. I don’t get it, Kacey has one of the most angelic and beautiful voices in country music today, why wait over 2 minutes to make her voice sound recognizable/for her to even appear? Especially when at the 30 second mark, I’ve already lost interest.

145. Mental Cruelty w/John Prine

Why does John Prine sound like that? No joke, he sounds like if Morgan Wallen recorded one take after taking so many shots at the club he was struggling to walk. Not to mention, this production is far too jaunty and lightweight to back up the begging feel of a dramatic phrase like “mental cruelty”. Also, probably just a side note at this point, but what is this song about? There’s a bit in there where the wife is begging the judge to release her husband early from jail, and then there’s a random insertion of divorce?? The narrative feels so unfocused here, I don’t get what’s happening.

 THE 6/10s - DECENT TIER

144. I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas

Fun fact, this was originally way down on the bad tier. And yes, this did grow on me a bit when writing this list, but I’m sorry, I know this song is a Christmas classic, but I really don’t think Kacey’s cover works. There isn’t the slightest hint of irony in her vocals, she’s playing this completely straight, making it have a weird clunky clash in tone for me. But I admittedly get a chuckle of her saying her mom says a hippo would eat her alive while her teacher says they’re vegetarian, so it’s up in the decent tier on that alone (well and that too a lot of Christmas classics are kinda ridiculous, so it’s not lower here lol).

143. Don’t Do Me Good w/Madi Diaz

This song is so pandemic-era-me-coded, which...given how wildly a lot of the songs I liked during that time have aged, that isn’t always a compliment. That said, this song is pretty decent, the standout here is Kacey’s beautiful voice, soft spoken to a note perfect degree, really I think the big weakness on this song is Madi Diaz, she sounds acceptable enough but she really fades into the background for me and makes this feel like a generic TV talent show ballad. Again though, this is perfectly fine.

142. Do You Love Texas? w/Shooter Jennings, Jason Boland, Kris Kristofferson, Randy Rogers, Ray Benson, & Whiskey Myers

I don’t think I can hear Kacey at all on this song. All I get from this song is Shooter Jennings asking “Do you love Texas?” and then the rest of the artists saying “hell yeah!” without any engagement or excitement followed by Shooter Jennings saying “Well so do I!”. It’s fine, I guess, but this is not a good use of your Kacey.

141. good wife

This feels like it’s a Kacey Musgraves from the vault track. Like it feels weirdly unfinished. The seeds of a good or maybe even great song are here. It’s a song about Kacey just pleading to God, or maybe even her husband to help her help him and be a good wife. There’s potential in that! But that autotune on Kacey’s voice is just really off putting to a distracting degree. Again, you have Kacey fucking Musgraves, who has the voice of an angel!! Why dump all these effects on her voice that don’t flatter her at all? It’s not a bad song, because the foundation of a really strong song is here, but unfortunately too many flaws in the design just dragged this one down.

140. Love Is A Liar

This was a part of the soundtrack to some movie called The Best Part Of Me. I’ve literally never heard of this movie and who knows, maybe this song plays better in that movie. But as is, this song could’ve been a good one. The guitars have a decent groove and darker feel to them. But unfortunately, this song has some of Kacey’s worst ever lyrics. “If love were pants they'd always be on fire”, really, Kacey? I know you can do better than that! “There’s a reason for the rain and it ain’t just the grass”...then what is that reason? You don’t even allude to it in this song at all! The production does enough heavy lifting here to elevate this to being decent, but this song’s lyrics just don’t work for me at all.

139. Kansas City Star

Something about Kacey’s twang in this song feels so oddly forced. But other than that, the rest of the song isn’t bad at all, even Kacey’s yodeling feels a bit more seamless here!

138. If I Could Only Learn to Yodel

This is a song about how Kacey wishes she could learn to yodel to win over a boy. And I’ll give her this; the yodeling here isn’t as irritating as some of the other Movin’ On songs we went through in this ranking. But it feels like she is interjecting the yodeling at random points, making the narrative feel a bit incoherent as a whole. Still, not a bad song by any stretch.

137. Cherokee Maiden

Why does this melody remind me of the Angry Birds theme? Aside from that, young Kacey’s vocals sound really sweet here and I can’t help but slightly grin when I hear her sing “this sweet little chickadee”, it’s just too cute haha.

136. Wayfaring Stranger

The closing track to Wanted: One Good Cowboy and it honestly almost feels like something that Zach Bryan would release today, and that’s a high compliment! And I mean that in how windswept/larger than life the Americana production sounds, this doesn’t quite measure up to something like “El Dorado” or even “Something In The Orange”, since the imagery sadly doesn’t feel as striking or stunning. Yeah, give this song to Zach Bryan, this could’ve easily been a great song. But as is, this is still ok, I don’t mind it.

135. Blue Rose Of Texas

This is a fine song, the production is passable, if generic. I don’t know, that’s all I can say about this.

134. easier said

With the quiet kick and more ambient synths, I almost get a Lana Del Rey vibe from this. But for this type of song to work, it needs to sound lovestruck and/or have something to make it stick out. As is, this feels like very good study music. Yeah, unfortunately, Kacey’s vocals, while still beautiful, are drowning in reverb here and it feels like intensifying the atmosphere a bit too much to the point where it feels like it’s stripping Kacey’s personality away. The Lana Del Rey vibe I get here is strong enough to carry this into being decent, but it could’ve been WAY better.

133. if this was a movie..

When I was relistening to star-crossed for this ranking, I tried to place my initial disappointment with the album aside and just take it as a pop album. And no, it just didn’t work. It’s a solid pop album, but for Kacey Musgraves coming off of Golden Hour, it was still such a downgrade. I don’t think pure pop in this vein suits Kacey’s voice at all. It’s a weird midtempo song where there isn’t much of a mood to it. It feels like if I asked AI to generate a Kacey Musgraves song, where any sentiments that you’re supposed to feel are thoroughly stripped away in favor of something that might not be bad or even mediocre, but that you are unable to really use it. If you’re listening to this just to vibe, this works, but if you’re looking to do anything beyond that, this isn’t much to write home about

132. The Auctioneer

I can’t in remote conscience call this one of the best Kacey songs but quite frankly, the only reason this was pulled out of the bad tier up into the decent tier was that Kacey imitating an auctioneer in this song genuinely had me dying laughing for the entire 2-3 minutes the song lasts. It’s actually so priceless and hysterical and adorable that I just can’t hate this in any remote way. Kacey, if this music thing doesn’t work out, I think a career as an auctioneer is in the cards for you.

131. Cowboy Moon

This is so SO close to being a good song, but it’s just too slow for my taste sadly. That said, this is still a decent song, I like the harmonica and the guitar here. And Kacey restrains her yodeling here to the point where it’s quite nice to listen to. You might like this song honestly, check it out! Even if I don’t personally like it that much, I can acknowledge quality when I hear it.

130. You’re Still On My Mind

Okay, putting aside the fact that I literally had to go onto Soundcloud to listen to Kacey’s self-titled demo album, which honestly might be the best of her demo albums, this was always my least favorite song on it because Kacey sounds like she’s straining on this song and I’m sorry, I don’t like the way the guitar sounds here at all. It’s not grating enough for me to hate but I still don’t really like this all that much.

129. When It's Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia

The yodeling here isn’t terrible but the production just plods on too long and too slowly to keep my interest and when I wind up spacing out, the yodeling just gives me tonal whiplash. There  are some elements of the production I do like though, the harmonica (or is that a fiddle?). As is, it’s a decent enough song, but give this a less...tortoise-paced production and make sure Kacey’s yodeling doesn’t sound like a dying cow, it might’ve been way better.

128. Wanted: One Good Cowboy

But speaking of songs that move at a snail’s pace...we have this! And look, this is better than the previous song, because Kacey lets her angelic and beautiful voice just work their magic on here. And the harmonica sounds great!! If this felt like it moved just a teensy bit faster (I’m not asking for constant 606069759757065706707576456545676567687507595967559595696494569595 bpm songs, but I just want the songs to feel less boring), it would’ve been good or potentially even great!

127. You’re From Texas

And the yodeling is back already. “You’re From Texas” does have some good aspects, like the melody and the guitar and even the lower keyboard notes serving as a bassline (though I’m not really sure a solo from that was all that necessary). But honestly the reason this isn’t higher is that it feels weirdly abbreviated. Not bad at all though.

126. Christmas Don’t Be Late

It feels very weird to be comparing a Christmas song to some of these other songs, but for what this is, this is generally pretty inviting and warm. It’d put me in the Christmas mood if it weren’t for those backing vocals. Again, Kacey has one of, if not the, the warmest, most inviting, and most angelic voices I’ve ever heard, she’d work just as well on this song without those backing vocals! As is, I wouldn’t put it among my favorite Christmas songs, but it’s generally pleasant.

125. Wait On Me w/THEY.

This sounds like Lauv from Temu covering Justin Bieber’s “Intentions”. It sounds like one of those D-list pop radio rejects like charlieonnafriday or like Trevor Daniel. The frontman of THEY. has no chemistry with Kacey and what little Kacey we even get on this song is wasted on only one verse consisting of this pop-trap-R&B beat that doesn’t flatter any of Kacey’s strengths and backing vocals. On production alone, it’s a passable song, but after I publish this ranking, I’m gonna forget this song exists.

124. angel

This song is probably the one of the closest attempts star-crossed gets to recapturing the same magic of Golden Hour, but it just doesn’t hit the same way. Yes, Kacey’s voice is super comforting and beautiful and angelic (pun intended), but the production...yes, it’s passable pop music, but it doesn’t have any of the dreamy textures that made Golden Hour such a transcendent album. So as is, this is fine enough, but Kacey can do so much better, as evidenced by this not being even in my top 100 Kacey songs.

123. All Is Found - Kacey Musgraves Version

I honestly remember nothing about Frozen 2’s soundtrack other than that Panic! At The Disco were on it for an attempt at a pop crossover. That movie truly didn’t have the same cultural chokehold that the original one did. This is...fine enough, Kacey’s vocals are just angelic enough to compliment the darker, more somber production very effectively, giving this a weirdly eerie vibe and that’s only a good thing. But something about this isn’t fully clicking for me, and I really don't know what it is. It might be how it feels like territory that Lizzy McAlpine and maybe even Phoebe Bridgers have done better in the past few years. But it’s not bad at all.

Now finally where I start feeling happy about this ranking...!

 THE 7/10s - GOOD TIER

122. Pictures w/Judah & The Lion

I had rock bottom expectations for a collaboration between Kacey Musgraves and fucking Judah & The Lion, not even because their musical styles might’ve clashed, but because I really don’t like Judah & The Lion. I still think “Take It All Back” from 2016 is a terrible song. But, color me surprised, this is probably the best possible outcome of a collaboration between these two artists. Kacey’s voice is really angelic, which compliments the softer production really well. However, I don’t think Kacey and Judah & The Lion quite have the chemistry to make this fully work. That said, frontman Judah Ankers sounds way better than his usual shouty commercial-core rock music vocal timbre. So, this was a pleasant surprise. Probably the best Judah & The Lion song (the bar is in the center of the Earth) but not one of Kacey’s strongest in any remote way.

121. The Wurlitzer Prize

I don’t really have anything unique or special to say about this one. Kacey’s voice sounds beautiful and the production, while not being something that flatters her strengths like her best material does, is actually quite likable. I like the piano and the strings here a ton. It just works, not much else to say here.

120. Love Can Win

This was a song from Kacey’s Demo EP - which honestly might be the best of her demo albums/EPs - and while this isn’t my favorite song from that EP, this is still rather good. And for a pretty simple reason too: Kacey was an adult when she recorded this and it seems like by that point she finally realized her strengths as a singer, in addition to her voice just being more mature. Kacey’s voice is the angelic voice here that we know and love today, instead of the dying cow imitation that was her yodeling. I also especially like the build-up, even if it feels like it’s missing a proper crescendo to pay the build-up off. Still, it's a good song.

119. I Can Fix Him

This is a song that exhibits Kacey’s darker side. It’s not the best showcase of that - we’ll get to that - but the more minor key guitars and the pretty good groove really work here. And Kacey’s voice proves to contrast with those guitars really well. And the content...it’s simple: Kacey sees a boy that everyone around her is seeing as a red flag but Kacey insists that she wants him and can fix him. Kacey even says she’s a sucker for a trainwreck when she sees one. And Kacey sells this really well.  A bop!

118. keep lookin’ up

I like the premise and idea of this song way more than the song in practice. It’s a song where Kacey recalls advice her father had given her to just keep looking up in the face of some adversity, potentially a breakup/divorce. But I’m sorry, why do the guitar plucks sound so devoid of any vibe other than relaxing on the beach? It clashes with the tone of the song and the percussion feels distractingly heavy. Still, on lyrics alone, I think this is good, but this should be WAY better.

117. Feliz Navidad

Not gonna lie, “Feliz Navidad” by Jose Feliciano was always one of my least favorite Christmas songs mainly because Feliciano’s voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me. That said, I actually like this cover a lot more. Again though, Kacey’s angelic voice is perfect for this type of song, she doesn’t need a choir of backing vocals to support her! The backing vocals are pretty distracting and disinterested and it detracts from the song overall.

116. Stupid

The groove here is awesome and is what saves this for me. Because Kacey’s voice sounds like it’s out of its comfort zone and out of place here. It makes the chorus sound quite irritating. Which I find utterly bizarre because Kacey has proven that she can sell music that takes on darker musical tones (there’s at least one more song in that vein coming up)! All that said though, the production is so good that it carries this into being a pretty good, if not great, song.

115. Heart Of Gold

This is another song that feels like the blueprint of a great song is here, but there’s something about it that’s holding me back from fully enjoying it, and I really don’t know what it is. Kacey’s voice here is fantastic, as per usual, and the harmonica sounds really nice. I guess if I could point out one flaw about this song, it feels like it’s dragging towards the end, it feels like Kacey kinda ran out of ideas and just resorted to repeating “I’m searching for a heart of gold, I’m getting old” to pad it to the normal runtime of a song. Still, it’s strong enough on its own merits for me to like it.

114. Honkytonk Heartache

It may just be because of how often it’s been used in bro country songs, but the word “honkytonk” sounds so stupid to me. It’s just a ridiculous word that sounds like a word that a tractor driver who happened to be a standup comedian on the side would make up. And I think that really clashes with the tone of the song, which is about drowning yourself in alcohol to get over a heartache. All that being said, the production is actually quite nice, I really like the neotraditional country instruments here, especially that fiddle. So, it’s a good song, but just not as good as it could’ve been. All I’m saying.

113. Yodeler’s Lament

One of the best Kacey Musgraves yodeling songs (not that high of a bar). Kacey’s yodeling doesn’t sound irritating or out of place here, instead, Kacey integrates her yodeling into the narrative and she even half-yodels(?) in other sections making it not feel as jarring as a whole. Pretty good stuff!

112. Overtime w/Rainbow Kitten Surprise

This is actually the most recent song that Kacey has released as of this writing. Frontman Ela Melo and Kacey have really strong chemistry and the indie rock production is muted enough to suit Kacey’s soft vocals really well. Hell, Melo actually sounds really good here too! I think if there’s any one element that is holding me back from really loving this, it’d probably be that higher pitched gummy synth that persists throughout the song. It doesn’t sound awful but I don’t really think it meshes well with the song at all.

111. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Kacey’s vocals are once again incredibly inviting and warm to suit the holiday season and the effects piled on her voice are substantially fewer than some of the other songs on A Very Kacey Christmas that we went through. She’s made better Christmas songs, but for what this is, it’s pretty nice.

110. Christmas Makes Me Cry

This song is just really sad. There’s definitely a place for sad Christmas songs, but as someone who is usually not into Christmas songs of this nature, this is kinda heartbreaking. Why does Christmas make Kacey cry? She’s alone and has to deal with the sad reality that her parents are only getting older. She even tries being happy during the holidays, but it just always makes her cry in the end. This would be higher here, but even if this song does have a purpose to be a sad Christmas song, I just can’t say I’d wanna play this during the holidays.

109. Back to Texas

Kacey’s vocals don’t quite have the same timbre that matches what makes me love her best songs so much, but she still sounds decent here. And I like the production too, it’s neotraditional country, which, you know, is neotraditional country. What else do you want me to say here?

108. Texas Smile

This song is just really cute. It’s all about putting on a Texas smile to brighten someone’s day. And when you’re having a bad day, just head on down to Texas and brighten up your day, give yourself a Texas smile by seeing everyone else’s Texas smiles. I do question the decision to randomly end the song with a yodel, it’s not like it transitions well into the next track or fits the rest of the song well. It’s still good though.

107. Nothing More

I like the groove on this and the jazz-influenced (I think?) piano here. Nothing more (pun intended) to say, that’s the reason I like this haha.

106. America Reach Out Your Hand

This sounds like if an AGT contestant tried to make America’s national anthem, which isn’t a bad thing in my books for the record, because this is quite good. Kacey’s voice even as a teenager sounds great and she sells this like she means it. And it’s a song where Kacey makes a call to action for America to help others. It’s by no means great, in the end this feels like a diet “My Heart Will Go On”. But it’s a good song.

105. Guess You Had To Be There w/Brian Wilson

This doesn’t feel like a Kacey Musgraves song at all. It’s just a Beach Boys song that happens to be sung by Kacey Musgraves, I can tell in the vocal inflections and the writing. Still, the Beach Boys have a very high floor of quality, and even if Brian Wilson and Kacey don’t quite have the chemistry you would hope, this is still quite good overall. I tend to really like the Beach Boys’ songwriting and compositions, and I’m not gonna complain when a fantastic singer sings a fantastic formula for a pop song. It’s not the best thing either artist has made, but I like this a lot!

104. I’ve Been Everywhere

This is kinda similar to “The Auctioneer” in how I can’t help but chuckle quite a bit at young Kacey rapidly listing off the names of places, but it’s unironically kinda impressive, especially when she manages to rhyme these places in rapid fire mode. All the lakes, all the burgh’s, all the ville’s, etc. It’s a pretty ridiculous song, but I think it’s pretty cute and I like it.

103. I’ll Be Movin’ On

I just like the production a ton on this, the fiddle and the mandolin sound great here! I think what’s holding this back a bit for me though is that it’s, again, a bit too slow without too much of a coherent mood for my taste, but eh, it’s still good. I’ll take it

102. Cowboys Are a Girl's Best Friend

A simple premise again, Kacey moves to the city and now misses her home in Texas and she wants a cowboy as her friend. And then the production, which is quite good. It bizarrely reminds me of when I watch Paper Mario: Sticker Star walkthroughs for some reason, but it’s decently upbeat. That said, if cowboys are a girl’s best friend and not diamonds, how do y’all think my future girlfriend would react if I proposed to her with a cowboy and not a diamond ring? Leave your speculations in the comments below!

101. what doesn’t kill me

I’m sorry, this song sounds like it was produced in 2019. It sounds just like a generic pop flop song from 2019, which I don’t think automatically makes this bad at all, hell, it’s in the good tier for a reason. Even if I’d argue that this is not a formula that suits Kacey at all, taking this as simply a pop song, it sounds good, I get the same feeling I had when I listened to Brightest Blue by Ellie Goulding; when one of my favorite artists goes a very generic pop route and yields a product that, taking it as just another pop project, you can enjoy it, but deep down you know the artist can do way better.

100. Think Of Me

Well, this is a swerve into something more rock that I wasn’t expecting at all. Kacey can sell this so well, you can tell she’s hurt by her ex moving on from her so quickly - in that regard I get Olivia Rodrigo vibes - but I feel like if this had more energy to it, it could’ve easily been a great song. As it is, I do like it, but I should love it.

99. You Win Again

I’m not sure if this song was anything more than a standalone single. But either way, this is a pretty good song, featuring pretty solid sounding, if a bit lethargic feeling, neotraditional instruments and Kacey just selling the exhausted, exasperated tone of the song. Good stuff!

98. The Trailer Song

Not even gonna lie, I’ve written this ranking all the way up to #12 as of writing and I just realized I forgot to include this song. But anyway, “The Trailer Song” is a good song, but there isn’t much to say about it. I like the neo traditional country production, even if it does feel a bit too sleepy for my taste. It’s a pleasant song, just not a standout in Kacey’s discography...I think I understand why I forgot this song at first now.

97. This Town

I really dig the production here, it has a minor key tone, which gives this an ominous atmosphere. It’s a song where in Kacey’s small town, it’s too small to do any wrongdoing and they look out for each other. I know based on this description one might be tempted to that atrocity “Try That In A Small Town” by Jason Aldean, but Kacey isn’t trying to say that if you protest in the streets, her and her town are gonna extrajudicially exterminate you. I’m taking this as Kacey highlighting the sense of camaraderie in a small town rather than trying to blatantly spread misinformation like “small towns have no crime, unlike those big cities!!”. That too, Kacey hasn’t done anything (that I know of) to imply such a vile sentiment like in Aldean’s song. It’s a good little track.

96. simple times

This is definitely one of the strongest star-crossed songs. The production is quite good, I especially like those synths and then we get the lyrics...which are just about being lazy for the day and longing for simpler times. Basically, it’s “The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars if it was actually good.

95. Roy Rogers

And ending off the tier before we get to the songs that make me proud to be a Kacey Musgraves fan, we have “Roy Rogers”. And I like this one quite a bit on production alone for the most part. The acoustic guitar sounds really warm and it fits Kacey’s beautiful voice so well. Nice song!

Now let’s get started with by far the biggest tier in this ranking...

 THE 8/10s - GREAT TIER

94. Glittery f/Troye Sivan

Yeah, this is one of the edge cases I mentioned in the intro. Because even though this song is included on one of Kacey’s live albums, it was released as a standalone single at first. I’m gonna include it here just to be safe. But anyway, “Glittery” is just a simple holiday tune about how Troye and Kacey make each other feel glittery. It’s a very wholesome sentiment that’s perfect for the holidays and Troye and Kacey have strong chemistry. Honestly this kinda sounds like something that’d be in a Disney Channel Christmas special and I mean that as a compliment. The production has a really cozy feeling and just makes you wanna snuggle up by the fireplace. Great little song that really grew on me, but not the best collab between these two.

95. star-crossed

This is a great opener that really promised better for a mostly underwhelming album. I really like those enchanting strings that weirdly feel reminiscent of Carnatic classical music and I really like the way the synths and vocal layering build up throughout the song. That said, I will say that this feels a bit abbreviated or missing a proper payoff and I don’t think it really transitions into “good wife” very well. Still, this is a pretty great opener.

92. camera roll

Another great star-crossed cut. This song is really dreamy and nostalgic. It’s about Kacey looking back through her camera roll after a failed relationship and she is remembering all the good times she had that she took for granted. She doesn’t wanna see them but she still can’t delete them. Being real, in my current situation, I’ve had moments where I’ve felt similarly. Yeah, great little track.

91. justified

I remember back in 2021 how excited I was that this song was getting a pop radio push, hoping that this underwhelming pop pivot would be worth it in the end. And while Kacey being a huge popstar didn’t really coalesce, this is still a song I really like, even if not as much as I did back in 2021. It probably has the strongest hook on star-crossed and it’s pretty laid back while still making Kacey’s voice the standout element. And I appreciate the subtle switch in the pronouns in the final chorus from “you should’ve treated me right” to “I should’ve treated you right”, it kinda paints a potentially inconclusive narrative or maybe that both parties were in the wrong here. There’s one more song that pulls this switch better later on in this ranking, but in the meantime, this is still pretty great.

90. hookup scene

Now THIS is a song that, with a bit of production cleanup, could’ve easily been on Golden Hour. This was actually only in the good tier at first but when relistening to this song, it hit unbelievably hard for me. Kacey reflects on a failed relationship that she still feels nostalgic for, where she thinks of the hardships she went through in the relationship and wishes she knew she didn’t have it so bad. Without going into a lot of detail, this is also a sentiment that I’ve really been feeling lately. Great little song, one of the best songs on star-crossed.

89. See You Again

Miley Cyrus’s “See You Again” is a great song (there are other Disney era Miley songs I like more though), and Kacey honestly does it justice!! She strips the song from the original more energetic rock production to an acoustic production, where the guitar still has a simultaneously dark yet warm texture. And I think this approach to the song suits Kacey really well, she does a great job at recapturing the same sentiments that Miley’s original captured, instead of sucking the soul and passion and any emotional nuance from the original article (cough cough “Dancing On My Own” by Calum Scott). Great track, but I’d struggle to call this better than Miley’s original (any cover is gonna have to be the greatest piece of music in history to do that for me unless it’s a Christmas song lol. Spoilers but she does actually accomplish this a few more times later in this ranking lol).

88. Present Without A Bow f/Leon Bridges

Just a charming little Christmas tune that is perfect around the holiday season. Kacey really shines here, even if I wish she could’ve restrained her vocals a bit more, they still sound beautiful. Couple that with pretty good chemistry with Leon Bridges, and you get a pretty great little song.

87. Let It Snow f/The Quebe Sisters

Kacey just fits this song to a T. “Let It Snow” isn’t one of my favorite Christmas songs by any means, but Kacey does it justice in my eyes. Her vocals are incredibly warm and inviting and they make it abundantly clear that Kacey wants you to be with her around the fireplace until the weather clears up. Great song!

86. A Willie Nice Christmas f/Willie Nelson

Yes, the pun in this song is kinda cringeworthy (honestly feels like a 4 year old kid is trying to say “Have a really nice Christmas” lol). But fuck it, when Willie Nelson and Kacey Musgraves have as much joyous chemistry as they do here, it’s hard to care that much. Honestly, the production here kinda reminds me of the next song...

85. Mele Kalikimaka f/The Quebe Sisters

I’ve always really liked “Mele Kalikimaka” because I can’t help but love a song about the coldest time of the year that reminds you of a warm place such as Hawaii haha. Kacey sounds nice here but I actually would argue the Quebe Sisters are what make this song really work for me. Kacey’s voice works really well on songs that highlight the inviting aspect of Christmas like on “Let It Snow”, for instance, but I unfortunately don’t think it really works here, her voice feels like it’s missing a lot of the warmth and comforting vibe that makes me love her music so much.

84. Oh, Tonight w/Josh Abbott Band

I don’t know if this is an indictment on how slow country music is to evolve or if it’s a testament to how well this song has held up that this reminds me of early 2010s country (before the bro country boom), but “Oh, Tonight” is just a really nice song that’s very neotraditional and showcases Josh Abbott and Kacey having really good chemistry. It’s a song basically about feeling on top of the world with your partner. I really love the fiddle here and the guitars give this a really solid groove. Nice song!!

83. Love’s Gonna Live Here w/Buddy Miller

One great neotraditional country song right into another. Funny how that works. Okay, but “Love’s Gonna Live Here” is a great song. Kacey and Buddy Miller have really good chemistry and I really like the guitar-driven groove here. That said, I’m not really sure what this song is about? From what I understand, it’s a chirpy lovestruck song about how love will be the only thing living with these two? Forgive me if I got this wrong, but either way, this is a fun, cute song.

 

82. She Calls Me Back w/Noah Kahan

This isn’t my favorite from Noah Kahan at all nor my favorite from Kacey (obviously, given how it’s not even in my top 80 here lol), but “She Calls Me Back” is a great song nonetheless and one that really grew on me. I don’t hate Noah Kahan’s voice nearly as much as I know some do and I truly believe his voice is able to match the folksy stomp-clap vibe this song has. Kahan and Musgraves unfortunately don’t have the chemistry you’d hope they have, though. But  Kacey’s voice is very soft-spoken, which while it admittedly doesn’t really match this stomp clap production very well, still sounds beautiful. Great track overall.

81. Fine

The only thing I’d say about this song is that it’s definitely a bit too slow. But Kacey’s voice is still fantastic and fits the composition so well. Not much else here, great song.

80. Good Ol’ Boys Club
I really like the lyrics on this song, it’s about, from my understanding, dismissing the stereotypical archetypes of the ‘Murican man and woman. Kacey just says “I’m gonna forge my own path, you can’t box me into this mold of a woman”. It’s a cliche message, but fuck it, it’s a great song.

79. Whispers Of Your Name

I’m not sure what to say here, I really like Kacey’s voice and the production sounds great too. I don’t know, if you’re expecting 5 page essays on these songs, you’ve come to the wrong guy.

78. Halfway To Memphis

I really like the driving tempo of percussion and the electric guitar touches sound really good too! Yeah, just a great driving song.

77. Mama’s Broken Heart

I still don’t like Miranda Lambert’s original “Mama’s Broken Heart” because I’ve always felt her twang completely ruined any fury Lambert could deliver to the song. But I actually really like Kacey’s rendition. Her vocals are still angelic but there’s a tangible sense of fury boiling underneath, and she’s way more convincing selling this, where she’s trying to force a smile and keep herself together before she just loses it and the fury that had been boiling underneath just erupts like a volcano erupting after being dormant for 50 years. Great song, one of the few times I’ve felt the cover version of a song actually improved upon the original.

76. Next Time

I just really like the calmer production, highlighting the lyrics, which are about how Kacey is retrospectively looking back on some hardship and noting what she will do next time she’s faced with a similar hardship. Honestly, listening to this song to write this entry after “Mama’s Broken Heart” is some serious tonal whiplash haha.

75. Easy Thing

This is really sweet, where Kacey is taking in all the great things that her partner does for her and disregarding any negative things that come with them, just saying “maybe loving you is an easy thing”. Great little song!

74. My Own Road

Another simple yet kinda adorable premise executed just as adorably. It’s a song where Kacey’s gonna live her life for herself and not for anyone else, she’s gonna carve ahead her own path into the future, even if the people guiding her might be right. I really like this!

73. Before My Time

Another great and adorable little song. Kacey’s vocals sound amazing and the lyrics, yes while nothing groundbreaking, are still pretty cute. It starts by being about Kacey’s grandmother telling Kacey about how things were way back then. And it slowly evolves into the sentiment of “pass down how things were when you were growing up to your kids and have them continue the cycle”. Another great one.

72. The Life Of An Old Cowhand

Another very good opener here. Kacey’s singing sounds great once again and I really like the acoustic guitar, it sounds really warm. My only minor issue with this is honestly the way she pronounced “coyotes”, it’s “kaiyotees”, not “kaiyots”, young Kacey. But I mean, she was 15 years old, I can only be so harsh.

71. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

Another great song from Kacey’s Christmas album. Where once again, Kacey’s vocals are warm and inviting, perfect for the holidays. Great track! And we’re not quite done with the Christmas music just yet!

70. Ribbons And Bows

Now this is my favorite kind of Christmas song: the upbeat, merry tunes where the singer just owns the song and makes Christmas feel like a live show. It's much of the reason I really like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. Now this isn’t quite as flamboyant as the best Christmas songs for me, but this is still so happy and merry that I can’t help but smile. Shoutout to that amazing sax solo. Great song!

69. Drive Away w/The Brummies

I really like the fat, darker synths on this song. That said, this could’ve easily been an incredible song if Kacey didn’t feel so criminally underused here. Regardless, this is a vibe.

68. Neon Moon w/Brooks & Dunn

Yeah, this works so well on mainly the production, I really like the melody here courtesy of the piano and guitars and the more danceable percussion giving this a bouncy tempo that I really like. And as per usual, Kacey sounds fantastic and it’s one of the very few times where she’s given more of a meaningful role on the song than just the “Lana Del Rey on Taylor Swift song” treatment. Hell, if anyone on this song gets that treatment, it’s actually Brooks & Dunn.

67. cherry blossom

Hope you liked those cherry blossom pictures I took at my college this year. But that doesn’t really have much to do with this song, which is one of my favorites from star-crossed because the synths sound well-layered and the song has enough of a body to feel like a vibe without feeling formless. And for the infinitieth time Kacey’s voice is utterly beautiful.

66. Pageant Material

Another song where Kacey dismisses the societal expectations of a woman, where she acknowledges her flaws as a human and that sure, she can dress up all sexy on stage and force a smile, but what problems would that solve in the end? She won’t solve world peace if she does any of these things, so she’s better off just being herself. Great song!

65. Family Is Family

This is just really sweet. It’s a song with a cliche sentiment about how your family is your family and your biggest cheerleaders no matter what happens. But what makes this rise up above cliche for me are Kacey’s soft spoken vocals. They are just gentle enough to fit the production and yet sincere enough to make you know that Kacey truly believes what she’s singing. Great track!

64. I Miss You

Another neotraditional country song, and as you’d expect, it sounds great. The gentle and solemn guitar strumming helps compliment the lyrics, where Kacey encounters someone from her past, likely an ex, and every memory rushes back to her. She might be happy now and every hurtful thing she may have said about them might also still be true, but she can’t deny she still misses having this person in her life.

63. Apologize

Yet another acoustic cover of a 2008 hit! And I’ll admit, since making my 2008 best list, “Apologize” has kinda cooled on me and I’m unsure if I’d still put it on my list now (I do still like it a lot though). And honestly I think Kacey Musgraves’ cover is even better. The main reason I liked Timbaland and OneRepublic’s original was the melody, even if Timbaland’s production on it felt a bit clunky. So stripping it back to acoustic gets rid of the issues I had with its production and the lyrics get more of a spotlight. No, this cover isn’t perfect, I think her voice is a bit too gentle to really sell the anger and spite in the lyrics. Still, great track.

62. Step Off

The lyrics are just seething with subtle fury before a dismissive “step off”. It effectively puts the person this is directed at in their place. Great song!

61. High Time

This song is just relaxing, the mandolin and what I think is a pedal steel sound really laid back and supply a great melody and Kacey’s voice is still fantastic. Great stuff!

60. Die Fun

Another song that really works for me thanks to the production, which while I think is a bit too laid back to sell the sentiment of “love hard, live fast, die fun”, still sounds superb. The pedal steel and mandolin sound excellent and allows Kacey’s relaxing and soothing voice to slot in really well. Great song.

59. Somebody To Love

The pedal steel sounds great here and gives the song the vibe it needs to match the lyrics, which are as simple as “we are all equal and ultimately have the same goal in life: to settle down and have a great life”. And for the (infinity + 1)th time Kacey has one of the most beautiful voices in music today. Great song!

58. Biscuits

“If you don’t have nothing nice to say don’t say nothing at all” is such a cliche yet ridiculously dumb lyric to me (I get that it’s supposed to be taken in a “don’t bully or belittle people intentionally” context but this is an argument that feels like it prevents proper discourse when it’s needed) but that doesn’t stop me from really liking that chorus, which is so melodic and catchy and the line “mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy”, while clunky, is just so instantly memorable. Though it also helps that the actual music is really good too; that pedal steel is so simple yet really home-spun to the point where it’s pretty wholesome. And yeah, don’t listen to the haters (unless they’re hating on you for some heinous act like racism or something idk then listen to them plz). Really nice song.

57. there is a light

This song feels like if “The Light Is Coming” by Ariana Grande wasn’t camp (I do like that song so don’t @ me). I really dig the drum machines and the flutes - they give this a meditative yet energetic vibe. Even Kacey’s attempts to be a diva (I think?) with her spoken word parts work well for me, though they are not her strong suit. Great song, easily my favorite from star-crossed.

56. Cup Of Tea

A simple reminder that you can’t please everyone so you should just follow your own path (even though if Kacey Musgraves isn’t your cup of tea you are objectively wrong and should immediately seek mental help /hj). It’s not the best song she’s made that goes in this territory - stay tuned - but it’s still a great song.

55. Lonely Millionaire

This is my least favorite song on Deeper Well, but that’s an incredible album so the bar is in the stratosphere. The reason this is my least favorite song on the album is that when Kacey is trying to make songs about very broad, cliche sentiments like “money can’t buy happiness”, it’s her weakest point. Her best songs need to feel personal to her and yet personal to the listener. Make it too broad and it loses a lot of resonance. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a great song. Kacey sells this with a lot of sincerity and earnestness and to an extent, this is a very true sentiment. But I feel it neglects to mention that some money can buy happiness for some people. And as a result I’m cooler on the track than I wanna be.

54. Blue Dream Baby w/Fancy Hagood

The production is great here. The synths and percussion give this a dancefloor vibe and the funky guitars are awesome as well. I feel though that Fancy Hagood and Kacey don’t have great chemistry here. They sound like great fits individually for this production, but together, something about it isn’t fully clicking. So this collaboration with Fancy Hagood is Fancy Hagreat, but it should be Fancy Ha-incredible...Ok I’ll leave now, I’m sorry.

53. waves w/Miguel

Miguel and Kacey have great chemistry here and Kacey’s voice is a wonderful fit for this production. Though something about this is making it just shy of being incredible, and I think it might be Miguel, honestly. He might have great chemistry with Kacey but his lower register just isn’t fully clicking for me here. Still, this is a great summer sunset vibe. Check it out!!

52. Easy w/Troye Sivan f/Mark Ronson

I love the driving groove in the percussion and how the synths sound. Troye Sivan also sounds amazing here. Unfortunately, as much as it pains me to say it, I think the weakness here is actually Kacey herself. Her higher voice clashes weirdly with the higher-toned synths, I bet if this song’s synths were darker, this would work even better. As is though, still a great song.

51. Fix You

This should REALLY work way better than it does. It’s one of my top 5 favorite songs of all time covered by my all time favorite artist, it should be a slam dunk. It’s a song Kacey covered for a Chipotle ad apparently, and for what it is, it is a great song, but it SHOULD be fantastic. I think I know why this doesn’t really work as well as I want it to for me, Coldplay’s original “Fix You” is the sort of song where I listen to when I’m feeling extra down and need to confront my adversity head on. Get rid of the guitar crescendos, and you’re left with what’s essentially “Rainbow” from Temu. The pedal steel(?) here doesn't have the same uplifting tone that the piano in “Rainbow” does. Again, this isn’t even remotely close to bad. I’m sure it has its purpose. Kacey’s soft-spoken and angelic vocals are still as reassuring as ever and I’m sure there is someone out there that found comfort in her rendition and treated it as a safety blanket. But maybe replace the pedal steel with a piano, it could’ve been as fantastic as its potential had implied. As it is, though, it’s a great song.

 THE 9/10s - INCREDIBLE/EXCELLENT TIER

Alright now for the real gems!!...

50. Can’t Help Falling In Love

Full disclosure, there is a version of this cover that has Mark Ronson on it. I'm not including that in this ranking because I’m counting that as a remix. But if you were curious, it’d be somewhere in the decent tier. But anyway, this song. “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley may be the most covered song I’ve heard. Just from the ones I’ve heard, there have been covers from UB40, Twenty One Pilots, and even one from some Khia named Haley Reinhart got radio play in 2015 where I live. And Kacey Musgraves is just another artist to add onto the ever increasing pile of artists who’ve covered it and yet I think it’s the best rendition of the song I’ve heard, including the original, which is an extraordinary feat. Kacey’s vocals are heavenly here and they add a layer of emotional depth to the song (or maybe it just feels like that lol. Either way she does a great job here). Incredible song!

49. Jade Green

This is a huge highlight from Deeper Well and yet it still isn’t my favorite song on it. I’ll start with the production, which feels extremely meditative and almost Earthy, reminding me a lot of SZA’s “Good Days”, which is a massive compliment. I can’t help but love the sound effects I feel like I’m hearing, like the gentle pattering of the raindrops. This production aesthetic makes sense considering the lyrics which are apparently, as I’m literally just finding out now as I’m writing this review, about a bracelet made of jade that Kacey wears at all times for holistic benefits. It’s a song that’s promoting being in a healthy state of mind. Even if you don’t do it the same way Kacey is doing, whether it be going on walks, listening to music, meditating, whatever, Kacey’s recent music has a knack of promoting a healthy lifestyle and making you feel like you should aspire to those goals. Absolutely incredible song, but still nearly 50 songs I found better.

48. Heart Of The Woods

Yeah, we’re sticking with Deeper Well for this one. And it hits a lot of the same production aesthetics that “Jade Green” did; it’s very Earthy feeling, maybe not quite as meditative as that song was though. But I still love “Heart Of The Woods”, mainly because this earthy, woodsy aesthetic in itself feels meditative for me. I absolutely love the banjo here - it creates a very rich atmosphere. Amazing little song, highly recommended!

47. Cardinal

“Cardinal” is a very solid opener for Deeper Well, setting the tone for the album so well. It’s about Kacey wondering if a cardinal that appears on her front doorstep is trying to send her a message from her friend who unexpectedly passed away in 2020, and from what I can tell based on the lyrics, she’s talking to the cardinal in hopes that her friend will receive her message. It’s an amazing opener for an equally amazing album.

46. Oh, What A World 2.0

Spoiler alert: the original “Oh, What A World” will be very high on this ranking. Now this version - which I’m not really sure if it counts as a remix or not, if it does, uh...I sowwy. I’ll get more into “Oh, What A World” when we get to that song eventually, but for now, I’m not gonna complain when we get a danceable yet meditative beat under an already very meditative song. This isn’t quite as good as the original, but it’s still incredible.

45. I Remember Everything w/Zach Bryan

Well, this might be a surprise to be so high here. Especially considering I said it missed my 2023 best list for being “low to mid tier Kacey”. And this is still nowhere near Kacey’s top tier but it grew on me so much when I actually listened to the lyrics and realized how it’s kinda heartbreaking. What I immediately find striking about this song is how when Kacey starts singing her verse and the chorus, she doesn’t change any pronouns, so what you get is a picture of a relationship where these two people started drinking and are giving conflicting stories that don’t really add up. Zach Bryan says “you were begging me to stay until the sun rose” but Kacey fires back with “no, YOU were begging me to stay till the sun rose” while adding enough extra concrete detail to make it not feel baseless. It’s a modern “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye in a sense. It also helps that this got Kacey a #1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 after her previous highest peak being only #60. This got a queen what she deserved and I’m so glad this finally fully clicked for me.

44. Too Good To Be True

I just love the production here. The pedal steel sounds beautiful and compliments Kacey’s voice beautifully. It’s a song where Kacey is pleading to this new guy that she meets to help make this relationship work since she’s still hurting from her previous relationship ending. And I really love the ending, where it’s implied that Kacey’s in a great place with her new partner and that it wasn’t too good to be true after all. Just another incredible song on Deeper Well.

43. Crazy

Another cover here, and yes this is a hot Gnarls Barkley cover, this time with a country update to the production. And quite honestly it goes way harder than it has any right to. I do like the original Gnarls Barkley version, but I never loved CeeLo Green’s vocals there. Kacey here, gives it a fuckton of energy and proves she is able to carry it really well, honestly, it feels like if her demo albums actually had, you know, a budget. This is a really fun cover.

42. When They Talk About Love

This is a song about parents loving you and it’s kinda adorable. This is just a simple song about how now that Kacey has found a boy she loves she finally gets what her parents mean “when they talk about love”. Not quite Kacey’s best song from her demo EP, that’d be...

41. His Long Gone

The best way I can describe this song’s production is a countrified High School Musical. And that isn’t an insult at all, because remember I really love the High School Musical soundtrack haha. But “His Long Gone” isn’t really connected to High School Musical at all, lyrically it’s about some guy that dumped Kacey and how she’s now his “long gone”. Not much else to this song to say, I just love this, not much to it.

40. Falling

Neotraditional country is gonna neotraditional country. That’s all to say. It’s an incredible song.

39. Pieces 

Another song I love primarily on melody alone. The production, bizarre as it may sound, kinda reminds me of “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” by Green Day, with the way the production is stomping with the minor key guitars. Again, not much to why I love this song, I just do.

 

38. Back Home

Composition-wise this honestly reminds me of “Homeward Bound” by Simon & Garfunkel, coincidentally another song about home. “Back Home” is about Kacey missing her lover who’s gone for a few days and her counting down the days until they’re back home. I love the banjo here, it sounds really warm, homespun, and wholesome. Love this!

37. Rainbow Connection

Yes, Movin On, Kacey’s worst album actually has an incredible song on it!! And ironically it’s the one where she sings “why are there so many songs about rainbows?” only to then 16 years later release a song literally called “Rainbow”. But being real, the original “Rainbow Connection” from the Muppets is a song I’ve adored since my childhood, and it remains one of my all-time favorite songs to this day. And I’m not gonna complain when a fantastic singer covers a fantastic song so well. Seriously, you gotta applaud young Kacey, she sounds magnificent here! I’m hesitant to say this is better than the original, primarily based on my nostalgia clouding my better judgment, but this is still incredible and easily the best thing Kacey made prior to being signed.

36. Miserable
Absolutely incredible production here. It feels so organic and cute to me. I love that guitar melody and Kacey’s vocals are angelic. The song is about how you can’t be happy unless you go through some hell first. And yeah, you can’t truly appreciate or notice when you’re happy until you’ve gone through bad times too. It’s a reminder to not be such a Debbie downer for every little thing and enjoy life when you get the chance to. Incredible song!

35. Dandelion

I love the dreamy and relaxing production, and how Kacey’s voice just slots in seamlessly here. It also has a minor chord that highlights the sad message of the song, where Kacey keeps wishing on millions of dandelions thinking that superstition will help her out even if she knows it’s a waste of breath and time. It’s not my favorite song with the word “dandelion” in the title - I doubt anything would top that Ruth B song for me in that arena quite frankly, but this is still an amazing little song.

34. Back On The Map

Neotraditional country is gonna neotraditional country. That’s all to say. It’s an incredible song.[2]

33. Blowin’ Smoke

I admittedly didn’t totally love this song at first, I still really liked it, but I didn’t think it flattered any of Kacey’s strengths and fell a bit flat for me as with a lot of the other darker songs we went through in this ranking. But when relistening to Same Trailer Different Park  for this ranking, it just clicked for me. I appreciate this song for what it is, just a heavy smoking anthem. Not sure what exactly made this click for me, but what matters is that I think this is an incredible song now.

32. To June This Morning w/Ruston Kelly

It’s a song between Kacey and her now ex-husband. Kacey has great chemistry for Ruston Kelly, which honestly makes me see this song through a bit of a different lens now that they aren’t together anymore. In fact, it almost feels like you can hear how their relationship might be going awry in their voices in a way. I don’t know, I’m probably wrong on that claim, but I still love this.

31. Dinner With Friends

This song doesn’t quite have the same lyrical resonance for me as many of my favorite songs from Deeper Well, but I still think this song is really relaxing to the point where I want to melt into my couch listening to it. The gentle guitar strumming and Kacey’s even gentler voice give this a very cozy atmosphere, which matches the lyrics, which starts off with just a simple dinner with friends on a night out, but it slowly starts to evolve into everything that Kacey would miss when it’s...all over. There’s one song later on very high up in this ranking where Kacey takes a simple premise and evolves it throughout the song that we’ll get to MUCH later on, but in the meantime, this is an amazing little song.

30. Giver / Taker

This doesn’t have the same powerful-feeling message that some other songs from Deeper Well have, but I still love this; the guitar, Kacey’s soothing vocals, and even the simple lyrics about giving as much as you had without asking for it in return and taking only as much as you need, I think? Honestly the “take what I needed” bit feels a bit confusing by following it up “I’d take everything you had”. Still, it’s an incredible sounding song.

29. Keep It To Yourself

Neotraditional country is gonna neotraditional country. That’s all to say. It’s an incredible song.[3]

28. Late To The Party

The guitar sounds lovestruck to match the wholesome lyrics where Kacey doesn’t care if she’s late to the party as long as she’s with her partner. Yeah, that’s about all.

27. Three Little Birds

“Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley is a song that while I don’t think I’ve ever heard in full yet, I’ve been exposed to it about a bajillion times thanks to it soundtracking a lot of commercials. And even based on how little familiarity I have with the original, I feel like Kacey does it better, her voice is soothing and  comforting, making lyrics like “every little thing is gonna be alright” hit harder, she has that reassuring quality in her voice and I absolutely love it, this isn’t the best use of that quality she’s done, but still, check this one out. It’s really really nice.

26. Dime Store Cowgirl

This is another song where the organic neotraditional production won me over instantly. This song’s melody is insanely strong. The electric guitar and pedal steel touches sound incredible. Lyrically, this song is about Kacey being happy and grateful with what she has now, even if it’s dirt cheap, because they still have some sentimental value for her. It eventually evolves into a message I can only describe as “I’m not gonna move to Hollywood. I love this garbage dumpster, it has a lot of sentimental value for me”. Well obviously, that’s an over-exaggeration of what she’s implying, but shhhhhhhhhhhhh. Anyway, when you have a melody and a hook this strong, yeah, this is excellent.

25. Anime Eyes

This could’ve been in my 10/10 tier if the analogy to “anime eyes” didn’t feel clunky to me, especially in the bridge. I’m sorry, I don’t watch any anime. Maybe there’s some weeb subtext or something I’m missing here, but nonetheless, I can appreciate the sentiment of this. Kacey sounds so lovestruck here and she makes it clear that when she looks at this person, she’s looking through heart-shaped eyes. Yeah, I really love this song, a fitting end to this tier.

 THE 10/10s - PERFECTION TIER

Now the real cream of the crop!!...

24. Mother 

Spoilers: Golden Hour is gonna take up about half of this tier. Those who view this blog regularly should know that that album is my favorite album of all time. And full disclosure, having to rank all the songs on that album from “worst” to best was like trying to choose my favorite child - the order they’re in here could probably change at any given moment. “Mother” is the song I’d probably only call the “worst” on the album because, well, it’s a 1-minute interlude and I feel like I can’t really compare it to these more fuller songs. That said, it’s still a fantastic interlude, very soothing and relaxing, where Kacey’s vocals just wrap me up in a gentle hug. This is a song about how much Kacey really misses her mother who probably misses her mother who probably misses their mother...etc. Not much else to say. Fantastic interlude from a fantastic album.

23. Moving Out

Yeah, Deeper Well also has multiple points of representation in this tier. And “Moving Out” is a fantastic song, capturing the bittersweet feeling of moving on from something or someone or some place, where you know you have to move on with your life but you’re gonna miss the memories that you associated with that place/person/thing. Fantastic little song!

22. Deeper Well

This probably isn’t “objectively” perfect if you take a bit too hard of a look at the lyrics, but doing that misses the entire point of the song. It’s a song where Kacey feels like she’s finally in a good place in life and is cutting off toxic parts of her life. Though if you pay a bit too much attention to the lyrics you’re probably gonna raise eyebrows at the third verse where she makes the admittedly careless mistake of excusing flat-Earthers...which, yeah it’s not a great way to convey letting people believe what they believe. But I know that that was not her intention, she’s simply trying to make a song about her being settled down and in a great place in life and trying to push the listener to strive towards achieving that same place. So it’s not “objectively” perfect, but it’s still making the perfection tier so screw you. If you want, I guess call this the “adore it” tier, I don’t know.

21. Nothing To Be Scared Of

Some of Kacey’s best songs are when she uses her gentle vocals to make personal and comforting songs of reassurance. And “Nothing To Be Scared Of” is absolutely fantastic. Kacey reassures an unnamed figure that she’s there for them to vent or for comfort. I especially really love the way Kacey sings this with the sincerity to make it seem like she’s singing this to you. The song is a safety blanket you can curl up in and let out your anxieties until it’s time to face whatever challenge or anxiety you may have to face. It also helps that the production is immaculate here, the gentle guitar strumming and the piano both deliver a fantastic melody and compliment each other so well. Fantastic song!

20. Sway

I adore this on the production primarily. The gentle swaying (pun half intended) patter of the drums feels meditative and the guitar sounds fantastic. Kacey’s vocals again sound heavenly and I especially adore the way they layer near the end.

19. Velvet Elvis

“Velvet Elvis” is only really lower tier Golden Hour because the competition is fierce there. Because this is fantastic too. The horns sound really nice and I just really love the dreamy vibe and the string touches. Yeah, yet another fantastic Golden Hour track, but speaking of Golden Hour...

 

18. Golden Hour

Another dreamy song here. This one is simply a song about how deeply Kacey loves her partner and how they make her feel great and at ease. And once again, Kacey’s sincerity makes you feel like she’s singing to you and it winds up serving as a reminder that you matter in this world, even to the people you least expect to matter to.

17. Happy & Sad

When Kacey isn’t making music that explicitly feels like she’s singing to you, she’s making music that makes you feel like you aren’t alone in the feelings you experience. Case in point, “Happy & Sad”, a song where Kacey is having the time of her life and is still dreading the feeling of that high coming to an end. She’s taking an emotion that everyone probably feels for a brief moment at some point in their life and taking an in-depth examination into it. Without going into too much detail, I remember feeling this very emotion when I was at The Eras Tour last year. Fantastic song!!

16. It Is What It Is
Neotraditional country production, Kacey’s beautiful voice. What’s not to adore? Ok but taking only a bit of a deeper dive into the lyrics, it’s a song about a relationship that’s over. “It is what it is, till it ain’t anymore”. Beautiful song.

15. Merry Go Round

This is a song about how society (or I guess in Kacey’s case, small towns) expects you to do the same thing over and over like clockwork no matter your circumstances. If you don’t believe in God, well too bad! You must be at church on Sunday morning. The song doesn’t have any solution (Kacey does have a song tackling a similar theme later in this ranking with an actual solution, we’ll get to it) because the heartbreaking reality is that, even though this metaphorical merry go round is broken, we just keep going on that same merry go round for the rest of our lives. Because it ain’t slowing down for anybody. If you couldn't figure it out by now, the “merry go round” is life itself (at least I think). It’s arguably some of the most cutting, harsh, insightful songwriting of Kacey’s career. Very worthy of being one of her 15 best!

14. Heaven Is

This is just a beautiful song. What is it about? It’s the song that starts with everything Kacey is grateful for in her life; lying in her partner’s arms, the way her partner says her name, her having a roof over her head. But then it starts to evolve into Kacey questioning what heaven itself actually is. Do we ride white horses in the sky? And then the song ends with the sentiment of “if heaven isn’t what we’re imagining it to be in our head, heaven is tonight”, serving as a reminder to look for the good in your everyday life. Fantastic little song!!

13. My House

This is a song...literally about taking a road trip to see a partner (I think?). But the production is why I put this so high on this ranking, it’s very neotraditional and melodic, I especially love that fiddle. Fantastic little song.

12. Silver Lining

This is the side of Kacey’s artistry I adore most; when she’s being comforting in times of distress/when you’re having a bad day. This is a song that’s about how if you wanna find the silver lining in any situation, you have to go through awful things and again, what makes this work is Kacey’s sincerity. You can tell she means what she’s singing.

11. Wonder Woman

We’re back to Golden Hour now!! “Wonder Woman” doesn’t quite have the same sense of comfort that a lot of my favorite tracks from Golden Hour do (it’s about Kacey not needing her partner to be a superhero and that she shouldn’t be expected to solve every single problem, she’s only human after all), but I adore the production here; the acoustic guitar coupled with the foundation from the bass guitar and the light kick drum give this a very dreamy vibe. Yet another fantastic song.

10. Slow Burn

A fantastic opener to this transcendent album. From the very first guitar pluck, you know that you’re in for a soothing spa day of an album. Lyrically, the song is about Kacey taking her time with her life. And as the name implies, it’s a slow burn of a song. It takes its time to get going but not to the point of being boring. Fantastic song!!

9. Follow Your Arrow

This song was always locked for a high placing on this list. “Follow Your Arrow” is a song that has understandably become an LGBTQ+ anthem and arguably the moment where Kacey became an LGBTQ icon. But I honestly don’t have to go into that to adore this song, I’m just a dumb straight man after all, but I can’t help but adore the message of “Look, you’re gonna be judged by people no matter what you do. You might as well do whatever the fuck you want”. Couple that with Kacey’s best neotraditional production to date and you get one of Kacey’s most widely beloved songs and one of her best, without a shred of doubt.

8. Lonely Weekend

The guitar sounds so dreamy and fantastic. Even the backing vocals honestly only add to this song, they don’t clash with Kacey’s voice at all and make you feel like you’re walking on the clouds, quite frankly. Yeah, fantastic song!!

7. Space Cowboy

Again, I just adore the production here, the guitar and piano layer each other impeccably and it still feels dreamy. And then the lyrics - it’s a breakup song where Kacey acknowledges that she and her boyfriend aren’t in a good relationship with each other and Kacey simply says “alright, you can have your space, cowboy. I don’t want to make you any unhappier than you already are.” it doesn’t hit the personal songwriting notes that some of the best songs here do, but it’s still a fantastic song.

6. Butterflies

....A part of me is kinda shocked this finished so high here, even just among the Golden Hour songs. When I reviewed the album last year, I did say that the guitar tones on this song weren’t my favorite, but then when relistening to Golden Hour for this ranking the guitar tones just clicked into place for me, they are incredibly dreamy and make me feel like I’m melting into a marshmallow. And Kacey just sounds so lovestruck here, she sounds like her partner truly does give her butterflies. Like there’s about a trillion caterpillar cocoons inside of her that are hatching with butterflies (/j). But yeah, this is a genuinely sweet song.

5. Love Is A Wild Thing

The production is impeccable here. The banjo and Kacey’s sweet, angelic, soothing vocals are just so relaxing. I even adore the hook here, “Running like a river trying to find the ocean” alone just feels so catchy to me haha. Fantastic little track.

4. High Horse

This was always a song I highlighted as one of the best songs on Golden Hour, as painful as it was to discount any of the other songs on it. It’s an impeccable blend of country and disco complete with Kacey’s dismissive sarcasm to shut this guy with a superiority complex down. I’m not lying when I say that this song is objectively one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. So what three songs topped it? Well...

 THE 11/10s - TRANSCENDENT/PERSONALLY SIGNIFICANT TIER

All three of these songs are some of my favorite songs of all time. The next two have defined my 2024 in the best way possible and I have great plans to cover them since they’re gonna at least be ineligible honorable mentions on my best list this year. I’m gonna go into more detail there, but for now, I’ll briefly cover them here...

3. Oh, What A World

To keep this short, this song completely changed my outlook on life this year. More detail will be in my 2024 best list in December.

2. The Architect

This has recently overtaken Coldplay’s “Fix You” as my 2nd favorite song of all time. I don’t think there’s ever been a song like this where it felt like it was specifically written for me.

You know, my #1 shouldn’t be a huge surprise to anyone who knows me at all, but it was way closer between this and “The Architect” than you’d think for this top spot. But in the end, I need to give the crown on this list to the song that’s become an integral part of my life and has helped me out tremendously in the worst moments of my life...

1. Rainbow

Well, I mean duh. This is now the third article where I’m talking about this song in some detail and at this point I really don’t have much new material to add. This song takes all of the aspects I adore the most about Kacey’s artistry and puts it into one transcendent song. Kacey’s vocals are calming, soothing, angelic, and heavenly, reassuring the listener that everything is alright and the arrangement is just a spare piano supplying the single best melody I’ve ever heard. And the way she sings the final line “it’ll all be alright” in her soothing, comforting vocal timbre has made me cry like a baby on numerous occasions. In fact, everything about this song is so impeccably crafted that I think even without my personal significance, this’d still top this list. “Rainbow”: Kacey Musgraves’s best song, my favorite Kacey Musgraves song, my favorite song of all time, talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it.

And that’s that! Let me know what you think of this type of article and if I should do it again. I’m not entirely sure if I’ll do it again, but in the meantime, thanks for reading and if you wanna comment what your favorite Kacey Musgraves song(s) is/are, please do so, I’d love to read it. My next article is probably gonna be my best list redux for 2020 (finally lol), but then maybe I’ll do 1998 lists? Who knows. But until next time, keep it Fire!