“High Horse” by Kacey Musgraves, Wednesday, April 6, 2022

One of my forgotten New Year's resolutions was to listen to more Kacey Musgraves this year, and for the most part I've neglected that other than watching her music videos for star-crossed back in January. But today when I was watching an old Mic the Snare video in which the host named Golden Hour as his top album of 2018, I couldn't shake "High Horse" out of my head since. Watching that video reminded me that 1) I am a bad music critic and 2) I'm a basic bitch, but 3) there is a lot of music out there and 4) there's a reason why albums win Grammy's and finally 5) just because something is popular doesn't mean it's not worth digging into it.

I THINK WE'VE SEEN ENOUGH. Kacey Musgrave's third record Golden Hour transitions the singer-songwriter from straight-forward Country music to what Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) calls Carly Rae Jepsen's "Emotion with banjos." While I don't fail to see the comparison, Golden Hour is much more of a laid-back record than Carly Rae's classic, "High Horse" being one of the more energetic tracks. Golden Hour is classic in its own way, though, blending acoustic instruments with electronic elements seamlessly, giving listeners a new idea of what Country music can do. And speaking of the Grammy's, Kacey Musgraves' Golden Hour started a three-year streak of women winning Album of the Year: Golden Hour won in 2019, Billie Eilish's When We Fall Asleep, Where Do Go? won in 2020, and Taylor Swift's folklore won in 2021. Whatever draws listeners to Musgraves, whether its her clever wordplay, her keen ear for a hook, or her medium-ranged ballads, its Kacey herself that keeps her fanbase strong. Her soft, under-pronounced Golden, Texas twang sometimes reminds you that Golden Hour is in fact a country record. But it's in those twangy moments on Golden Hour, and star-crossed for that matter, where we see Musgraves as real and vulnerable. 

WHY DON'T YOU GIDDY UP, GIDDY UP AND RIDE STRAIGHT OUT OF THIS TOWN? Musgraves talked about writing "High Horse"in a session with two other writers,  Tommy English and Trent Dabbs, telling them that she wanted to write a song imagining that The Bee Gees discovered country western. Country music hadn't been this disco since Dolly Parton sang with Ronnie Milsap back in the '70s. And while Country music has been masterfully melding with other genres since the turn of the century, the delivery--the country star--is often a barrier to the song and the genre's success. But Musgraves had been spending two albums building bridges between the Country music scene and other diverse groups, making "High Horse" and the other tracks on Golden Hour crossover well. Musgraves sings in annoyance about an arrogant display of power. The song is more out of an eye-roll than anger. In fact, I can see a "teacher face," you remember from back in school, the teacher looking bored, eyes narrowing, aimed at this obscene display of overcompensation. It's always satisfying to see Lord Farquaad get bored and turn his horse to another town where maybe, just maybe the citizens will marvel at his wonder.  

Read “High Horse” by Kacey Musgraves on Genius