If your mama is anything like mine (or Miranda’s, or Kacey’s), you know what happens if you don’t act “right.”
Even as an adult, it’s not uncommon to hear something along the lines of “straighten up,” or a similar phrase to that effect. Combine that with a look that could kill and a strong southern accent, and it can actually be quite terrifying. And it’s never more applicable than in a time of crisis when you feel like your world is being turned upside down. Of course, I’m talking about a bad break up.
No song better explains the mother-daughter relationship and how complex it can be than the fourth single off Miranda Lambert’s 2011 Four the Record album, “Mama’s Broken Heart.” Written by Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Kacey Musgraves, it’s for anyone who has ever felt the pressure to pretend that everything is ok in the midst of going crazy after it all falls apart.
And yeah, that’s Kacey singing background vocals on it.
It’s hard to imagine the song not being Miranda’s, but Kacey delivered a performance of it at Royal Albert Hall in 2015, and it’s absolutely incredible. Paired with her angelic vocals, she puts her own cosmic cowgirl spin on it, and all I can say is that I think we need to get a studio recording of this version too.
It sounds like it would’ve fit right in on Kacey’s incredibly underrated 2015 Pageant Material album.
Miranda Lambert’s version:
