Kacey Musgraves is putting out another track from her upcoming album, star-crossed, called “Justified.”
And remember when she previously said she felt like there were moments on this record that felt more country than Golden Hour? I don’t think this is one of those songs…
But, it’s definitely catchy and moreover, honest about some of the struggles she faced during the fallout of her marriage and subsequent divorce.
On this track, it sounds like she’s in conversation with herself about how she’s handling everything and the inconsistencies, hardships, and downright confusion that comes with moving on from a relationship that was such a big part of her life.
Though she’s stayed pretty quiet about specifics in terms of what actually led to her divorce from Ruston Kelly, I think people will be able to (or at the very least, will try to) put some pieces together by the time the entire album is released.
Check out some of the telling lyrics:
“To touch somebody
You know I tried to make that you
And when you lied and said, you didn’t want me
Tell me what was I supposed to do?
Moving on was feeling strong
But healing doesn’t happen in a straight line
If I cry just a little
And then laugh in the middle
If I hate you and I love you
Then I change my mind
If I need just a little
More time to deal with the fact
That you should have treated me right
Then I’m more than just a little justified
I’m more than just a little justified”
She also released a music video with the song. It starts out with her driving in the car listening to the radio when an ad comes on:
“Are you unlucky in love? Love isn’t always a smooth road and a ray of sunshine, is it folks?
It twists and turns and before you know it, you’re speeding into a place you don’t recognize. Text 888-821-1988 for all the last info for your journey ahead.”
After that ends, you see a montage of her driving around in a wedding dress as she passes through different seasons and weather changes on the road. A metaphor for the real-life changes her marriage went through, I’m sure. At one point, you actually see her crying as she’s driving through the rain.
Then, at the end, a clip of one of the other unreleased songs from the album, “camera roll,” starts playing on the radio.
She starts getting all kinds of notifications for memories of different albums from the camera roll on her phone with names like “the honeymoon phase,” “the simple times,” “what you’ve forgotten,” “the day it fell apart,” “denial,” and “fate”.
As all of the notifications start coming in to a point where it’s non-stop, she gets distracted looking at them on the phone and almost completely swerves into the other lane.
We see the headlights of the car on the other side of the road, but the video ends before you find out what happens and if she managed to avoid getting hit. I guess we’ll have to wait for the entire accompanying film to come out before we know the whole story…
Check out the new music video and song here:
And the title-track she released at the beginning of the week, “star-crossed”:
Also, make sure you watch the trailer for the accompanying film that promises to be “a modern tragedy”, and just like the album, will be told in three acts as if it were a Shakespearean play. Though it looks a bit more futuristic than it does modern, I’m excited to see what she’s come up with.
It’s all due out on September 10th:
