Listening to Kacey Musgraves‘ new Miranda Lambert duet, “Horses and Divorces,” feels a whole lot like being a fly on the wall while two people are quashing a decade-year-old feud. It’s that direct and transparent.
Anyone who’s nosy about country star drama (and really, who isn’t?!) will find some reward in parsing these lyrics.
Read More: All of Country Music’s Current Feuds + Beefs
In one line, Lambert cracks a joke about Musgraves’ noted fondness for marijuana, singing “I’d ride in on my high horse, you’d still be higher.”
Musgraves returns with a reference to Lambert’s longstanding love of pyrotechnics in her lyrics, singing “A few years ago you’d have set me on fire.”
But trading barbs isn’t the point of the song. It’s actually a blow-by-blow of how the two artists buried the hatchet. They realized they’ve got more in common than meets the eye: Horses, divorces, Texas, alcohol and a love for Willie Nelson.
Was Kacey Musgraves + Miranda Lambert’s Feud Real?
You betcha. Kacey Musgraves confirmed to Variety this week that their beef was “grass-fed, Grade A.”
Why Did Kacey Musgraves + Miranda Lambert Have Beef?
There are two parts to this story.
The first, and simplest, stems from the 2013 CMAs, when a camera caught Musgraves looking, well, less than happy as Lambert accepted her Female Vocalist of the Year trophy.
Musgraves had been nominated in that category, too, and Lambert shouted her out during the speech, saying, “East Texas girls gotta stick together.”
Read More: Kacey Musgraves Reveals Miranda Lambert Duet
Musgraves said at the time that it was all a misunderstanding: That as a new artist, she was still getting used to “cameras being on me 24/7” and the camera simply caught her in a “non-smiling moment.” She also said she’d been in touch with Lambert and things were all good between them.
What About “Mama’s Broken Heart”?
The second piece of the story dates from a couple of years prior, when Lambert received a pitch for “Mama’s Broken Heart.” Musgraves had co-written that song with Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, and she hoped to keep the song for her own project.
“It was gonna be my first single and I loved the song so much,” Musgraves tells NPR, adding that she’d been writing for other people for years by then.
On top of that, Musgraves and Lambert already had some complicated backstory.
“It was two singers from two nearby, small Texas towns. There’s a lot that comes with that. Then we each take our own paths, both leading us to Nashville at different times,” she recounts.
“Then, the song gets pitched to her without my consent or knowledge. It was a tricky situation,” Musgraves continues. “She ended up loving the song and she really wanted it. And I had other co-writers to consider.”
Ultimately, Musgraves says that she’s glad things happened the way they did: The situation forced her to return to the drawing board and write “Merry Go Round,” and “Mama’s Broken Heart” was a chart-topping hit for Lambert.
How Did Kacey Musgraves + Miranda Lambert End Their Feud?
Musgraves has said that she got the idea after seeing a social media post from Lambert one day and commenting, “Well, I guess we have two things in common: Horses and divorces.”
Immediately, she knew she wanted to write a song around the idea. She hadn’t spoken to Lambert in years at that point, but she decided to reach out to see if Lambert would be game to record it as a duet.
Read More: Here’s Where Miranda Lambert + Kacey Musgraves Stand Today
Next, they roped in Shane McAnally, a frequent collaborator for both artists and a songwriter on “Mama’s Broken Heart.”
“She texted Miranda, they got on the phone and Miranda said, ‘I love this idea and I think we have to write it with Shane, because if we don’t he’ll never forgive us,'” McAnally recounts to Variety.
So they sat down and hashed it all out. Are Lambert and Musgraves best friends now? Probably not. But the beef has been squashed.
Or, as they sing in “Horses and Divorces,” “Now that we’re older / It’s all whiskey under the bridge.”
Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert, “Horses and Divorces” Lyrics:
(Musgraves) You know that I’ve said some things about you / (Lambert) And I’ve done my fair share of s–t talkin’, too / (Musgraves) Both sides of the fences, I’ve gotten defensive / (Both) There’s always two sides of the truth
Chorus:
(Both) Hell just froze over / ‘Cause we’re both at the bottom of the bottle and we’re finding / We got a few things in common / Like horses and divorces and we both like to drink / Maybe we’re more alike than we think
(Lambert) I’d ride in on my high horse, you’d still be higher / (Musgraves) And a few years ago you’d have set me on fire / (Both) There were chips on our shoulders / Now that we’re older / It’s all whiskey under the bridge
Repeat Chorus
(Musgraves) I can’t believe we don’t share any exes / (Lambert) ‘Cause we both love cowboys and we’re both from Texas / (Musgraves) We both love Willie / (Lambert) But I mean really / (Both) What a–hole doesn’t like Willie?
Repeat Chorus
(Both) We both like to drink / Smoke, cuss, drink / Maybe we’re more alike than we think
Country Music’s Current Feuds and Beefs [UPDATED]
The difference between a true country music feud and one country singer being a punk is the response. Each of these active feuds has involved a significant back and forth between two country artists or more.
A few singers are involved in multiple feuds while others involve unexpected or unknown singers. We’ll update this list as the pairs make peace or if another fight emerges.
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
