Miranda Lambert‘s fire-breathing new rock-country song is a mood. “Wranglers” dropped on Friday (May 3), and fans are comparing it to her most popular hits.
The singer agrees. During the build-up for this new single, she said it’d fit on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, her 2007 album that featured “Gunpowder and Lead.” That was the album and song that branded her as a woman not to be trifled with.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned / When the knock-down drag-out’s over / And lord knows she took one too many,” Lambert sings after a rolling, guitar-driven intro. An ominous whistle gives the song a Clint Eastwood-style (not Spade Cooley) Western feel.
A partial list of Lambert’s best (and maybe most fearless) songs includes “Gunpowder & Lead,” “White Liar,” “Kerosene” and “Somethin’ Bad,” her 2014 duet with Carrie Underwood.
The latter is the last time the now happily married (presumably) singer brought this kind of energy to radio. Underwood has actually carried the torch since — she may be the only modern woman in country with a body count larger than Lambert’s.
“If he ever loved her / He never let it show,” Lambert sings at the chorus of “Wranglers.” “If she didn’t need him / She’d-a left him long ago / She set it all on fire / And if there’s one thing that she learned / Wranglers take forever to burn.”
Find the full lyrics below.
It’s important to note that Lambert didn’t write “Wranglers.” That makes attempts to tie it back to any of her ex-lovers a problem, although country fans will still try. Credit Audra Mae, Evan McKeever and Ryan Carpenter with the lyrics. Jon Randall co-produced with Lambert.
Fans React to Miranda Lambert’s, “Wranglers”:
Miranda Lambert fans are showing near-universal support for “Wranglers” and the singer’s revenge-minded lyrics. The song is her first radio release in three years and a pivot for her. Until this point, you’d be hard-pressed to find a time when the 40-year-old consciously looked back to move forward.
Miranda Lambert Wranglers Cover Art and Reactions
The focus early has been on Lambert’s character’s reaction to being cheated on and abused (“Well her blue jean eyes / Are too tired to cry” is a simply brilliant lyric), not the abuse itself.
That was true of “Gunpowder & Lead,” too. During press around that song, she recounted witnessing abuse or the results of domestic abuse in the form of women her parents would counsel as private investigators.
“He slapped my face, and he shook me like a rag doll / Don’t that sound like a real man?” Lambert asked in 2008. So far, fans approve.
Miranda Lambert, “Wranglers” Lyrics:
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned / When the knock-down drag-out’s over / And lord knows she took one too many.
Well her blue jean eyes / Are too tired to cry / And he won’t know ’til she’s gone already.
Chorus:
If he ever loved her / He never let it show / If she didn’t need him / She’d-a left him long ago / She set it all on fire / And if there’s one thing that she learned / Wranglers take forever to burn.
How long how much can a broken heart take / Who could blame her when it all goes up in flames / Not a one of us could’ve done better.
Not with that wandering eye / Wannabe Marlboro man / Came as no surprise when she finally took a stand.
Repeat Chorus X2
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