Song Review – Miranda Lambert’s “Automatic”
The distinctive, woody tone of a small-bodied, nylon string guitar draws you into a new single from country music powerhouse Miranda Lambert—presumably the first song from the much-anticipated new album, creating a heightened interest around the offering than would regularly greet a new single.
The title “Automatic” might get some revved up for an old-school woman-scorned revenge song that was the signature of Miranda’s early career, hoping weaponry will be brandished or tires will screech while a foreboding cigarette cherry glows from the shadows. But instead Miranda delivers a cool-headed, warm, reflective, nostalgic piece, very much in the sentimental realm of country music’s remorseful view of the changing times, waxing tropishly, but effectively on what we’ve given up as progress and priority has marched on.
Written by Miranda, frequent collaborator Natalie Hemby, and The Voice contestant Nicolle Galyon, the song refers back to outmoded artifacts of life like pay phones, Polaroids, and postage stamps, while not being patently about these items themselves like so many of the laundry list offerings from country music’s opposite sex, but the sentimental reflection on these bygone mementos as markers of a dying past, a wayward present, and a gloomy future, glued together by the weighty line, “‘Cause when everything is handed to you, it’s only worth as much as the time put in.”
“Automatic” starts with the earthy, rhythmic strumming of a single guitar accompanied by a bass drum, then additional rhythm is added during the second verse; a sort of crunchy boom-clack sounding back-layered track that could either be digitally generated, or real tones rendered through some vintage filtering, giving “Automatic” a little modern-day relevancy while not leaning on the rhythm to make up for lyrical shortcomings.
Strings float in—again, somewhat ambiguously derived from woods and wires, or ones and zeros—but effective in getting the song to crescendo consistently throughout, while smart chord selection helps breed the desired, nostalgic mood. The chorus rises, but in a tempered, tasteful manner, and is effective at highlighting the signature tones of Miranda’s award-winning voice.
Why “Automatic” is so important is because we wait to see how the women of country are going to handle the continued march toward idiocy the men of country continue to illustrate, and as the lead feline, Miranda sets the pace. “Automatic” is somewhat safe country pop, but the sentimentality it is able to evoke is very real.
1 1/2 of 2 guns up.
Wayfast
February 5, 2014 @ 4:49 pm
Better than anything on the radio. Even enjoyed the lyrics, but couldn’t get over the loud washed out rock chorus. Miranda has certainly done better when it comes to keeping the production of the songs more country sounding…. Also the beginning reminded me of “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way”
Casey
February 5, 2014 @ 5:27 pm
“Also the beginning reminded me of “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way””
I agree, it does have that same cadence. I’ve always liked Miranda, I fell in love with her music way back with Kerosene. Good song, looking forward to her new album.
Gena R.
February 5, 2014 @ 5:07 pm
Not bad. 🙂 Nice tune, if not particularly memorable; decent, thoughtful lyrics.
Derrick
February 5, 2014 @ 5:16 pm
I think if Rodney A sang this song, we’d be justifiably annoyed. For some reason, I don’t mind as much when she sings it. And I agree with the chorus and bridge being noisy and overproduced.
But Miranda sounds lovely in the verses. Not “House That Built Me” lovely. But still nice. This one would sound very nice in a more acoustic live setting, I think.
sweet on stuart
February 5, 2014 @ 5:54 pm
This girl always captures me. For me she is what’s right about Today’s Country. Yes, she’s mainstream but she’s got a sensibility. She grew up Country with Haggard as her main man. She’s sentimental without being saccharine. She’s seen a lot of life by virtue of the very interesting lives her parents have lead. I anticipate her new album with much fervor.
I’d like to see if the next album debuts at #1 like all her previous albums.
I look forward to her career 15-20 years from now. She probably won’t be charting anymore but I can see her having careers similar to Emmylou, Lucinda and Roseane. I’m not neccessarily saying she is in their league right now but she will always be writing and performing.
judd
February 5, 2014 @ 7:01 pm
Song is a bit busy for me. Much like her duet with Keith urban. The lyrics are solid and thats fine not every song can be a stellar hit. The back ground noise just ruins it for me. Its what Trigger said above about it being “safe pop country” Its one of the better songs out on the radio but thats not saying much.
She has had better and had worse. so im just kinda Blah about it.
Scotty J
February 5, 2014 @ 7:47 pm
I agree the production is too busy and I almost wonder if there was a fear if they kept it too simple that it wouldn’t get the attention in this overproduced mainstream world sort of like ‘All Kinds Of Kinds’ which was brilliant I think but had a tough sled of it until it was shoved aside by that Urban duet.
After hearing so much garbage lyrically from the formats biggest artists it’s very refreshing to hear something thoughtful that is for sure.
Kevin
February 5, 2014 @ 8:16 pm
The music sounds like a bland pop song that could have been sung by any woman pop star within the last 10 years. The lyrics sound like a rehash of the same themes we’ve been hearing on pop country radio for the last 7 or 8 years. Boring song, IMO.
Tori Kendall
February 5, 2014 @ 8:36 pm
I love Miranda. Not everything she does, but in general and overall. This is not her best, but I agree that it is better than most other stuff country radio is offering up. And she has maintained to have meaning to her music. It is not beer, trucks, moonlight, etc. This is nowhere near as good as House that Built me, but you still sense Miranda behind it and that is just fine by me.
Eric
February 5, 2014 @ 8:46 pm
Good song, though the drums ultimately take over a bit too strongly.
As a point of comparison, the theme of this song is the anti-“Merry Go Round”.
BwareDWare94
February 5, 2014 @ 9:13 pm
A Miranda song that isn’t yet another bitchin-about-men rehash of “Gunpowder and Lead”?
I just might listen twice.
Michael
February 5, 2014 @ 9:15 pm
I’ve always liked Miranda. This song is ……OK. Not great, not horrible. I wouldn’t change the station if it came on. That, in and of itself is a feat in the grand scheme of today’s country music, where I find myself skipping around much more than I would like.
Justin
February 5, 2014 @ 9:25 pm
Great song. It probably wont stand a chance on the radio since she isn’t burning something or shooting a cheater.
Acca Dacca
February 5, 2014 @ 10:26 pm
Wow, this song isn’t bad. In fact, I quite like it, which is rare for me as I tend to hate Miranda’s music. My main problem with her work is her forced, Florida Georgia Line-esque “twang” that she puts into her voice. Here, it’s toned down and what do you know, her singing is actually decent.
Trigger
February 6, 2014 @ 11:08 am
Her ultra-emphasized twang when it rears its ugly head is one of my biggest beefs with Miranda, and it seems to show up worst in the Pistol Annies material. When she sings within herself, she’s great.
hoptowntiger94
February 6, 2014 @ 2:07 am
The selection of this song as a lead single is interesting to me. With the exception of “Baggage Claim,” which at the time Miranda could have had a hit single by singing the phonebook, lead singles from her albums traditionally don’t perform very well on country radio – “Me and Charlie Talking” (#27), “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (#50), “Dead Flowers” (#37). I don’t see this song, which nearly outdates me, relating to the Swifty Teens that make up country radios’ target audience. Maybe that’s the point. Hopefully the message is a return to more traditional music from Lambert cause ‘Four the Record’ as a whole project really didn’t do it for me.
Trigger
February 6, 2014 @ 11:10 am
Generally speaking, a lead single, especially when you don’t have a new album date or even a pre-order up, is not intended to be the bread winner for an artist like Miranda. They’ll want to fire their best shot right when the album is coming out.
Phil
February 6, 2014 @ 9:32 pm
I’ll bet whatever that song is, it will involve a rock guitar solo and at the CMT awards late in the year we’ll see her right up against the lead guitarist strumming one chord on her pink guitar prop and going nuts.
I don’t know why I find guitars used as props irritating, but I always have. Lambert and Aldean are at the top of my list in that department. There’s just something so annoying about a lead singer with a guitar prop getting in the face of a lead guitarist during a solo like they’re somehow a part of it.
And there’s something about Lambert with her over-tight dresses, pink acoustic guitar, pink/mirrored mic’s and now her fully mirrored mic stand that rubs me the wrong way sometimes.
gtrman86
February 6, 2014 @ 6:40 am
Almost had me until the chorus then………………….somebody cranked up the sucky pop rock radio button, too bad definatley had great potential.
Alison
February 6, 2014 @ 7:05 am
Ahhhh, I still say the mainstream, contemporary, under-ground, Americana.. (however you want to spin it to cover ALL female artists)…women of country music still remain what is good in current music.
This song to me does have a “fresh new” sound but the lyrics.. man… SO took me back to my youth. I’m 33. So lyrically.. it sold me. Like a few of the lyrics WAS my life. I love it. I listened to it about 30 times yesterday. I have enjoyed EVERY album she has put out. And when I say enjoy.. I mean I listen from beginning to end. A good record for me is one I put on to listen to it as whole. (ex: Brandy Clark/12 Stories) I dig Lambert. I think she’s got it. Whether it’s doing something straight up traditional or honky-tonkish or rock laced or southern rock laced.. or acoustic…or whatever. She seems to do things her own way. She is really passionate about song-writing. She also seems to let her music have a little influence from the past. Miranda has stated in many interviews – Loretta, CCR, Steve Earle, Chris Knight, HAGGARD, Patty Loveless and a few others are her influences. I can see that in some of the songs she has cut. Even with the Pistol Annies music. I see it. I hear it. When she cut the song Allison Moorer wrote “Oklahoma Sky” that killed me. I love it so much. To me that was showing her admiration and respect for Allison too.
I think for a current, today’s country artist…. someone making albums and going on tour and trying to stay on that mainstream level.. she’s one of the good ones doing it. I like that you never know who she is gonna collaborate with on stage or in the studio. I like that. I think it is cool when she mixes it up. I have never thought of her as cookie-cutter. I think she comes from good stock. I’m a fan.
Women are the real deal in music right now. Too bad the “country” stations around me (Carolina’s) don’t play ’em or get it. Shame.
Great write-up!
Rachel
February 6, 2014 @ 10:11 am
I prefer a woody tone of a small-bodied, nylon string guitar over a rare 5 million dollar violin… Stradivarius.
Phil
February 6, 2014 @ 10:14 am
If I was driving down the road and this song came on, I’d flip around for a bit to try and find something better and then would probably give up and come back to let this song play out. That’s about it.
The arrangement didn’t stand out to me as anything more than run of the mill pop country, the vocals didn’t stand out and I didn’t dislike the lyrics but they didn’t draw me into a story or anything like that.
I’ll go with: “Meh”
T
February 6, 2014 @ 12:18 pm
This probably sounds narrow minded, but I don’t like her just becasue she’s married to that douche named Blake Shleton.
Dana M
February 6, 2014 @ 1:54 pm
I like Miranda Lamberts music since I heard New Strings on CMT. I’ve bought every album and listened to it from start to finish and liked every song. Except for Four the Record where a few songs I didn’t care for. As for this song “Automatic”, it made me feel old lol. I’m 25 and I can relate to some of the things she sang about. That’s a first when it comes to nostalgic music!
Max
February 6, 2014 @ 3:37 pm
It’s a pandering song, but not a horrible song. Yes it is better than much of the slop on Country Radio.
Elizabeth
February 6, 2014 @ 9:05 pm
I appreciate the honest opinions people have of this song. I am so “sold” on Miranda I love this song. I hear her life in it. I know it’s not the best song, but I appreciate the sentiment. I wish the arrangement were more acoustic, seeing as how the song is about remembering what was better about the past. I hope that she keeps the production more country-rock than country-pop on the rest of the album, but then again I love “Safe” from the last record. Whatever she does, I’ll like it. At least we know she puts her heart into it. I also wish that they’d be courageous enough to release songs like “Dear Diamond” on radio. Miranda shines when she works on her own sometimes. And about the overly twangy thing, I love it when Miranda plays the “hot mess.” It’s a big part of her mainstream appeal. The Annies are brilliant. Love em. Don’t want them to change. Playing the part is an important aspect of making a song believable.
Patrick
February 7, 2014 @ 8:22 am
When a singer becomes as over awarded as she is, you start to expect something more than a pandering laundry list song about the “good ol’ days”. As a Lead Single it is completely underwelming. As a back of the album track it is fine. IF you like the rehashing of a concept that has been done better many times before.
Rachel
February 7, 2014 @ 9:52 am
No one knows what tomorrow holds. If that were true, someone would have been able to predict the outcome of the Super Bowl.
I’ll take Miranda Lambert over Carrie Underwood. She sings with emotion and connects with her audience. Carrie sings like she acts….technically correct.
Miranda isn’t acting the part or putting on a perception of a country singer. She is authentic.
No one knows what or where she’ll be even a year from now.
Diana
February 7, 2014 @ 4:59 pm
I love Miranda, but not this song. It is very boring and not very good. I hope the rest of her album is better. If it is not I will be disappointed. Especially considering by the time she releases this album it will be like 2 1/2 years since she released her last one.
Courtney
June 9, 2014 @ 9:38 am
This is my favourite song and i love Miranda Lambert!!!!!!!!!! <3