What Is Kacey Musgraves’ Song ‘Simple Times’ About?
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Kacey Musgraves made music history with her latest album release and corresponding Paramount Plus original film. Star-Crossed told the story of the artist’s relationship, featuring songs like “Camera Roll” and “Justified.”
Here’s what we know about the meaning behind Musgraves’ song “Simple Times.”
Kacey Musgraves released her ‘Star-Crossed’ album and its Paramount Plus film
Kacey Musgraves performs ‘Camera Roll’ on ‘Saturday Night Live’ | Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Hot off of the heels of her Amazon Prime special The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show, this country-pop artist debuted her 2021 release, Star-Crossed.
The full-length album was accompanied by a Paramount Plus original film of the same title. The movie told the album’s story, complete with a three-act structure and corresponding visuals for each song. There were several celebrity appearances and iconic fashion moments.
“It is a wicked, twisty road,” Musgraves said during an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “There may or may not be a decapitation at some point in the film.”
What is the meaning behind Kacey Musgraves’ ‘Simple Times’ and the ‘Simple Times’ music video?
One of the most popular tracks from Star-Crossed is “Simple Times,” which currently holds over 11 million plays on the streaming platform Spotify. Along with the official music videos for “Justified” and “Star-Crossed,” Musgraves posted a video for “Simple Times” to YouTube.
In the production, Musgraves and her friends hang out at an abandoned mall, complete with brightly colored outfits and matching hairstyles.
The people chosen for Musgraves’ squad included Haunting of Bly Manor’s Victoria Pedretti, Princess Nokia, and RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Symone. There are some different fan interpretations regarding the “Simple Times” imagery.
“Going to the mall was a popular past-time for young teenagers during the early 2000s,” one fan noted on Genius. “Musgraves would have been 12 going into 2000, just on the cusp of teenagerhood, so it makes sense that being at the mall would remind her of her teenage years.”
The YouTube video for “Simple Times” earned over 3 million views. Some fans consider the lyrics of “Simple Times” to be about Musgraves’ life before her relationship. Others link the track to the artist’s yearning for childhood, especially with lyrics like “being grown-up kind of sucks.”
“In this song, Kacey Musgraves wishes for simpler times,” another Genius user wrote. “She recounts that she wishes she could go back to doing things she loved as a kid, but it doesn’t really feel the same.”
Other songs by Kacey Musgraves include ‘Slow Burn’ and ‘Rainbow’
Musgraves often offers a glimpse into her creative process with fans, even sharing that she participated in a guided psilocybin mushroom trip with a Nashville couple that offers plant-based therapy to create Star-Crossed.
The Grammy Award-winning artist is also the mastermind behind songs like “Slow Burn,” “High Horse,” and “Rainbow” off of Golden Hour. Music by Musgraves is available on most major streaming platforms.
RELATED: Kacey Musgraves’ Star-Studded Holiday Special, ‘The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show,’ Premieres on Amazon Prime
King Princess shares new track “Little Bother” featuring Fousheé, tour with Kacey Musgraves begins next week
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January 14, 2022—King Princess unveils a new song “Little Bother“ featuring Fousheé today—listen here. King Princess and Fousheé wrote the song alongside Zach Fogarty (A$AP Rocky, Girlpool, Claud), who is also a co-producer.
“I have been a big fan of Fousheé for a while, so when we started DM’ing and eventually set a date in the studio, it was a dream,” King Princess says. “‘Little Bother’ kind of came out of nowhere; Zach had the guitar part and Fou and I just started going off. It became this song about tiptoeing around someone you’ve lost and feeling like a pest. It poses questions to a person who may not be listening at all and I think that’s a beautiful sentiment.”
Additionally, King Princess will begin supporting Kacey Musgraves on her U.S. tour next week, with stops in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and more—see full routing below.
The new song follows long-awaited fan favorite “House Burn Down” released last year, and “PAIN” and “Only Time Makes It Human” from 2020. In 2019, her debut album Cheap Queen was released via Mark Ronson’s Zelig Records/Columbia Records to widespread critical acclaim. She has performed on “Saturday Night Live” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and graced the cover of V Magazine, GQ Style UK, Highsnobiety and more. Her sold out tours have taken her across North America and Europe with festival sets at Coachella, Glastonbury, Governors Ball, Bonnaroo and more.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, King Princess is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. Her 2018 debut single, an ode to untold queer histories titled “1950,” became an overnight smash hit with over 550 million streams to date and eventually achieving Platinum status in the United States and Australia.
KING PRINCESS LIVE
January 19 Saint Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center *
January 20 Chicago, IL United Center *
January 21 Kansas City, MO T-Mobile Center *
January 23 Cleveland, OH Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse*
January 26 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center *
January 27 Boston, MA TD Garden *
February 3 Washington, D.C. Capital One Arena*
February 5 New York, NY Madison Square Garden*
February 9 Atlanta, GA State Farm Arena*
February 11 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena*
February 15 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center*
February 16 Denver, CO Ball Arena*
February 19 Oakland, CA Oakland Arena*
February 20 Los Angeles, CA Crypto.com Arena*
February 25 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena*
- with Kacey Musgraves
Our Friday Best: Kacey Musgraves, Billie Holiday tribute, MLK weekend and ice castles in New Brighton
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Thomasina Petrus does Billie Holiday
There’s a special poignancy attached to Petrus making her Chanhassen Dinner Theatres debut with her show “The Best of Billie & Me.” The company was co-founded by one of her mentors, Lewis Whitlock III, the influential dancer, choreographer and actor who was in the first Broadway tour of “The Wiz.” Whitlock, who died last year, later produced a student version of “The Wiz” at North High School in the 1980s that ignited the dreams of Petrus and other youngsters. An actor, singer and onetime dancer, Petrus has become known for her uncanny ability to summon the voice and spirit of Billie Holiday. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 501 W. 78th St., Chanhassen, $44, 952-934-1525 or chanhassendt.com/shows/billie)
ROHAN PRESTON
Kacey Musgraves
Last seen in town headlining the Basilica Block Party on a truly golden night in 2019, Musgraves is kicking off her “Star-Crossed” tour in St. Paul in mid-January, a brave move for a Texan. The country-to-pop crossover singer also bravely sings about her divorce on her new album, far more somber than 2018’s breakthrough record “Golden Hour,” but she promises the show will still be fun. Electro-pop acts King Princess and MUNA open. Read our interview with Musgraves in Monday’s Variety section. (8 p.m. Wed., Xcel Energy Center, 175 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $16-$100, ticketmaster.com)
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
‘Paris Is Burning’
Jenny Livingston’s 1990 documentary gets a rare screening at Paisley Park, and it’s not difficult to imagine Prince himself admiring the film’s approach to gender and performance. Livingston focuses on the drag ball scene in New York City in the 1980s, showcasing the styles and language that continue to influence pop culture (there would be no “RuPaul’s Drag Race” without these artists). Tickets are pricey but the film is a masterpiece. (7 p.m. Sat., Paisley Park soundstage, 7801 Audubon Road, Chanhassen, $25 plus $20 on-site parking, paisleypark.com)
CHRIS HEWITT
Xavier Foley/SPCO
In addition to being the rare bass virtuoso who solos with major orchestras, Xavier Foley is a composer who has written “For Justice and Peace,” a work marking the 400th anniversary of the first slave ship arriving in North America. It’s one of two double concertos for violin, bass and orchestra he’ll perform with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and SPCO violinist Eunice Kim, the other being by Giovanni Bottesini. And SPCO artistic director Kyu-Young Kim solos on Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Violin Sonata. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun; Ordway Concert Hall, 345 Washington St., St. Paul; $12-$50, students and children admitted free; 651-291-1144 or thespco.org)
ROB HUBBARD
Ice Castles
Elsa’s fictional city of Arendelle has nothing on the architecture of this winter attraction. Continuing into February, or as long as frigid temperatures hold, the ice-carved interactive experience drips with thousands of icicles “that bring fairy tales to life.” Make sure you’re bundled up before stepping inside the frosty palace to encounter ice slides, a maze and crawl tunnels. (3-10:30 p.m. Fri., 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Sat.-Sun., $16-$22, Long Lake Regional Park, 1500 Old Hwy. 8, New Brighton, icecastles.com)
MELISSA WALKER
Black Dog Cafe
It was a coffee shop, a restaurant, an art galley and a music venue where Twin Cities jazz musicians, whether aspiring or established, could find an audience willing to listen. After 23 years in St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood, Black Dog Cafe is closing with one last hurrah. Actually, the sibling-run cafe closed several days ago but it will have a big sendoff with trumpeter Steve Kenny, a longtime fixture at the venue, leading a group of jazz friends including JT Bates and Chris Bates. Fuzzy Math opens. (7 p.m. Sat., Black Dog Cafe, 308 E. Prince St., St. Paul, blackdogstpaul.com)
JON BREAM
‘Title of Show’
Two pals face a looming deadline: They need to create a new musical in just a couple of weeks. So they rope two other musical theater-obsessed friends into helping them in “Title of Show,” a musical in which we see funny, neurotic people creating the show we’re watching them perform. Clever and filled with in-jokes, it’s for everyone who’s ever thought, “Wait. Why would anyone use an elephant’s eye to measure corn growth?” (7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Feb. 6, Lyric Arts, 420 E. Main St., Anoka, $32-$42, lyricarts.org)
C.H.
‘Dancing Our Way Out’
In September 2020, Black Label Movement filmed a dance piece that was created after consulting with a University of Minnesota physician about best practices for staying safe during the pandemic. Presented at TEDxMinneapolis that fall and subsequently a hit on the film festival circuit, “A Dream of Touch When Touch Is Gone” is now being screened virtually by Northrop as part of “Dancing Our Way Out,” a collection of video dance works by the university’s faculty, students and guests, and curated by Black Label Movement’s Carl Flink along with Joanie Smith of Shapiro & Smith Dance. The works respond to the pandemic as well as social uprisings following the murder of George Floyd. (Premieres 7:30 p.m. Fri., then on-demand through Jan. 21, $50, northrop.umn.edu)
SHEILA REGAN
‘Outside of Time’
The year is now 2022, but the work of artists Hend Al-Mansour and Eleanor McGough exists in another time. Al-Mansour has illustrated a children’s book, “Zaynab’s Night of Destiny,” about a journey by a young immigrant girl, commissioned by Kentucky’s Commonwealth Theatre Center. McGough’s paper art focuses on insects and recycled packaging materials. She notes the decline of the insect population, part of ongoing concerns around climate change. (Noon-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun. through Jan. 30, Rosalux Gallery, 315 W. 48th St., Mpls., rosaluxgallery.com)
ALICIA ELER
Geoff Tate
One of metal’s most respected singers, the former Queensrÿche frontman is performing two of his old band’s best-loved albums in their entirety on tour, 1986’s “Rage for Order” and 1990’s “Empire.” The latter featured their Pink Floyd-esque megahit “Silent Lucidity.” (8 p.m. Wed., Fine Line, 318 1st Av. N., Mpls., $25-$50, axs.com)
C.R.
‘Reboot’
You are a computer in this interactive, online hybrid of theater and escape room, and you’ll have to think fast. You’ve come to the attention of the government, whose secret agent coerces you into participating in a plot that may or may not be legit. You and a small, virtual audience will have to race the clock to solve this puzzle. (7 p.m. Fri.-Sat. & Mon., ends Feb. 27, Zoom link provided, $30, walkingshadow.org)
C.H.
Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele
Here is a wonderful way to celebrate Martin Luther King. Always full of energy and spirit, the Steele sisters will team up for songs of love, peace and unity and offer personal stories of how King’s dream is still alive. (7 p.m. Mon., Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $25-$35, dakotacooks.com)
Behind the Song Lyrics: “Mama’s Broken Heart,” Miranda Lambert
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It’s the story of an all-consuming, heartwrenching breakup and a mother’s disdain for anything unseemly. It’s the song that embodies the cutting judgment behind the southern “bless your heart” expression. It is “Mama’s Broken Heart,” performed by country songstress Miranda Lambert.
“Mama’s Broken Heart” sounds like a revenge country ballad with enough angst to put a few punk songs to shame. Lambert has a tendency to pick these types of tracks—just listen to Lambert’s earlier tracks “Kerosene” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” to get an idea of Lambert’s bread and butter. The song itself was written by Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally, and Kacey Musgraves to tell the story of how one woman lost control after a breakup.
I cut my bangs with some rusty kitchen scissors / I screamed his name ’til the neighbors called the cops / I numbed the pain at the expense of my liver / Don’t know what I did next all I know I couldn’t stop, Lambert sings.
The story develops further as the woman’s mother gets involved. Go and fix your makeup girl, it’s just a breakup / Run and hide your crazy and start actin’ like a lady / ‘Cause I raised you better, gotta keep it together / Even when you fall apart, the song continues from the mother’s point of view.
Ultimately, the woman has the last word in response to her mother’s advice: But this ain’t my mama’s broken heart.
This dramatic sonic tale ended up on Lambert’s fourth studio album, Four the Record, in 2011 and was later certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. “Mama’s Broken Heart,” however, wasn’t originally written for Lambert.
“‘Mama’s Broken Heart’ is a song that I kind of had to ask for,” Lambert previously stated. “Kacey Musgraves is a girl I grew up with back in Texas, and we used to write together a lot and kind of went our separate ways. I don’t think I was supposed to be pitched the song, but her sister actually shot some pictures at mine and Blake [Shelton]’s wedding, and she was there, too. At our rehearsal dinner, I went over and asked her; I was like, ‘Are you gonna cut this song, or can I have it?’ And she was like, ‘I’ll think about it for a couple of days.’”
“She e-mailed me and said, ‘You can have it if I can sing harmony.’ So that’s her singin’ the harmonies on it,” she continued. “I had to actually beg for this song, and so I’m thankful that she gave it to me ’cause I love ‘Mama’s Broken Heart.’”
Listen to “Mama’s Broken Heart” below.
Photo Credit: Sony Music.
2022 Nashville concert guide: All of the biggest shows coming to Music City
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We’re barely a week into the new year, but Nashville’s 2022 concert calendar is already stuffed from start to finish.
You can thank the pandemic for that (if nothing else). Dozens of tours once planned for 2020 and 2021 were postponed until this year — when surely, things will all be back to normal, right?
Well, stop dwelling on all that for a moment and see if this list doesn’t bowl you over. We’ve pored over the calendars of Nashville’s most popular venues, and more than 85 shows have already caught our eye.
Whether you’re into pop phenoms (Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber) rock legends (Elton John, The Eagles, Def Leppard, Slash) country titans (Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban) or multi-genre giants (Alicia Keys, Kacey Musgraves), we’re sure you’ll find a few dates to pencil in over the next 12 months in Music City.
January 12: Wale at Marathon Music Works (more info)
January 14: RnB Rewind 2 with Charlie Wilson, Boyz II Men, Monica, Ginuwine and more at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
January 15: MLK Freedom Fest with Lil Durk, Moneybagg Yo, Rod Wave, Latto at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
January 19-21: Dwight Yoakam at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
February 4-5: Black Pumas at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
February 6: The Beach Boys at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
February 8: Louis Tomlinson at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
February 11: Kacey Musgraves at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
February 14: Dua Lipa at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
February 17: Clairo at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
February 18: New Edition at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
February 19: Winter Jam with Skillet, Tauren Wells, KB and more at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
February 20: The Temptations and Four Tops at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
February 22-23, 25-26: Tedeschi Trucks Band at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
February 25: Dierks Bentley at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
February 28: Gregory Porter at Schermerhorn Symphony Center (more info)
March 1: Marina at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
March 1: Alt-J and Portugal. The Man at Nashville Municipal Auditorium (more info)
March 3-4: Yola at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
March 6-7: Conan Gray at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
March 8: Jazmine Sullivan at Marathon Music Works (more info)
March 9: Billie Eilish at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
March 9: Bobby Weir and Wolf Bros at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
March 13: Dream Theater at Grand Ole Opry House (more info)
March 16-18: Morgan Wallen at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
March 16: Slash at Grand Ole Opry House (more info)
March 17: JoJo at Cannery Ballroom (more info)
March 22: Ben Platt at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
March 22: Sparks at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
March 23: Judas Priest at Nashville Municipal Auditorium (more info)
March 23: Tame Impala at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
March 24-26: Stewart Copeland with the Nashville Symphony at Schermerhorn Symphony Center (more info)
March 25: Tank and the Bangas at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville (more info)
March 26: Buddy Guy at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
March 27: Casting Crowns at Grand Ole Opry House (more info)
March 31: Mitski at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
April 1-2: Relient K at Marathon Music Works (more info)
April 3: Lorde at Grand Ole Opry House (more info)
April 6: Maxwell at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
April 8: 2CELLOS at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
April 13: Johnnyswim at Grand Ole Opry House: (more info)
April 13: John Mayer at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
April 13: The Zombies at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
April 15: Chris Tomlin at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
April 27: Journey at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
April 28: Miranda Lambert at FirstBank Amphitheater (more info)
April 28: The Eagles at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
April 29: Walker Hayes at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
April 30: Bon Jovi at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
April 30 and May 1: Jack White at Ascend Amphitheater (more info)
May 4: Shinedown at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
May 6-8: Billy Strings at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
May 7: Deftones at Nashville Municipal Auditorium (more info)
May 8: Yolanda Adams with the Nashville Symphony at Schermerhorn Symphony Center (more info)
May 10: Olivia Rodrigo at Grand Ole Opry House: (more info)
May 11: Still Woozy at Marathon Music Works (more info)
May 13: Leon Bridges at Ascend Amphitheater (more info)
May 13: New Kids On The Block at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
May 17: Justin Bieber at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
May 20: Haim at Ascend Amphitheater (more info)
May 22: For King and Country at FirstBank Amphitheater (more info)
May 26-27: Bonnie Raitt at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
May 26-28: Leslie Odom, Jr. with the Nashville Symphony at Schermerhorn Symphony Center (more info)
May 28: Kenny Chesney at Nissan Stadium (more info)
May 28: Jacob Collier at Cannery Ballroom (more info)
May 29: “Weird” Al Yankovic at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
June 9-12: CMA Music Festival at Nissan Stadium (more info)
June 16-19: Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn. (more info)
June 24: Kraftwerk at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
June 24: Bon Iver at Ascend Amphitheater (more info)
June 26: Matchbox Twenty at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
June 30: Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett at Nissan Stadium (more info)
June 30: Bikini Kill at Marathon Music Works (more info)
June 30 - July 2: Ben Folds with the Nashville Symphony at Schermerhorn Symphony Center (more info)
July 5: Rod Stewart at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
July 6: The Masked Singer at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
July 8-9: Brandi Carlile at Ascend Amphitheater (more info)
July 28: Cody Johnson at FirstBank Amphitheater (more info)
July 28: Glass Animals at Ascend Amphitheater (more info)
August 12: Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Strokes and Thundercat at Nissan Stadium (more info)
August 24: Jack Johnson at Ascend Amphitheater (more info)
August 27: Roger Waters at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
September 7: Twenty One Pilots at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
September 17: The Killers at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
September 24: Alicia Keys at Ascend Amphitheater (more info)
October 2: Elton John at Nissan Stadium (more info)
October 7: Keith Urban at Bridgestone Arena (more info)
October 9-10: You Got Gold: Celebrating the Life and Songs of John Prine at Ryman Auditorium (more info)
October 19: Shawn Mendes at Bridgestone Arena (more info)