Happy 40th Birthday, Miranda Lambert! Celebrate By Singing Along To Her 10 Best Songs, Ranked
There's no one in modern country music quite like Miranda Lambert. Since she first hit the scene over a decade ago, Miranda Lambert has won over music critics and fans of all stripes with her heartstrings-tugging songs, smart lyric writing and feisty stage presence. Her many achievements include topping the country charts, winning dozens of awards — including the most Academy of Country Music Awards of any artist since they started in 1966! — launching her own record label and even writing a cookbook. (And keep an eye out for the country sweetheart sharing her recipes on an upcoming cover of Woman's World!)
Miranda Lambert songs, ranked
Lambert turns the big 4-0 today, and in honor of her milestone birthday, we're ranking the top 10 Miranda Lambert songs, from empowering anthems to moving ballads.
10. "Kerosene" (2005)
Miranda Lambert has been a master of revenge songs since her 2005 debut album. "Kerosene," the first of many country hits, tells the tale of her getting back at a cheating boyfriend by burning down his house with, well, you guessed it… kerosene. Her radical anger is palpable, and the lyric "I'm givin' up on love, 'cause love's given up on me" is a relatable battle cry for any woman who's been wronged.
9. "Settling Down" (2020)
"Am I settling up or settling down?" — it's an existential question worth pondering! Lambert was inspired to write the song shortly before she married her husband, police officer Brendan McLoughlin, in 2019. A few years prior, she'd had a high-profile divorce from fellow country star Blake Shelton, and this track found her reflecting on the meaning of settling into a new relationship.
As she said in a Billboard interview, "settling down doesn’t have to necessarily mean no more fun or freedom. Maybe it sets you more free and allows for more fun and someone to share it with."
8. "Bluebird" (2019)
"Bluebird" is a beautifully hopeful song that reminds us to look for the light during hard times. Lambert found inspiration in both her marriage and a poem of the same name by Charles Bukowski.
In a statement about the song, she expressed how meaningful it was to her, saying, "Since I wrote it, I’ve been seeing bluebirds everywhere. The bluebirds had always been there — I live on a farm — but I never saw them like I see them now. It reminds me to open my eyes to what’s around me."
7. "Heart Like Mine" (2011)
"Heart Like Mine" is one of Lambert's most biographical songs. The lyrics, which she co-wrote with her Pistol Annies bandmate Ashley Monroe, speak to her mix of rebelliousness and religious values. While she admits to having tattoos, drinking and smoking on occasion, in the chorus she concludes, "'Cause I heard Jesus, he drank wine/And I bet we'd get along just fine."
6. "Tin Man" (2016) Miranda Lambert songs
"Tin Man" is a poignant lament for the end of a relationship that makes inspired use of the Wizard of Oz character as a metaphor. Lambert said she wrote the song because she was feeling "pretty empty," and it inspired her to look at the classic character in a new way. "I mean, how many times have we seen The Wizard of Oz?," she said to County Living. "Everyone knows what the Tin Man represents; cold, and empty, and loneliness, and heartless. And it just opened my eyes... going through pain myself. [It was] sort of an epiphany."
Related: Miranda Lambert Credits Her Mom with Her Take on Aging: “You’ve Just Got To Lean Into It”
5. "If I Was a Cowboy" (2021)
"If I Was a Cowboy," the lead single off Lambert's last album, Palomino, embodies her signature sassy storytelling. The song playfully skewers macho country music stereotypes, with lyrics imagining being a cowboy and bragging, "You thought the West was wild but you ain’t saddled up with me."
4. "Mama's Broken Heart" (2013) Miranda Lambert songs
"Mama's Broken Heart" is an ultra-catchy breakup anthem with some serious attitude. While Lambert didn't write the song (it was co-written by country stars Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Kacey Musgraves), it perfectly embodies her confident personality. She called the song the one track from her album Four the Record that she couldn't live without, which is quite the endorsement!
3. "Over You" (2012)
Co-written with Blake Shelton, "Over You" is a devastating ballad about the tragic death of Shelton's older brother in a car accident when the country musician was just a teenager. "It was really a special moment and I’m so glad we shared that song and that it helped his family heal, to have that together," Lambert said of the deeply emotional song.
2. "Gunpowder & Lead" (2008) Miranda Lambert songs
"Gunpowder & Lead" is the ultimate blast of bad-girl country rock. In this ferocious song, Lambert sings from the perspective of a woman who plans to kill her abusive husband. The lyrics may be dark, but she sings them so brilliantly that you have no choice but to sing along.
While Lambert has acknowledged that some people might find the theme of violent revenge to be distasteful, she's said the song is "very real to me," because "When I was younger, my parents took in abused women and their kids, so I saw firsthand what damage it can do to a family to be in an abusive relationship."
1. "The House That Built Me" (2010)
"The House That Built Me" is a modern country classic that many consider Miranda Lambert's finest work. The track, which topped Billboard's country charts and received a platinum record, is all about returning to one's childhood home as an adult, and the alternately painful and joyful experience of remembering one's roots. Lambert didn't write the song (it was written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin), but it's impossible to imagine anybody else singing it.
The song is undeniably the most heartstring-tugging work in Lambert's extensive songbook, and the country star and her parents admitted they cry every time they listen to it. So do we!
Read more about our favorite country music here!
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