Both of her parents are private investigators, but father Rick is also a country guitarist and songwriter. Lambert became seriously interested in country music after attending a Garth Brooks concert as a young girl, and soon began singing in talent contests under the tutelage of her father.
At 16, Miranda began appearing on the Johnny High Country Music Review in Arlington, Texas, the same show that helped launch the career of LeAnn Rimes. Miranda quickly landed a recording session in Nashville, but left the studio in tears after she became frustrated with the "pop" sound of music that was not her own. Upon returning to Texas, Miranda began writing songs and taking guitar lessons from her father.
When Miranda's aptitude for music became apparent, her parents encouraged her to aggressively pursue singing and acting opportunities. While still a high school student, Miranda made her professional singing debut and fronted the house band at the Reo Palm Isle Ballroom in Longview, Texas, a long-running venue that has showcased Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson.
Foregoing college, Miranda performed throughout Texas in 2001 and 2002. She finished first in the Texas auditions for Nashville Star and eventually placed third on the national competition.
Discography
On September 15, 2003, she signed with Sony records. She has since released three studio albums, 2005's Kerosene, 2007's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, 2009's Revolution and 2011's Four The Record; all four of which debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Kerosene,Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Revolution have been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
Miranda Lambert has release a total of fourteen singles, which includes five Top 20 hits; of these, Kerosene and Gunpowder & Lead have been certified Gold singles by the RIAA.
Awards and Critical Acclaim
In 2005, at the 40th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, Miranda won the Cover Girl Fresh Face of Country Music Award. In 2005, she was also nominated for the Country Music Association's Horizon Award and performed "Kerosene". Nashville Scene named Kerosene one of the best albums of 2005
Miranda was nominated for and won the "Album of the Year" award at the 2008 Academy of Country Music Awards for her latest album Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Automatic
Miranda Lambert Lyrics
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Drying laundry on the line
Watching sun tea in the window
Pocket watch tellin' time
Seems like only yesterday, I'd get a blank cassette
Record the country countdown 'cause I couldn't buy it yet
If we drove all the way to Dallas just to buy an Easter dress
We'd take along a Rand McNally, stand in line to pay for gas
God knows that shifting gears ain't what it used to be
I learned to drive that '55, just like a queen, three on a tree
Hey, what ever happened to waiting your turn
Doing it all by hand?
'Cause when everything is handed to you
It's only worth as much as the time put in
It all just seems so good the way we had it
Back before everything became automatic
If you had something to say
You'd write it on a piece of paper
Then you put a stamp on it
And they'd get it three days later
Boys would call the girls
And girls would turn them down
Staying married was the only way to work your problems out
Hey, what ever happened to waiting your turn
Doing it all by hand?
'Cause when everything is handed to you
It's only worth as much as the time put in
It all just seems so good the way we had it
Back before everything became automatic, yeah
Automatic
Let's roll the windows down
Windows with the cranks
Come on, let's take a picture
The kind you gotta shake
Hey, what ever happened to waiting your turn
Doing it all by hand?
'Cause when everything is handed to you
It's only worth as much as the time put in
It all just seems so good the way we had it
Back before everything became automatic, yeah
Automatic
The song "Automatic" by Miranda Lambert is an ode to the simple but satisfying ways of life before the era of automation took over. The lyrics paint a nostalgic picture of a time when people had to put in time, effort, and care to complete even the simplest of tasks. The first verse talks about the small but significant details of daily life like using payphones, drying laundry on the line, and keeping track of time with pocket watches. The second verse talks about the joys of making a long trip to buy a dress and the ritual of using maps and waiting in line to buy gas. The chorus asks the rhetorical question of what happened to doing things "by hand" and waiting "your turn". The bridge talks about the more direct social interactions before the age of texting and online messaging when expressing oneself meant writing letters and girls turning down boys who called them. The song ends with a call to action to roll down the windows, take a picture that we have to shake, and get back in touch with the simple pleasures of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Quarter in a payphone
Reminiscing about the days when calling someone required a quarter to be inserted into the payphone
Drying laundry on the line
Remembering when drying clothes meant hanging it on a clothesline outside
Watching sun tea in the window
Recalling the days of homemade iced tea being made by letting it steep in the sun
Pocket watch tellin' time
Thinking about how pocket watches were once the only way to tell time before digital clocks
Seems like only yesterday, I'd get a blank cassette, Record the country countdown 'cause I couldn't buy it yet
Remembering recording songs off the radio onto cassette tapes because the option of buying music immediately wasn't available
If we drove all the way to Dallas just to buy an Easter dress, We'd take along a Rand McNally, stand in line to pay for gas
Reminiscing about a time when traveling to buy clothes was a big event, and using a Rand McNally map and waiting in line for gas was just part of the process
God knows that shifting gears ain't what it used to be, I learned to drive that '55, just like a queen, three on a tree
Reflecting on how driving a car with a stick shift had a certain level of difficulty that is not present in modern automatic transmissions
If you had something to say, You'd write it on a piece of paper, Then you put a stamp on it, And they'd get it three days later
Recalling a time when written letters, with stamps, were used to communicate with others instead of instant messaging
Boys would call the girls, And girls would turn them down, Staying married was the only way to work your problems out
Recalling how dating and relationships worked before the advent of dating apps, and how marriage was once viewed as an important commitment to work through problems
Let's roll the windows down, Windows with the cranks, Come on, let's take a picture, The kind you gotta shake
Nostalgic about a time when car windows were hand-cranked down and the photographs we took were on Polaroid cameras which had to be shaken to develop
Hey, what ever happened to waiting your turn, Doing it all by hand?, 'Cause when everything is handed to you, It's only worth as much as the time put in, It all just seems so good the way we had it, Back before everything became automatic, yeah, Automatic
The singer is expressing nostalgia for a time when things required more effort and patience, and that just doing things fast and automatically does not always bring the same satisfaction as working for something.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Miranda Lambert, Natalie Hemby, Nicolle Galyon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind