Maddie Marlow and Taylor Dye never intended to hit a nerve when they sat down on St. Patricks Day and wrote “Girl In A Country Song.” Merely expressing their own reaction to the reductive tilt of today’s BroCountry, the pair and co-writer Aaron Schwerz shamelessly skewered its Xeroxed stereotypes; “Girl” was as much a lark as it was ever “meaningful social commentary.”
Yet the response was so instant and intense, there was no denying it. NPR’s “All Things Considered” cited Maddie & Tae for “turning heads in different ways with their very first single,” Rolling Stone cited them as one of “10 New Artists You Need to Know” and David Letterman couldn’t get the plucky duo to New York fast enough. Even elevated cultural think-tank The Atlantic marveled, “Cheekily appropriating much of the sound of modern country, the two young women directly quote well-known bro-country lyrics and titles…”
No one was more surprised than the natives of Sugar Land, Texas and Ada, Oklahoma. Still in the studio tracking overdubs for “Girl,” they signed their record deal before Dan Huff had even finished four sides on the sunshine’n’moxie pair.
“We wanted to go at it from a girl’s perspective, and we wanted to put ourselves in the shoes of this girl,” says Dye. “You know, how does she feel wearing those cut-off shorts, sitting on the tailgate?”
“Boys, we love you, we want to look good, but it’s not all we’re good for,” Marlow cautions with a laugh. “We are girls with something to say. We were brought up to know how we should be treated.”
Simple as that. But there’s so much more to Maddie & Tae than the song that is either a feminist declaration, an echo of Janet Jackson’s rebuke “I’ve got a name, and it ain’t ‘Baby’,” or this year’s feel-good finger-wag to dumb boys. NPR’s lead pop critic Ann Powers agrees, “Maddie and Tae are more. They’re songwriters, powerful harmonizers, and in the video for ‘Girl In A Country Song,’ natural comediennes.”
One listen to their self-titled EP shows that. The reeling mean-girl send-up “Sierra,” with its bending steel and trotting acoustic guitar, boasts harmonies that turn in on each other and the kind of truth that’s hilarious and straight-up.
“There was this beauty-queen bully from high school who sent my friends and I home in tears plenty of times,” Marlow explains. “In order to get over it, I had to write a song. So I brought the idea of ‘Sierra,’ and started singing, ‘I wish I had something nice to say…’
“Tae and our co-writer Aaron Scherz lit up and ran with it.”
Any one who’s suffered through and survived high school can relate. But the ability to rhyme “Sierra, Sierra, life ain’t all tiaras…” and taking the rejoinder “you’re gonna find out karma’s a…” to the brink is what sets these two late teenagers apart.
Effervescent and savoring every moment, Maddie & Tae laugh when they lean into the cautionary “That high horse you’re riding… can buck you off clean,” then let their harmonies swoop free and high on the outro.
Like a lot of young women, Maddie & Tae grew up on the Dixie Chicks’ full-tilt acoustica. Both dreamers who knew what they wanted early, the pair met at 15 through their vocal coach and came to Nashville for “a summer camp publishing deal.” They met Big Machine’s SVP of A&R Allison Jones – and fate stepped in.
As Tae recalls, “She said, ‘If you really want to pursue this, you will need to move to Nashville.’ I knew that was what I wanted, but moving to Nashville also meant I had to figure out how to graduate from high school early, and Maddie had to turn down college.”
In 2013, it was decided. The pair relocated – and never looked back. Publishing deal in hand, they were immersed in creativity, seeking a voice that was both authentic and truly their own. Like Taylor Swift, the duo knew by speaking their truth, their uniqueness would set them apart.
As Marlow told Rolling Stone Country, “Our whole project revolves around keeping it real and being honest. We didn’t filter anything, because we felt like when it comes from an honest place, the truth will resonate so much better. The thing about Taylor, everything is real and relevant to what she’s going through, and that’s why people connect with her.”
Listening to the double harmonies over an acoustic guitar hope-strung-over-doubt mid-tempo “Fly,” Maddie & Tae’s conviction is evident. Will what’s been built be betrayed? How do you keep the faith when you’re so unsure? Where is the courage to maintain your place when you’re afraid of the outcome?
Not since “Wide Open Spaces” has an act embraced the will to grow so unabashedly. In perfect synchronization, Maddie & Tae sing, “Keep on climbing, though the ground might shake, keep on reaching through the limb might break/ we’ve come this far, don’t be scared now ‘Cause you can learn to fly on the way down…”
It’s the sort of song that empowers people wherever they are in life, whatever challenge they may be encountering. Yes, it is about coming of age, but it’s also facing the things that scare you – and having the faith to transcend.
“’Fly’ hits home every time we listen to it,” Dye offers. “We really wanted to write a song that was, ‘You may not have anything figured out, but it doesn’t matter.’”
Indeed. Townes Van Zant wrote, “To live is to fly…” For Maddie & Tae, their wings are in the music. What they feel, how they live, what they dream – this is where they rise. One need only listen to the tumbledown hoedown “Your Side of Town,” that’s all high jinx and higher spirits as the pair warn off a no-good man for the last time, to understand.
Even in the hardcore throw-down, all bucking backbeat and bee-sting guitar, there is a romp and a plucky audacity that shows these young ladies have no interest in letting anything break their spirits. Just as importantly, they fear no fiddles, no banjos, no steel guitars, even as they have bulked up drums that crash and guitars that slash and sting like the big boys.
While Rolling Stone observed, “Cheekily appropriating much of the sound of modern country,” there is so much more to Maddie & Tae than that. Independent thinkers, strong livers, hardcore dreamers, the pair are reaching for the sky – and winking at us all while they do it.
Sometimes, it’s the freshest faces and brightest sounds that pull us in. For Maddie & Tae, who embrace real country, it’s that merge of what’s right now and what they love that sets them apart/captures our imaginations in the best possible way.
Lay Here With Me
Maddie & Tae Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
These eyes could use some drying right about now
How can I be so lonely?
When I know you're always around
I can't take another sleeping on the couch night
Another stupid 'til the mornin' fight
Baby, I'm callin' a truce
Let down your guard
Let's take off our gloves
And quit makin' it so hard
'Cause you don't wanna go
And I don't want you to leave
So why don't you stay please?
And lay here with me
I don't want us to be over
I miss when we were closer than air
My hand could use some holdin'
The bed is gettin' colder
I just want you to kiss me up those stairs
So lay here with me
Let down your guard
Let's take off our gloves
And quit makin' it so hard
'Cause you don't wanna go
And I don't want you to leave
So why don't you stay please?
And lay here with me
Just the two of us
Holdin' on with the blinds shut
Hearts beatin' back in love
Maybe find what we lost if we just
Stay, stay, stay
And lay here with me
Let down your guard
Let's take off our gloves
And quit makin' it so hard
'Cause you don't wanna go
And I don't want to leave
So why don't you stay please?
And lay here with me
Lay here with me
Lay here with me
Lay here with me, mm-hm
In "Lay Here With Me," Maddie & Tae plead with their lover to stay and work through their problems. The song paints a picture of a relationship that is on the rocks, but neither party wants to let it go. The first verse suggests that silence is needed to fix the issues at hand. The second verse talks about missing the closeness that once existed and the need for physical touch. The chorus echoes the sentiment that the relationship is worth fighting for and that the two of them can find their way back to love if they just lay down their defenses and try to understand each other. The bridge suggests that by shutting out the distractions of the world and focusing on each other, they may be able to rediscover what brought them together in the first place.
Line by Line Meaning
These walls could use some silence
I need a moment of peace and quiet to clear my head
These eyes could use some drying right about now
I am upset and need to stop crying
How can I be so lonely?
I feel alone despite being in a relationship with you
When I know you're always around
Even though you're here physically, it doesn't feel like you're really with me
I can't take another sleeping on the couch night
I'm tired of fighting and sleeping apart
Another stupid 'til the mornin' fight
Our arguments only escalate and continue through the night
Baby, I'm callin' a truce
I want to stop fighting and make peace with you
So lay here with me
Let's be close and spend time together
Let down your guard
Don't be defensive or closed off from me
Let's take off our gloves
Let's stop fighting and be vulnerable with each other
And quit makin' it so hard
We need to stop making things difficult between us
'Cause you don't wanna go
You don't really want to leave me
And I don't want you to leave
I don't want us to be apart
So why don't you stay please?
Please don't go, stay with me
I don't want us to be over
I don't want our relationship to end
I miss when we were closer than air
I miss when we were really close and connected
My hand could use some holdin'
I want you to hold my hand and be close with me
The bed is gettin' colder
Our relationship is becoming distant and cold
I just want you to kiss me up those stairs
I want us to be intimate and close with each other
Just the two of us
We don't need anyone else, just each other
Holdin' on with the blinds shut
We're holding onto each other with no one else around
Hearts beatin' back in love
We're rekindling our love for each other
Maybe find what we lost if we just
We have a chance to rediscover our love for each other
Stay, stay, stay
We should stay together and work on our relationship
Lay here with me
Stay with me and be close
Lay here with me
Stay with me and be close
Lay here with me
Stay with me and be close
Lay here with me, mm-hm
Stay with me and be close
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: David McKee Barnes, Joshua Peter Kerr, Maddie Marlow, Taylor Elizabeth Dye
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ladyagnescampbell96
These walls could use some silence
These eyes could use some drying right about now
How can I be so lonely?
When I know you're always around
I can't take another sleeping on the couch night
Another stupid 'til the mornin' fight
Baby, I'm calling a truce
So lay here with me
Let down your guard
Let's take off ours gloves
And quit making it so hard
'Cause you don't wanna go
And I don't want you to leave
So why don't you stay, please?
And lay here with me
I don't want us to be over
I miss when we were closer than air
My hand could use some holding
The bed is getting colder
I just want you to kiss me up those stairs.
So lay here with me
Let down your guard
Let's take off ours gloves
And quit making it so hard
'Cause you don't wanna go
And I don't want you to leave
So why don't you stay, please?
And lay here with me
Just the two of us
Holding on with the blinds shut
Hearts beating back in love
Maybe find what we lost if we just
Stay, stay, stay
Lay here with me
Let down your guard
Let's take off ours gloves
And quit making it so hard
'Cause you don't wanna go
And I don't wanna leave
So why don't you stay, please?
And lay here with me
Lay here with me
Lay here with me
Lay here with me
@lisasloane3807
When Dierks starts to sing, the feels are maximized 💏💞
@bouncycountry5382
These girls should be dominating country music. They are just so much better than what's on the charts!!
@fgllive3731
@countrygirl countrymusiclover shut up idiot troll fake account
@lindsayalvarez8805
I agree wholeheartedly
@kassiesabourin6494
FGL Live how is she a fake troll? I agree with her. Why compare females, and instead just celebrate them all and their incredible passion for music.
@bouncycountry5382
Kassie Sabourin that is actually a fake spam account, it's constantly insulting people and saying idiotic things (for example that "jason aldean is as country as George Strait and as talented as Brad Paisley", which is obviously not true since aldean is not country and a toll in the music industry. There should be more females on the radio, but one can not say "Maddie & Tae" are as talented as every female act on country radio. People are different.
@morgancashman4132
Bouncy Country M&T are so much more talented than some women in the industry...some just have way to poppy music. M&T do have one in awhile but One Heart to Another is my jam!
@tomislavmlinar2590
" baby i'm calling a truce" such a beautiful sentence IN LOVE WITH THIS ONE
@abigailhaberman8226
They never made a bad song before. I love them so much.
@nakdickson
You can bet on that