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.
No Place Like You
Maddie & Tae Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Smoky mountain blowin' through Tennessee
Oklahoma sweet magnolia, Kansas over my right shoulder
Bending strings down in New Orleans
Everywhere I go, I see your smile
I wish I could see yours once in a while
The sun comes up and it sinks back down
On every five-star dream in every two-star town
There's a lot to see from a wishing view
But sometimes, I wish I could close my eyes and click my shoes
'Cause there's no place like you
No place like you
No place like you
Killing time in Texarkana, rolling tide in Alabama
The closer that I get, you're still too far
So half a dozen tanks of gas, fighting traffic getting back
I'd trade a first-class seat in for your arms
The sun comes up and it sinks back down
On every five-star dream in every two-star town
There's a lot to see from a wishing view
But sometimes, I wish I could close my eyes and click my shoes
'Cause there's no place like you
No place like you
No place like you
Everywhere I go, I see your smile
I wish I could see yours once in a while
The sun comes up and it sinks back down
On every five-star dream in every two-star town
But sometimes, I wish I could close my eyes and click my shoes
'Cause there's no place like you
No place like you
No place like you
Yeah, there's no place like you
No place like you
No place like you
The song "No Place Like You" by Maddie & Tae talks about how the singer travels around different states in America but she always sees the same person's smile in every place she goes. The lyrics are metaphoric references to different states and cities in America with catchy striking phrases like "California cherry cola", "smoky mountain blowing through Tennessee", "Oklahoma sweet magnolia" and "Kansas over my right shoulder". The singer is trying to say that no matter where she goes, she wishes she was with the person who's always on her mind.
The song particularly emphasizes how even if the places are different, she notices the same smile in each place that reminds her of her loved one. Despite experiencing different cities and states, she still feels incomplete without her lover. The song also talks about the challenges of long-distance relationships and how tough it can be to be far away from the one you love. The overall theme of this song revolves around the thought that love is the only missing piece in her journey, so she wishes she could be with her loved one and doesn't need to travel anymore.
Line by Line Meaning
California cherry cola, sandy skies in Arizona
The different places she goes to all look the same without the person she loves.
Smoky mountain blowin' through Tennessee
The natural beauty of different states becomes dull without her lover's presence.
Oklahoma sweet magnolia, Kansas over my right shoulder
Despite her travels, the love she has for her partner is always with her no matter where she is.
Bending strings down in New Orleans
Even when she is doing something she loves like playing music, her love for her partner is still on her mind.
Everywhere I go, I see your smile
She constantly thinks about her partner and how much she misses them even when she is in different states.
I wish I could see yours once in a while
She wishes her partner could be with her and that she could see their smile in person.
The sun comes up and it sinks back down
Another day begins and ends, but the feeling of missing her partner remains constant.
On every five-star dream in every two-star town
Even if she is in a beautiful place, it feels like a two-star town without her partner.
There's a lot to see from a wishing view
Even though she sees many beautiful places, she wishes she didn't have to see them without her partner.
But sometimes, I wish I could close my eyes and click my shoes
She wishes she could magically be with her partner whenever she thinks about them.
'Cause there's no place like you
No other place or person makes her feel the way her partner does.
Killing time in Texarkana, rolling tide in Alabama
Miscellaneous activities she does while thinking about her lover.
The closer that I get, you're still too far
Even if she is physically closer to her partner, the emotional distance between them remains.
So half a dozen tanks of gas, fighting traffic getting back
She will do whatever it takes to be with her partner, even if it means going through inconvenience and hardship.
I'd trade a first-class seat in for your arms
She would rather be in her partner's arms than in a luxurious first-class seat.
Yeah, there's no place like you
Her love for her partner is unique and cannot be substituted by any other place or person.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JON NITE, JIMMY ROBBINS, MADDIE MARLOW, TAYLOR DYE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind