She released four albums and three EPs without any label support via Bandcamp from 2012-2014, and gathered a large following on blogging platform Tumblr, where she would also post song demos and covers. In 2015, Canadian artist Grimes discovered her music via the site, and created Eerie Organization, an artist collective/incubator for the release of Dollanganger's fifth album Natural Born Losers, stating that it was a crime for it not to be heard, and that Dollanganger is North America's greatest living songwriter. Grimes also invited Dollanganger on her Rhinestone Cowgirls tour, where they both opened for Lana Del Rey. Natural Born Losers also marked the beginning of Dollanganger's collaboration with Matthew Tomasi, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and co-founder of indie label Homie Shit Magazine.
Following these successes, Dollanganger's first four albums were re-released digitally via GTR Records, and physically via Run for Cover Records, in 2016. In 2018, she released her sixth album, Heart Shaped Bed, through Eerie Organization. It was co-produced by Matt Tomasi, and included a finished version of her song "Chapel," which made an appearance in TV series The Walking Dead in 2016 and remains one of her most popular songs. In order to promote the album, she also released music videos for her songs Lemonade, Heart Shaped Bed, and Lacrymaria Olor, all directed by Mac Boucher, brother of Grimes.
In 2019, Nicole Dollanganger befriended Ethel Cain after hearing her cover of "Poacher's Pride" on Tumblr, and invited her to open for her performance at Beat Kitchen in Chicago. Through Dollanganger, Ethel Cain met Matt Tomasi, who later released two of her EPs on CD and cassette through his label, and co-produced the tracks "Ptolemaea" and "August Underground" on her debut album.
In January 2023, Nicole Dollanganger released her highly-anticipated seventh album, Married in Mount Airy.
Tammy Faye
Nicole Dollanganger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With my Tammy Faye eyes
Crying, I'm a mess
Half undressed in the light of the TV
You know you'll just have to go bury this
In the garden and leave it till there's nothing left
For me to find, when I try to dig it up
'Cause you know how I get
I love you so madly like Sadie Mae
But I'm just a crazy bitch
Crying in the kitchen to Tammy Wynette (Tammy Wynette)
Crying in the kitchen to Tammy Wynette
But it's just how I get
With my Tammy Faye eyes
Blood on my clothes and my hands
I've done it again, I've done it again
You know you'll just have to go bury this
In the garden and leave it till there's nothing left
For me to find, when I try to dig it up
And bring it back to life
'Cause you know how I get
I love you so madly like Sadie Mae
But I'm just a crazy bitch
Crying in the kitchen to Tammy Wynette (Tammy Wynette)
'Cause I shoot the gun any chance I get (Sadie Mae)
With blood on my clothes and my hands
I've done it again, I've done it again
The lyrics to Nicole Dollanganger’s song Tammy Faye are a complex display of emotions conveyed by the singer’s voice. The song primarily depicts a woman who is both deeply in love and inexplicably dangerous. She confesses that she has a tendency to get worked up and emotional, comparing her teary-eyed displays to those of Tammy Faye Messner, a popular television personality known for her glamour and religious beliefs. The singer also acknowledges that this emotional nature often leads to destructive behavior, and she tells her lover to bury whatever it is he did wrong so that she cannot dig it up and bring it back to life.
The song hits its emotional peak when the singer confesses her love to her partner, professing her passionate feelings in a similar way that comes from the song “Sadie Mae,” also mentioned in the lyrics. The songs of Tammy Wynette, a popular country singer, provide the backdrop for the singer's emotional breakdown, as she finds herself crying in the kitchen again with blood on her clothes and hands, once again having committed an act of violence. Overall, the lyrics create a complex and layered portrait of a woman who is both emotionally vulnerable and dangerous, caught between her love for a man and her tendency for erratic and destructive behavior.
Line by Line Meaning
You know how I get
With my Tammy Faye eyes
Crying, I'm a mess
Half undressed in the light of the TV
I become overwhelmed and emotional, represented by my heavy makeup style, and sobbing in front of the TV while being only partially dressed
You know you'll just have to go bury this
In the garden and leave it till there's nothing left
For me to find, when I try to dig it up
And bring it back to life
You must bury the past and get away from it, so that I don't go back searching for it and end up reliving it over again
'Cause you know how I get
I love you so madly like Sadie Mae
But I'm just a crazy bitch
Crying in the kitchen to Tammy Wynette (Tammy Wynette)
Crying in the kitchen to Tammy Wynette
Despite loving you intensely, I cannot control my erratic behavior and unpredictable mood swings, often resulting in crying fits while listening to Tammy Wynette in the kitchen
But it's just how I get
With my Tammy Faye eyes
Blood on my clothes and my hands
I've done it again, I've done it again
I can't help but to act impulsively and messily, leaving myself covered in blood while repeating the same mistakes over and over again
'Cause I shoot the gun any chance I get (Sadie Mae)
With blood on my clothes and my hands
I've done it again, I've done it again
I cannot resist the urge to act recklessly, leading to situations where I shoot a gun and end up once again covered in blood, aware of my repeated mistakes
Writer(s): Nicole Bell
Contributed by Christian A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.