{"id":4323,"date":"2015-04-15T16:36:44","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T21:36:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?page_id=4323"},"modified":"2015-05-20T12:15:29","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T17:15:29","slug":"follow-your-arrow","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/music\/same-trailer-different-park-2013\/follow-your-arrow\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Follow Your Arrow&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Written by Shelby Conine. April 14, 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In 2013 Kacey Musgraves was still riding the tidal wave of fame and controversy that swirled around her first single \u201cMerry Go \u2018Round.\u201d So, naturally, she released what is arguably her most controversial song to date, \u201cFollow Your Arrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The song touches on\u00a0controversial topics like premarital sex, alcohol, drugs, homosexuality and religion all in three minutes and twenty seconds. Some said it\u2019s \u201cnot your mother\u2019s country music,\u201d while others \u201chad no problem embracing the genre\u2019s new direction\u201d (McKay). But to Musgraves, who co-wrote the song with Shane McNally and Brandy Clark, the hit \u201cmeans so much to [her]&#8221; (Musgraves). What&#8217;s for sure, however, is that it definitely had an impact on the way country talks about some previously uncharted waters and challenges the narrative of country music.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow (Official Music Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kQ8xqyoZXCc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While she admits that it\u2019s not \u201cyour typical country song,\u201d she asks listeners to have an open mind and really listen to it (Musgraves). One of the most obvious issues that she confronts is homosexuality. In the chorus she sings, \u201cMake lots of noise\/ Kiss lots of boys\/ Or kiss lots of girls if that something you\u2019re into.\u201d While that might make some listeners uncomfortable, Kacey is confident that this is \u201cthe last frontier, topic wise, that country music hasn\u2019t embraced\u201d and that the genre is \u201cready for it\u201d (Musgraves). That part of the song stemmed from a high school friend coming out to her after graduation. The friend, she said, didn\u2019t feel comfortable coming out in high school because the place they were in wasn\u2019t as supportive it could be. She felt that experience had a huge impact on her and wanted that community to feel loved by country music, even though she admits that her hometown wasn\u2019t exactly welcoming to that lifestyle. Furthermore, both co-writers of the song are openly gay, which may have been the reason this controversial lyric earned its way into the chorus.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the song, she uses common phrases and sayings and then juxtaposes them with almost their exact opposite to make a point. For example, the first lines read: \u201cIf you save yourself for marriage you\u2019re a bore\/if you don\u2019t save yourself for marriage you\u2019re a horrible person.\u201d By turning the phrase on its head it\u2019s easier to listeners to pick up on her meaning and for the song to have continuity. Musgraves is well renowned as a clever artist and this song exemplifies that.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally verses dealing with drinking, weight loss, and church attendance are also used to exemplify that whichever you chose to do, it\u2019s ok. These topics\u00a0are contentious among people with\u00a0liberal and conservative values, respectively. These issues, particularly homosexuality and marijuana use, are prevalent in society today and its nice to see an artist try to reconcile each side of the issue in a song.<\/p>\n<p>The real heart of her message is found in the bridge, which reads \u201cSay what you think\/love who you love\/ \u2018cause you just get so many trips \u2018round the sun\/yeah, you only\/only live once.\u201d Not only does it channel <a title=\"Drake's &quot;The Motto&quot;\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/BYDKK95cpfM\" target=\"_blank\">Drake&#8217;s \u201cThe Motto\u201d<\/a> by preaching its YOLO (you only live once) message, but it also reiterates her belief that life is short so do what you want to do. Bridges are known to contain some of the most important messages in songs because the music changes and people notice what it says more and I think Musgraves purposely picked the specific lyrics to really back up her chorus.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, the emphasis on certain words allows her to make significant points. In the first set of verse, she makes \u201chorrible\u201d sound like \u201cwhore-ible\u201d so as to point out that gossipers will construe your sex life as being a loose and it adds a cute edge to the lyric. Similarly, in the chorus, when she sings \u201cwhen the straight and narrow gets a little too straight\u201d her voice swings up an notch on the word \u201ctoo\u201d so as to indicate that, at some point, everyone\u2019s going to break from society\u2019s expectations and that\u2019s ok. You\u2019ll just need to find that place and then relax, or \u201croll up a joint\u201d as she suggests in the next line.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.countryweekly.com\/sites\/countryweekly.com\/files\/imagecache\/node_page_image\/article_images\/willie_nelson_0.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"166\" height=\"222\" \/>The next controversial topic Musgraves tackles in the song is marijuana use. Though in the first two choruses she says, \u201croll up a joint, or don\u2019t\u201d in the last one she makes a change by saying \u201cI would\u201d instead of \u201cor don\u2019t.\u201d I think her more liberal stance on weed definitely speaks to younger audiences that country music is looking for right now. Somehow Musgraves has struck this balance between being very much authentically country but with this amazing new twist. It definitely brings to mind famous marijuana user and outlaw Willie Nelson, who Musgraves sees as a big influence on her music.<\/p>\n<p>Musgraves further balances the old with the new by the instruments she\u2019s known for using, which are very typical of country music. In this song you can hear an acoustic guitar, banjo, steel guitar, drums, tambourine, and bass guitar. She even admits that it \u201creminds [her] of Glen Campbell or Marty Robins and maybe a little bit of Loretta Lynn in there and its real country and real simple\u201d (Musgraves). In that way, she sticks with her country, southern roots.<\/p>\n<p>However, the lyrics tell a different story. When Musgraves performed this song on the CMA\u2019s in 2013, she was asked to censor the \u201croll up a joint\u201d lyric because it wasn\u2019t suitable for prime time audiences, which are mostly families and can include young children.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously country has a long way to go before it\u2019s completely ready to embrace Kacey\u2019s progressivism, but I think that\u2019s a lot about what this song is about. It\u2019s about her belief that you should do you own thing no matter what everyone thinks, almost as if she\u2019s updating the outlaw movement from the 60s and 70s. She\u2019s walking this line between traditional and revolutionary by blending both into her music and I think this song perfectly speaks to that. And while I won\u2019t be kissing lots of girls any time soon, if that\u2019s what you\u2019re into then, as Kacey would say, follow your arrow wherever it points.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.billboard.com\/files\/styles\/promo_650\/public\/media\/kacey-musgraves-follow-your-arrow-650-430d.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"430\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Listening Guide<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 420px\" width=\"480\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 40px\">\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Time<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 60px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Form<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 100px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Listening Que<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 220px\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Discussion <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 40px\">\u00a00:00<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 60px\">Intro<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 100px\">\u00a0guitar<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 220px\">\u00a0sets up meoldy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 40px\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 60px\">\u00a0Verse 1<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 100px\">\u00a0&#8220;If you save yourself for marriage you&#8217;re a bore&#8221;<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 220px\">\u00a0cute lyrics, plays on wordinteresting topics, ,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 40px\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 60px\">\u00a0Verse 2<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 100px\">\u00a0&#8220;If you can&#8217;t loose the weight then you&#8217;re just fat&#8221;<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 220px\">\u00a0drugs to loose weight? common phenomenon?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 40px\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 60px\">\u00a0Chorus<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 100px\">\u00a0&#8220;So, make lots of noise&#8221;<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 220px\">\u00a0hey&#8217;s and yeah&#8217;s, upswing on &#8220;so&#8221; and &#8220;too&#8221; weed reference, repete follow your arrow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 40px\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 60px\">\u00a0Verse 3<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 100px\">\u00a0&#8220;if you don&#8217;t go to church you&#8217;ll go to hell&#8221;<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 220px\">\u00a0church choir singing in the background? clich\u00e9s,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 40px\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 60px\">Chorus<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 100px\">\u00a0&#8220;make lots of noise&#8221;<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 220px\">\u00a0same hey&#8217;s and yeah&#8217;s, more oo&#8217;s, follow your arrow x 2 again,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 40px\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 60px\">Bridge<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 100px\">\u00a0say what you think<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 220px\">\u00a0slower, more deliberate, less instrumentation, YOLO?, brief guitar interlude, whistling<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 40px\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 60px\">Chorus<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 100px\">&#8220;So make lots of noise&#8221;<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 220px\">\u00a0change to &#8220;i would&#8221; instead of &#8220;or don&#8217;t&#8221; when talking about weed, outro with whistling<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Works Cited<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Your Arrow<\/em>. Spotify, 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. &lt;https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/6Vp0nCHynKfnZOrozqA7gr&gt;.<\/p>\n<p>McKay, Hollie. &#8220;Kacey Musgraves &#8216;Follow Your Arrow&#8217; Latest Sign of Shifts in Country Music.&#8221; <em>Fox News<\/em>. N.p., 7 Feb. 2014. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Shelby Conine. April 14, 2015. In 2013 Kacey Musgraves was still riding the tidal wave of fame and controversy that swirled around her first single \u201cMerry Go \u2018Round.\u201d So, naturally, she released what is arguably her most controversial &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/music\/same-trailer-different-park-2013\/follow-your-arrow\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"parent":4026,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4323","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4323"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4909,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4323\/revisions\/4909"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}