Carrie Underwood has released her new album, “Cry Pretty”, today after almost three years since her last (Storyteller, Oct. 2015). This comes after Underwood went out of the public eye following a terrifying fall at her home last November. The singer suffered from a broken wrist and received “40-50 stitches in her face”. Leading up to the album’s release date, four songs had been released in the last nine months. This includes “The Champion” (ft. Ludacris), the title track “Cry Pretty”, “Love Wins” and “End Up With You”.
Cry Pretty
Favourite Lyrics: And falling apart is as human as it gets. You can’t hide it, you can’t fight what the truth is.
The album title track is the first one on the list. “Cry Pretty” really stresses that it’s ok to have emotions and everyone has bad days. It’s really about raw emotion and letting out whatever you’ve been holding in. It’s a great message to put out in an age where we only see the good moments on social media. This song captures the emotion that I’m sure is relatable for most people.
Ghosts On The Stereo
Favourite Lyrics: And the neighbors might think it’s a haunted house, yeah. But I’ve never felt so alive
This song reminds me of older Carrie songs. It gives me major Shania Twain vibes as well. Underwood makes singing seem effortless with this amazing song. She talks about having a party with her “Ghosts On The Stereo”. She talks about being alone in a house that doesn’t feel alone as she’s having a party with “Hank, Haggard and Jones”.
Low
Favourite Lyrics: Like a diamond ring without a stone. Like a guitar without a song.
This is a song that talks about being at a low point in life and feeling like there’s nothing left inside of you. The person you thought was the love of your life left you lonely. The song is slow but meaningful. Carrie highlights her incredible, natural talent in this song.
Backsliding
Favourite Lyrics: There’s a million reasons why we said goodbye. Why we couldn’t try, couldn’t fight for it anymore.
This song is about falling into old habits after ending a relationship with someone. You are sliding back into old form and not breaking things off no matter how many times you’ve tried. That relationship has a significant comfort level and it is hard to leave. You say you want to leave, but you aren’t sure if you really want to as part of you still has feelings.
Southbound
Favourite Lyrics: Then south sounds up loud, summer drippin’ off of us.
“Southbound” is all about those summers on the lake and enjoying life in the south. It really reminded me of a good portion of the country music on the radio right now. It’s a super fun, upbeat song and it captures the essences of summer in the south. This is one of the songs that I have on repeat.
The Song We Used To Make Love To
Favourite Lyrics: Wanna hear it again and again and again. That song that we used to make love to.
Of all the songs on the album, this is probably my least favourite. The song talks about going back to the significant memories you had with an ex. The music reminds you of the good times and you can’t bring yourself to get rid of it. It brings back the feelings of your break up but the good out weights the bad.
Drinking Alone
Favourite Lyrics: Drownin’ the pain is better. With somebody else who got problems.
This song has a great tune and you could definitely sing along to it. This too reminds me of some of Carrie’s old music. This song is all about going to the bar and just wanting to be all alone but once you get there, you realize you might want a night to remember. It is a fantastic song and it will definitely be a favourite.
The Bullet
Favourite Lyrics: ‘Till every heart that’s left to break is broken.
Throughout “Cry Pretty”, Carrie Underwood hits on so many current issues in our world. “The Bullet” covers arguably the biggest issue right now in the USA, gun violence. Underwood sings about how taking an innocent life really does affect more than just that person. It affects everyone around them. Their family has to go on without that person there for so many important milestones in life. This is a song that will resonate with people, especially those who have been affected by gun violence. The line “the bullet keeps on going” is a perfect way to describe how the effects don’t stop at the first person.
Spinning Bottles
Favourite Lyrics: Round and around and around they go. Will it end? Nobody knows.
Underwood talks about how alcohol can put you in a constant cycle and you can spiral out of control. The fear of the unknown when alcohol takes over a loved one. You never know when or if they’ll come home. It focuses on how hard addiction can be to break and how addiction affects the people around you more than yourself. It’s a song full of raw emotion and it is simply amazing.
Love Wins
Favourite Lyrics: And we’ll never fall if we walk hand in hand. Put a world that seems broken together again.
“Love Wins” focuses on the problems with society today and how we need to love instead of hate. There are so many great lessons to be learned from this song and it’s such a great reminder that we all are family. We need to continue to do good in the world and eliminate the hate and darkness. We must have faith that things will one day get better. The song has a great vibe which will become an anthem for change in our world in the near future. Songs like these are going to be the light in the darkness of the world.
End Up With You
Favorite Lyrics: Yeah, ’cause you could light up the dark side of the moon.
From the first time I heard “End Up With You”, I loved it. It is super upbeat and catchy. It is quite a bit different than most of the music of Underwood’s last album but the track is great. It makes you want to sing along and dance which for me is one of the first things I like to pinpoint on an album.
Kingdom
Favourite Lyrics: It’s perfectly imperfect. It’s worth more than it’s worth. It’s our life, it’s our heart, it’s our home.
This beautiful song is definitely one of my favourites on the album. Underwood’s emphasis on family and love is inspiring. The memories made in a family home can’t be recreated and stresses how these are worth more than the money value of the home itself. The background singers add an incredible depth unlike anything else on this album.
The Champion (ft. Ludacris) – Bonus Track
Favourite Lyrics: But don’t think that I did it for the fame, yeah. I did it for the love of the game, yeah.
“The Champion” was the first track released off this album. It was like a comeback song for Underwood following her accident. It also came out just weeks before her husband, Mike Fisher, left retirement and announced that he would be returning to the Nashville Predators (NHL) to join in their quest for the Stanley Cup. “The Champion” is a pretty standard pregame pump up song. It focuses on rising from the ashes and having those dreams to become the champion. Definitely a great song to listen to when you need some inspiration and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t jam many times to this in the car. This song has already helped me through tough times with school or sports.
This album is definitely one of Carrie’s best. Each track is different and incredible in their own ways. Carrie hit the nail on the head with this album and I would recommend you all take a listen! Click here to check it out.
Feature Image: Instagram @carrieunderwood
