Brandi Carlile Calls Out NRA + More in New Song ‘Cowgirls’
Brandi Carlile isn't backing down. The Grammy Award-winning singer calls out the NRA and the male-dominated music industry in a feisty, unreleased song titled "Cowgirls."
Since releasing her acclaimed sixth studio album, By the Way, I Forgive You, in February of 2018, the singer-songwriter had yet to release any new music. That was until Carlile debuted a new song — "Cowgirls" — at her Pacific Amphitheater show on July 17.
"Cowgirls" is an acoustic mid-tempo country song that consists of a lone guitar paired with Carlile's signature twangy vocal delivery. Carlile's vocals are at home with the acoustic guitar as they float over the changing chords, only coming down to land on her politically and socially charged statements.
Carlile is as blunt as ever as she asserts in the opening minute of the song, "The NRA can kiss my country ass." This lyric is a reference to an interview Carlile did with the Guardian earlier this year.
Carlile then proceeds to call out the men in the music industry, singing, "It's time for you to let them cowgirls in." At the same time, Carlile calls into question the authenticity of their country lifestyle with the lyrics, "Just because you gotta little dust under your boots doesn't mean you walked a country mile / You never hopped a train and your backroads are going out of style."
In the final chorus, Carlile slyly changes up the lyrics from "Now you're just spitting in the wind" to "Now you're just pissing in the wind." While this is one of the more subtle moments on "Cowgirls," it is the most effective blink-and-you'll-miss-it middle fingers in recent years.
Carlile has yet to announce if and when the track will be available to buy and stream. However, Carlile has released new music with her group the Highwomen, which features fellow female country artists Maren Morris, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires. The group's debut single, "Redesigning Women," is out now.
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