Miranda Lambert’s latest album The Weight Of These Wings was the best country album of last year, partially because of the way it challenges the weight of feminine expectations.
To that end, Lambert has released a feisty, hilarious video today for “We Should Be Friends,” a track off the record that catalogues the many ways that the singer doesn’t fit into the cookie cutter, idealized idea of how a woman should look and act. To highlight those themes, in the clip she shows up to a salon to get a complete makeover, and wins over the entire crowd at the shop in the process. It’s a campy, feel-good video that plays up Lambert’s down home likability, but goes a step further to actually offer some constructive criticism.
The idea behind the song is that if you’re willing to admit and accept the ways that you’re “failing” at the achieving the perfect version of yourself, then you’re the kind of person Miranda wants to have in her life. It’s a step further down the road toward freedom from stereotypes and gender roles that she’s been pursing sine Platinum with songs like “Bathroom Sink,” “Girls,” and the title track.
Of course, on Wings she gets into the same topic again on “You Wouldn’t Know Me” and “Ugly Lights.” As a woman who is a the forefront of country music, it’s cool to see Lambert use her enormous platform to lampoon some of the ridiculous double standards that women face. Watch the clip above.
