Top 10 Kacey Musgraves Songs

Country meets disco in “High Horse,” which comes off Musgraves’ third studio album, Golden Hour. The flirty tune kisses inequality in a relationship goodbye with Musgraves’ usual spunk.

One of the musical highlights of the first season of TV’s Nashville was “Undermine,” which Musgraves co-wrote with Trent Dabbs. Performed by Hayden Panettiere and Charles Esten, the song is a perfect blend of strong melody, classic country instrumentation and a well-crafted lyric that says, “It’s a whole lot harder to shine than undermine.”

“Blowin’ Smoke” centers around a group of waitresses talking trash while on a smoke break from work. A perfectly drawn skewering of how people talk about aspirations that they will never act upon, it features a number of classic lines, such as, “Brenda’s traded smokes for cake / Still hasn’t lost that baby weight / And that baby’s ’bout to graduate from college.”

Musgraves tells condescending hypocrites exactly where they can go in this banjo-heavy tune. The cheeky lyrics are a perfect representation of the fearlessness that Musgraves injects into all of her music.

This ballad’s production gets a pure, raw treatment for a reason: With a lyric this airtight and a melody this ethereal, you don’t need any bells and whistles. Musgraves co-wrote “Rainbow” with Nashville heavy hitters Shane McAnally and Natalie Hemby, and the song is especially important to her because it was the last that her grandmother heard her write. “Rainbow” was performed at Musgraves’ grandmother’s funeral.

Taking a turn from her usual fare, Musgraves delivers heartache in the beautiful, soaring song “Space Cowboy.” The song comes from her latest album, Golden Hour. 

“Mind your own biscuits / And life will be gravy” might be simple, but it’s darn perfect. Following in Musgraves’ consistent theme of refusing to bow to the judgement and expectations of others, this song helps the star pushes social boundaries in the most friendly and pleasant way possible. Who wouldn’t want to follow this advice?!

The fourth single from Lambert‘s Four the Record was “Mama’s Broken Heart,” which Musgraves wrote with frequent collaborators Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. The song is a modern-day breakup scenario: “Go and fix your make up, girl, it’s just a breakup / Run and hide your crazy and start actin’ like a lady.” It reached No. 2 in Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart.

Musgraves’ debut single was a sharply cynical observation of life in small-town America, where couples marry and live and die in a cycle of inertia and ennui: “Mary, Mary, quite contrary / We get bored so we get married / And just like dust we settle in this town / On this broken merry go ’round.” Written with Josh Osborne and McAnally, the song reached No. 10 before its parent album was even released, launching Musgraves on a trajectory as one of country music’s most respected newcomers.

Musgraves’ major-label debut is chock full of witty, observational songs that challenge the stereotypes of Nashville and country radio — but none more so than “Follow Your Arrow,” which encourages the celebration of individuality, saying, “Follow your arrow wherever it points.” The song’s acceptance of same-sex relationships and marijuana use might have made it problematic for radio, but it quickly became a fan favorite.