CWW

CWW: Piston Annies

 

A group of muscicians made up of 3 strong women. The trio is composed of Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley. The group was formed and brought together by Miranda Lambert. Their first performance and debut was on the CBS special Academy of Country Music’s Girls Night Out : Superstar Women of Country, in April of 2011.

All three of the girls have their own nicknames. Miranda Lambert is called “Lonestar Annie”, Monroe is named “Hippie Annie” and Presley is named “Holler Annie”.  

Ashley Monroe : Was born in East Tennessee and has been singing her entire life. At age 13, her father passed away and right after, her and her “mama” headed off to Nashville where she’s lived ever since. In an interview Ashley stated “ I met Ran when I was 17. We were both on Sony. At first we wrote each other off as “another blonde singer”, but after we heard eachothers music we couldn’t stay away from eachother”.

Angaleena Presley: Raised in the hills and boondocks of Eastern Kentucky in a town called Beauty. Her father was a third generation coal miner and her mother was a school teacher. When she was 15 years old her father taught her how to play guitar, which is what “lit a fire” in her to play music and she moved to Nashville in the year 2000.

Miranda Lambert: From a little small town in East Texas. She is a singer/songwriter who has a successful solo career but was always dreaming and looking for more inspiration. When Ashley and Angaleena came into her life she recognized that they too are dreamers and together they created and crafter some of the most amazing songs. In an interview Miranda stated “All from the eastern part of our home states, we write and sing about real life and our roots. Our music is honest and outspoken just like us. I hope this music takes you on a journey to places you would never have gone. See ya down the road?”

Relating to the texts

I felt that all three of these singers were powerful women despite the situations they’ve gone through within their upbringing. Whether it was growing up in a small town or having a father pass away. They are all three outspoken women which reminded me a lot of bell hooks and her writing called “Talking Back”. They are all three deep and outspoken women and they write and say what they truly feel. Within everysingle one of there songs on their album “Hell on Heels” you can feel and hear the true compassion they have to be a real as they can be.

Hell on Heels from album “Hell on Heels”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOKtbJfNLFk

"Hell On Heels"

I'm hell on heels
Say what you will
I've done made the devil a deal
He made me pretty
He made me smart
And I'm going to break me a million hearts
I'm hell on heels, baby I'm comin' for you

This diamond ring on my hand
Is the only good thing that came from that man
Got a GTO from one named Joe
And a big piece of land down in Mexico
I'm hell on heels, baby I'm comin' for you

I got a pink guitar, a Lincoln Town Car
From ol' what's his name I met at a bar
Got a high-rise flat in Hollywood
From a married man who wasn't up to no good
I'm hell on heels, baby I'm comin' for you

Then there's Jim, I almost forgot
I ran him off, but I took the yacht
Poor ol' Billy, bless his heart
I'm still using his credit card
I'm hell on heels, Sugar Daddy I'm comin' for you

I'm hell on heels, say what you will
I've done made the devil a deal
He made me pretty
He made me smart
And I'm gonna break me a million hearts
I'm hell on heels baby I'm comin' for you

I'm hell on heels, say what you will
I've done made the devil a deal
He made me pretty
He made me smart
I'm gonna break me a million hearts
I'm hell on heels, Sugar Daddy I'm comin' for you!

“from a married man wasn’t up to no good, I’m hell on heels baby I’m coming for you”

       Related to “For my lover returning to his wife” à I related this to Anne Sextons poem however I took it as a negated way of looking at it. In Anne Sextons poem she discusses that there is a woman who is having an affair with a man who is married and feels crushed and sad when she states “As for me I am a watercolor. I wash off”. I look at this quote by the Pistol Annies stating that there are men out there who cheat and have affairs but that as a woman they are going to take advantage of it.

“the diamond ring on my hand, is the only good thing that came from this man”

“I done made the devil a deal, he made me pretty he made me smart, and Im going to break me a million hearts I’m hell on heels baby I’m coming for you.”

Throughout the class we’ve been discussing how women have been degraded and looked upon as an item that men feel they have power over and own in their own way. This is and will be one of my favorite songs, and I feel that it shows that women are more than just an item and that if men are going to think that they “own them” and or have power over them, then we as women will take advantage of that. This song takes many stereotypes about women and turns it around and uses it against the ones who are judging. Even going out on a limb…but George Eliot can even be brought up in the discussion about this song’s lyrics. Because she talks about how women are soft and nothing a “silly novelist”. In my opinion I feel that The Pistol Annie’s are taking to their advantage the fact that they can use their bodies and the men’s stereotypes and use it against them. I believe that what they’re trying to say is if you can’t respect them for the women that they are, then they’re going to take their good looks and smarts and use it in their favor.