Country Music Ladies Put Men in Their Place

Country Music Ladies Put Men in Their Place

American country music lyrics¹ often describe women as they might appear in men’s dreams. This is especially true of songs by many male artists. But the songs by Maddie Marlow and Tae Dye are different. The two women perform as a duo called Maddie & Tae.

The two released their first music album last month. But they first gained recognition² in the country music industry a year ago. That was when they released a song that made fun of the male-heavy lyrics in what has been called "bro-country" music.

The lyrics of “Girl in a Country Song” express how Maddie & Tae felt about the influence of "bro-country" music. They say the words often describe women as objects, not real people.

Their song reached the No. 1 position on the “Billboard” Country music charts late last year. It was the first debut³ song by a female duo to reach that place since 2006.  

Maddie Marlow says the song was a message. But she adds that she and Tae Dye never thought it would become so popular.

“‘Girl in a Country Song’ was a message that we had to say. We never thought it was gonna the light of day, but it did and it connected so well. But with ‘Girl in a Country Song' production-wise, we had to keep up with the guys that we were poking⁴ fun at, the trend we were poking fun at. And so that's why there's those really slamming electrics, but there is still fiddle⁵ and steel in there, too."

The two women grew up in the south central United States. They say that another country group, the Dixie Chicks, have influenced their music and songwriting. They want to combine bluegrass music, close harmonies, and a string-band base. But Tae Dye says the duo felt pressured to release another song as successful as their first.

"We felt a lot of pressure to live up to the first song -- a lot of these expectations that were on our shoulders. We would spend the two hours we had off on the radio tour, when we should have been resting and taking care of our bodies, we would write and write, like a slamming up-tempo, to maybe be the second single.  We were just trying to be machines, to put out something that would live up to the first single, and then finally we were like, ‘let's stop lying to ourselves and let's put out something that we believe in.'"

That second single turned out to be "Fly." It is a hopeful song about taking risks. It includes a nice mix of pleasing harmonies and acoustical⁶ instruments. Maddie Marlow says she and Tae Dye are happy with the choices they have made in their career.

"Of course, there's pressure where if you don't have this slamming up-tempo that has a little rap⁷ thing in it then it's not going to make it on country radio. But the trick for us and we've made such good relationships at radio, with all of our friends there is because we've stayed true to who we are. We are saying something and we are not backing down. This is the message. This is what we want to say."

Maddie & Tae are currently⁸ traveling across the country with Dierks Bentley on the Sounds of Summer Tour. Tae Dye says that even if their songs make fun of male-dominated lyrics, men still respect their musical abilities.

"Yeah, we are pretty new to the scene and yeah, we are females, but I feel like we can live up to the expectations. We can hang with the guys. We are on tour with Dierks Bentley, Kip Moore, and Canaan Smith. We rock out the night just as they do. So it's kind cool to hang with the boys, keep up with them, and show them that we can do anything they can."

Maddie & Tae will continue performing with Dierks Bentley until late September. They have their own tour planned through November.

Words in this Story

lyrics – n. the words that make up a song

debut – n. the first appearance of a product, sport, event, etc.

duo – n. two people who perform together, are usually seen together, or are associated with each other

harmony – n. the combination of different musical notes played or sung at the same time to produce a pleasing sound

single – n. one song from a recording⁹ that includes many songs

up-tempo – adj. played very fast; having a fast tempo

1 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

2 recognition   

n.承认，认可，认出，认识

参考例句：

• The place has changed beyond recognition.这地方变得认不出来了。
• A sudden smile of recognition flashed across his face.他脸上掠过一丝笑意，表示认识对方。

3 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

4 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

5 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

6 acoustical   

adj. 听觉的，声学的，音响学的

参考例句：

• This system can set up acoustical resonances. 这种系统能产生共鸣。
• The relevance of acoustical principles is by no means limited to sound and hearing. 声学原理并不仅仅适用于声音和听觉。

7 rap   

n.轻敲，拍击，责骂，厉声说出，说唱音乐，谈话，最少量；vi.轻敲，敲门，表演说唱音乐，畅谈；vt.抓，抢，拍击

参考例句：

• I heard a rap on the door.我听到有轻轻的敲门声。
• Today we are going to rap about relationships.今天我们要聊聊关系的问题。

8 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

9 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。