Kacey Musgraves’ New Album “star crossed” Expertly Navigates Tragedy And Heartbreak
Samantha Colleran, September 2021
In 2018, Kacey Musgraves introduced the world to the dazzling world of her critically acclaimed Golden Hour album. An album about falling in love written by a woman in love, it breathed new life into the country genre and captured the hearts of many. About two years later, Kacey announced that she and her husband, fellow country singer-songwriter Ruston Kelly, were getting a divorce. Fast forward to just under a week ago, Kacey allowed the world to better understand her complicated thoughts about the divorce with the release of a new album and accompanying movie streaming on Paramount+ (I have yet to watch it!), star crossed. Expanding from solely country and drawing on elements from a number of genres, we follow Musgraves on her journey of navigating heartbreak while simultaneously finding herself again.
Kacey turns her broken feelings into a Shakespeare-esque tragedy; we go back to the beginning of the marriage, follow through with the divorce, and our final ‘act’ of the album sees Kacey picking up the pieces of her life and finding the courage to carry on. Setting the scene, we meet our “star crossed” lovers, and much like Romeo and Juliet, we’re told about the tragic outcome right from the get go. “good wife” launches us back into the beginning of the story, where we see a loved up Kacey doing everything she can to please her husband- bringing him coffee in bed, listening to his problems, and even packing him a bowl after a long day at work. “cherry blossom” tells us how fast their relationship moved, “We happened quickly, as humans do/ Summer was coming, and change was too/ Look at me now, I’m fallin’ at your feet”. No one could question their relationship, they were on fire, unstoppable.
Following the fiery feelings of falling in love on “cherry blossom”, “simple times” sees Musgraves longing for, well, simpler times. Life can get overwhelming, and sometimes all you want to do is put the game of life on pause and do things that don’t require thinking because “being grown up kinda sucks”. We get to our real breaking point of the album with “if this was a movie..”. The fantasy starts to crumble, love isn’t enough to save the couple. They have to face the reality that life isn’t a movie, not everything will have a happy ending, not everything will “fall back into place”.
Kacey justifies her confusing feelings of going from crying to laughing, to loving then hating her ex, and thinking maybe they should have treated one another better on the second single off the album, “justified”. It’s catchy and comforting, anyone suffering a loss or any type of emotional trauma in general can relate to the complicated feelings. These feelings are further talked about on “angel”; Kacey wants so desperately to save her marriage she wishes she were something not human, something powerful enough to fix the broken pieces and make everything picture perfect again.
“breadwinner” is the upbeat, power anthem about Kacey (non traditionally) being the provider in their marriage. Kacey insinuates the potential insecurities that come along with the role reversal, and even warns her ex’s future lovers of how he’ll take and take and not give half as much back, “stay away from a boy like that”. “camera roll” takes listeners on a journey through Kacey’s photo app. She finds herself slipping into a trance of looking at the photos where she was once in love; she doesn’t have the strength to delete the photos highlighting the happy times, at least not yet, even if they do make her sad. “easier said” is a solid transition into our final act, where Musgraves faces the harsh reality that loving someone can sometimes be easier said than done. Some things come naturally to her, like writing melodies and pursuing opportunities she knows she’s meant to, but love has proven to be difficult, and that’s a tough reality to cope with.
The “hookup scene” is a part of getting back out into the world post breakup, but Kacey isn’t too keen on it. She talks about the loneliness that comes along with the empty feelings; you find someone just to get some sort of satisfaction, but it isn’t love. Kacey craves a real connection, the hookup scene makes her miss her marriage, the complicated feelings rising up once again. We gain some words of wisdom from Papa Musgraves on “keep lookin’ up”; Kacey tells us of the wise words her father told her when she was younger and she’s carried through her life. Don’t let the world tear you down, keep your head high and your feet firm on the ground and everything will be alright.
After taking her father’s words of wisdom, we see a stronger Kacey rising from the ashes as we approach the end of this album. “what doesn’t kill me” shows Kacey’s ability to carry on through hard times with grace; she’s been to Hell and back, her golden hour faded to black, but she’s still standing, stronger than ever. This strength carries on into “there is a light”, with tragedy comes moments of fear and doubt, but Kacey isn’t letting her shimmer be dimmed anymore. “There is a light/ It’s so bright/ But I’ve been hiding it/ There is a light/ Inside of me/ There is a light” Kacey sings in a hopeful tone. Our closing track is a rework of “gracias a la vida” by Violeta Parra. With layered instrumentals and echoey vocals, we see a new life breathed into the track, Kacey is finally shedding the skin of her past and is stepping into a new light.
Although a darker follow up to Golden Hour, star crossed shows how quickly things can change, and Kacey is more human than ever on this record. Despite her sorrows, Kacey puts on a strong suit of armor and allows the world to see her in a vulnerable state. Taking the storytelling elements of Golden Hour and translating it to the complete opposite end of the love spectrum with a refined sound, we see how this tragedy has changed and shaped Kacey into a wiser, more mature person.
If you’ve heard the album and/or seen the film, let me know your thoughts in the comments! If you haven’t listened yet, what are you waiting for? Open up your Spotify or Apple Music or any other streaming service you like to listen to your music through, and give it some of your time. star crossed is something special, and I hope you find something to enjoy from it.