Lori McKenna - Unglamorous

This song is about me.

For me one of the draws of Country music is that the songs are often about things that happen in my life, or my friend's lives. Particularly as I've gotten older, the Rock 'N Roll rebellion of my teens has gotten less relevant. Kids, a mortgage, a minivan (sigh), and life in the suburbs has replaced the late night club scene.

And frankly, that's OK. I'm not 17 anymore. Fortunately, people like Lori McKenna write songs about me.

I've been listening to Country for decades, and writing this Saturday Redneck feature for over a year and a half now, so there are nearly 100 posts there. I've prided myself on being pretty wired into the Country scene. So how on earth did I miss Lori McKenna?

She's a mother of five from Stoughton, Massachusetts, probably less than 50 miles from Chez Borepatch. Married to a plumber. Just a normal lady - with astonishing talent.

In her spare time while the kids took naps, she would write songs. Like all good songwriters, she wrote about what she knows. Her songs attracted the eye of Faith Hill, who recorded three of them on Hill's double platinum album Fireflies. If you've heard the song "Stealing Kisses", you've heard McKenna's work.

Unglamorous is the title track from her latest CD, produced by Hill's husband Tim McGraw. Frankly, they're songs about me, and my life, written by someone like me. Just like me, in fact, only with amazing talent.


Unglamorous

Lori McKenna | MySpace Music Videos

Unglamorous (Songwriter: Lori McKenna)

Understated, overrated site - carnival ride
Curtains faded, thread bare rugs real nice -the baby stayed up all night

How wonderful rhinestones on black satin shoes
How beautiful the one's I never get to use
No frills, no fuss, perfectly us - unglamorous

Frozen dinner, jelly glass of wine - tastes just fine
Two bread winners, five kids in short time -with eyes just like mine

How wonderful crowded dinners at the kitchen table
How beautiful one TV set - no cable
No frills, no fuss, perfectly us - unglamorous

No diamonds in our bathtub reams
Peanut butter on everything
No frills, no fuss - unglamorous
Unglamorous

How wonderful a gravel road leading to a front door
How beautiful old wool socks on a bedroom floor
No frills, no fuss, perfectly us -unglamorous
Unglamorous