After soaring to No. 1 with “Bluebird,” Miranda Lambert‘s new single, “Settling Down” is a personal look into her own life, and deeply autobiographical. Written by Miranda along with Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick — the same two talented co-writers who helped pen “Bluebird” — the new song was written when Miranda was considering settling down with her now-husband, Brendan McLoughlin, but had yet to make a permanent commitment.
“It was after I met my husband, and we weren’t married yet when we were writing this song, but it was a very real place,” Miranda shared with her record label. “Natalie’s got a daughter, and she’s doing all this amazing stuff. She’s in The Highwomen, and she’s writing songs every day and having hits and traveling. And Luke is a dad, but he’s also in an amazing rock band called Republican Hair. And his four-year-old’s running around while we’re writing, and then he stays up all night making tracks. And so I’m getting on a bus, but I’m also going home to be with someone I love.
“So it’s this juxtaposition of, ‘Can I do both? Is that ok? Should I feel bad that I’m home or should I feel bad that I’m leaving?'” she continued. “‘Cause you get antsy when you’re used to moving and going, and having been touring since I was seventeen. So having time off and meeting my husband and being a person going to family breakfasts and birthday parties and stuff, it was like, ‘Well when are we leaving? Where’s the bus?’ For a while, it took me a minute to get used to that.”
Miranda has unexpectedly had extra time with her husband, whom she wed on January 26, 2019, when the remaining dates on her Wildcard Tour had to be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Still, the 36-year-old has found that settling down is more of a feeling than a place.
“Wherever the people that you love are is home, so it can be anywhere,” Miranda reflected. “But it was a cool song to write at the very time that we needed to write it, because I feel like a lot of people feel that way, that they have this gypsy spirit, and they want to be rock ‘n’ roll, but they also love having a morning at home with their bare feet on their own kitchen floor. It’s an amazing struggle to deal with actually. I don’t know if I’ll ever get too comfortable in one or the other. You know, my mom always tells me, it’s where the line comes from but she’d always say, ‘You’re a wild child and homing pigeon.’
“Because I really love to be home,” she added. “I love my animals and my family and making casseroles and just listening to Merle Haggard. I love to be on my own porch. But I also am like, ‘I can leave and be ready to go anywhere in fifteen minutes. I just need a guitar and some fringe, and I’m ready to roll out the door. Everything else you can buy at Target.’ I have this itch always to find a new adventure, but I’m always so ready to just walk through my own front door.”
“Settling Down” is from Miranda’s latest Wildcard album. Download “Settling Down” on iTunes.