The most heart-wrenching country songs employ metaphor like a splash of cold water. They wake you up with a shock; blinking, you see the world just a little bit differently.
Consider "
The Grand Tour
"You can't cry pretty" is the punchline in this monologue from a willfully demure belle who, from the beginning, is making excuses for herself. "I'm sorry, but I'm just a girl," Underwood murmurs, with just a little bit of grit in her voice, suggesting she might not be apologizing for very long. And yes, by the time she arrives at that second "sorry" she's spitting a little bit about how she's expected to present herself in a way that people like. She tries, she really does, but "you can't fight what the truth is."
Then comes the key change, along with a list of all the things Underwood's ingénue can do "pretty" – smile, lie, walk away, generally be a fake. "But you can't cry pretty," Underwood wails — as only she can among contemporary country artists. It's an invocation of all the great divas who've wielded the crying metaphor as a means to challenge the truth of the feminine dignity trap: Mary J. Blige with "
Not Gon' Cry
Underwood's performance communicates the same weary rage these classics do, the injustice of being expected to keep it together so that the world is a little better-looking, a version of country's tragic punchlines that could only be sung by a woman. Men are never asked to cry pretty (or do much else pretty, for that matter). Women look in the mirror and see not just their own pain reflected, but also the cost of hiding it.
"Cry Pretty" works not only as a classic country song with soul at its cathartic heart, it's also a message from Underwood to her fans, part of her careful cultivation of persona. Last fall, Underwood reportedly
took a tumble
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