Ugly Lights

Album: The Weight of These Wings (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Miranda Lambert is heartbroken and is drowning her sorrows at the bar. She's there at happy hour and still sat on her barstool after the last call, when the bartenders switch off the dim lighting for the much brighter fluorescent "ugly lights."

    But I still go and stay too late
    And be the girl bartenders hate
    The one that doesn't need another one
    When the Romeos and Juliets
    Have bummed all of my cigarettes
    The last kiss in the parking lot is done
    I'll be sitting here alone
    When the ugly lights come on


    Lambert co-wrote this raw song with frequent collaborator Natalie Hemby and Liz Rose, who co-penned many of Taylor Swift's earlier tunes.
  • When Lambert performed this song in Evansville on January 26, 2017 during her Highway Vagabond Tour, she admitted to her fans the tune was inspired by the aftermath of her divorce from Blake Shelton:

    "I got divorced last year so I started drinking a little extra," she told the crowd, "S--t happens, you know?"

    "Anyway, I moved to Nashville and I started spending too much time at the Midtown bars, and I realized that I was taking an Uber for the third day in a row to pick up my Jeep - I drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee," Lambert continued. "I smelled like smoke and I was wearing clothes from yesterday and I was like, 'This is three days in a row. This is probably a problem.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.