Analysis

Sherman Dellenbach

Eng 1100

Mr. Dilbeck

10/30/13

Casey Musgraves: Merry Go Round

People who have a family are expected to get along and have a special bond. It’s a stereotype that America has implemented over the years that has never really been modified. Divorces happen, kids get in trouble, and there are different struggles each family goes through. According to Casey Musgraves in her song Merry Go Round, she expresses the traditions and why people settle. In the long run, this makes them feel like they’re on an actual merry go round, except this one is broken. Musgraves writes about what might happen to some people when they stick to tradition and don’t become their own person, for instance becoming “hooked” on something. These certain fixations in her song are rebelling towards society by being “hooked on MaryKay”, “hooked on MaryJane”, and “hooked on Mary two doors down”. This song depicts all the little traditions that each person is supposed to follow like falling in love, getting married, having kids, and settling down.

The very first words in the song are: “If you aint got two kids by 21, you’re probably gonna die alone”. It doesn’t start out very happy, but it gets the point of the song across right away. This may seem a little extreme, but it shows the exaggeration in a hyperbole. Basically, if you don’t have kids right away then you are a failure in life and won’t have anything to show for it. It’s part of the American Dream and most everybody follows it. Whether it were to be 21, or 30, the majority of people still have kids whether their married or not. It’s something that can be created to carry on your blood and name. It’s the cycle of life, it just seems normal to follow it. Musgraves infers that if you don’t follow this cycle, you’re going to die alone because you won’t have your kids there with you. Even if someone were to have kids at a young age would not mean that it is always going to work out perfect and have them there all the time. Especially if they are a single parent which will make it hard to have a couple kids at a young age and all they will be doing is working. The exaggeration continues in this quote because 21 years old is the legal drinking age. If you were to have two kids before you were able to legally drink then you are not experiencing adolescence. Society must have high standards if this is the case. Musgraves uses this hyperbole to just express this fact even more.

The quote “We think the first times good enough so we hold on to high school love” and “We get bored, so we get married” suggests that we follow what society wants us to. We as Americans tend to settle and don’t want to look around for other options. It might be because we are lazy or because were scared of change, but in the long run this stereotype ends up hurting us. People will go their whole lives wondering “what if”? So many people cannot make a decision and society is so messed up it is either we think we fall in love in high school or we get married to the first serious relationship. People never will know if their so called true love is really the one they are in love with because they do not go out there find everything they like about someone and make sure they find the right person. Also it is so accustom to get married and not date around because somebody may get titled either a “whore” or a “slut” and it comes back on them because they dated different guys, but really they were just being smart and knew it was not going to work out. If people were to stop settling for the person they thought they loved in high school then there would not be as many divorces. Musgraves is pointing out the fact that we as Americans strive for the title of husband or wife and not for the true meaning of love.

This quote, “Just like dust, we settle in this town” uses an adjective to describe dust on settling in the town as the people because it gets laid down and no one is trying to improve their life and will always end up back in the same town that they grew up in, it is like their security blanket to fall back on. A lot of people end up staying in the same state that they grew up in because all that they know is there. Their parents, their friends, their schools, their reputation, and their whole lives are located in one place. This makes it scary to think about moving but, sometimes change is good. Musgraves is bold enough to point out the fact that the majority of Americans who think they are living their life, are not living to their full potential.

Overall, society has brain washed most Americans into believing that all they want is to settle down before they even get to really start living their lives to the full potential. Casey Musgraves understands this fact and is strong enough to express her opinion through her song. Hopefully this will get through to people whom have heard it.