The Bleak Real-Life Inspiration Behind “Miss America” by Brandon Flowers

Brandon Flowers‘ third solo album, the country-tinged Thrasher, has been called his most personal yet, and that’s apparent in the lyrics throughout. “These are life songs, not love songs,” he said of the album, which is packed with narrative and confessional songwriting.

One of the most harrowing tracks is the somber “Miss America.” Here, Flowers isn’t speaking of his own experience but rather that of someone close to him—one of his four older sisters.

Flowers’ family moved from Las Vegas to a small town in Utah in 1989, when he was just eight years old and his sister was 22, presenting her with a chance to escape her abusive marriage with her three daughters.

“You want to do justice to her experience,” Flowers explained, before sharing that his sister approved of the song.

And while “Miss America” may be her story, some listeners will see themselves in it.

“Miss America” and Domestic Violence

In “Miss America,” Flowers sings from the perspective of his sister. The song opens with her writing a letter to her abusive husband, explaining that she’s left him and is with her family in Utah.

I’m writing you this letter
If you ain’t figured out
We’re up in Utah now
At my parents’ house

In the second verse, she talks about their daughters, as well as her family’s hope that she’ll one day have a son—but not with him. She also alludes to her family witnessing his violence towards her, including a mention of her “little brother,” presumably Flowers himself.

The girls are doing fine
Grandma’s pride and joy
She wants to know when I’m gonna
Give her a little boy
Dad says he sure hopеs
It doesn’t come from you
On account of all this hell
That you put mе through
Last time he saw proof
It ended up in blood
My little brother watched
My mama cleaned it up

In the chorus, she looks back at when their relationship was good and how it’s been affected by her husband’s drug use.

And you used to call me Miss America
Before you got hooked on speed
How much longer will it take ’til we’re enough?
To be the only thing you need?

In the third verse, she acknowledges the damage he’s done to others, including his own sister. She dreams about finding someone new, someone who will treat her the way she deserves.

Your sister, she don’t blame me
For being scared of you
I know you did things to her
A brother shouldn’t do
Or all guys like this
You make it hurt so much
A girl that ought to be handled
With a gentle touch
Maybe I’ll go and get me
A Mormon boy
One who treats me like a queen

As the song nears its end, Flowers sings of the way the woman has been sexualized since was a child and how that impacted her self-worth.

You know the messed up thing
If the truth be told
Grown men have noticed me since I was 12 years old
It always made me feel like some kind of prize
I guess I saw my worth through their porno eye

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