Automatic

Album: Platinum (2014)
Charted: 35
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The first single from Miranda Lambert's fifth album finds the singer giving fans a glimpse of her past. The Lindale, Texas, native co-wrote the autobiographical song with Nicolle Galyon ("We Were Us") and Natalie Hemby ("White Liar"). "'Automatic' is a song about the good life," Lambert said. "It's about slowing down, taking a breath and remembering what it's like to live life a little more simply. It's not about going back, but reminiscing about what it was like to hang laundry on the line and wait for it to dry and my dad teaching me how to drive my '55 Chevy that I still have but don't drive nearly enough."

    She added, "The song brings back good memories and it reminds me to take a deep breath and to remember that getting there is half the fun."
  • This won Single of the Year at the 2014 CMA Awards. Lambert also won Album of the Year (for Automatic), Female of the Year and Musical Event Of The Year (for her "We Were Us" collaboration with Keith Urban) at the same ceremony.
  • This won Song of the Year at the 2015 ACM Awards. Lambert won with co-writers Nicolle Galyon and Natalie Hemby and after taking the stage, Hemby told her, "I hope I can be your Dean Dillon, 'cause you're my George Strait."

    Lambert took home four trophies in total from the ceremony, the others being Female Vocalist of the Year (for the sixth year in a row), Album of the Year for Platinum plus a Milestone Award.
  • The songwriters came up with the "Automatic" title first before writing the rest of the tune. Natalie Hemby recalled to The Boot:

    "You know, any time I would write with Miranda, because I would only see her for a few days, I would always be like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm gonna stockpile ideas and get ready' because I'd only have a few moments with her.

    Nicolle Galyon and I, we were going to be writing with her, and she was like, 'I've gotta call it "Automatic,"' and I was like, 'Ah, that's a really cool title!' We kind of came up with just a tad bit of a melody, but, as usual, Miranda is great about jumping in on a song and, lyrically, just totally going for it and throwing out all the great lines.

    We were writing in her condo in downtown Nashville that day, and we were just being kind of nostalgic about stuff, but really we started talking about her old truck … I had never driven a stick shift, so I had no idea what she was talking about, but we were talking about that, and we were talking about all kind of stuff - how you used to have to have a map before you could go anywhere. So we started writing from this perspective."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"They're Playing My Song

The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)Songwriter Interviews

The co-writer/guitarist on many Alice Cooper hits, Dick was also Lou Reed's axeman on the Rock n' Roll Animal album.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Billy Joe Shaver

Billy Joe ShaverSongwriter Interviews

The outlaw country icon talks about the spiritual element of his songwriting and his Bob Dylan mention.