Why Miranda Lambert Made ‘Actin’ Up’ the 1st Song on ‘Palomino’
Miranda Lambert released her ninth studio album Palomino in April 2022. The album is nominated for Best Country Album at the upcoming 2023 Grammy Awards. In an interview with Audacy, Lambert explained why she chose the song “Actin’ Up” to be the first song on the Palomino tracklist.
Miranda Lambert released an album called ‘Palomino’
Palomino was released on April 29, 2022. The album includes three songs from Lambert’s 2021 collaboration album with Jack Ingram and John Randall, The Marfa Tapes. The three songs from The Marfa Tapes that made it on to Palomino are “In His Arms,” “Geraldene,” and “Waxahachie.”
In total, Palomino has 15 tracks. The complete tracklist for Palomino can be viewed below.
Palomino tracklist:
- “Actin’ Up”
- “Scenes”
- “In His Arms”
- “Geraldene”
- “Tourist”
- “Music City Queen” (featuring The B-52’s)”
- “Strange”
- “Wandering Spirit”
- “I’ll Be Lovin’ You”
- “That’s What Makes the Jukebox Play”
- “Country Money”
- “If I Was a Cowboy”
- “Waxahachie”
- “Pursuit of Happiness”
- “Carousel”
‘Actin’ Up’ is the first song on Miranda Lambert’s album ‘Palomino’
“Actin’ Up” is the first song on the Palomino tracklist. In 2022, Lambert was interviewed by Audacy where she explained the background behind each track on the Palomino album.
Speaking with Audacy, Lambert revealed why she chose to have “Actin’ Up” kick-off Palomino.
“‘Actin’ Up’ felt right for the first song,” Lambert said in an interview with Audacy. “It sort of eases you into this journey. I thought, ‘Let’s get people in from like the first note, the first line of the song, especially the first line of a record, that’s important. You can lose people quick!'”
In addition to being the first song on the album’s tracklist, “Actin’ Up” is also a single on the album. The singer released a music video for “Actin’ Up” on April 7, 2022. In the music video, Lambert poses and walks through a desert landscape while the song plays.
“Miranda Lambert knows how to knock it out of the ball park with all her music. As a writer and singer,” one fan commented on the song’s music video.
Another fan commented on the music video, “There’s not a single female country artist that can hold a candle to Miranda every single time it’s amazing.”
One YouTube user commented, “This song rocks in the smoothest coolest way, like a creek on a warm summer day !! Miranda never disappoints!!”
What is ‘Actin’ Up’ about?
“Actin’ Up” is a country song with some blues influence. With the song, Lambert sings of doing things her own way instead of living by other people’s standards.
“Lookin’ for that lightning, when I find it then I rhyme it, actin’ up/ Little Lone Star Elvis gonna gеt a little selfish, shackin’ up/ With my microphone monеy, bought my own milk and honey/ Got my own kind of country, kinda funky, turn it up,” Lambert sings in one of the song’s verses.
Palomino is a concept album filled with multiple characters. Some of the songs from Palomino are part of the setlist of Lambert’s Las Vegas residency, Miranda Lambert: Velvet Rodeo The Las Vegas Residency. In an interview with Vulture, Lambert revealed that “Actin’ Up” is one of her favorite songs to perform.
“I love ‘Actin’ Up.’ I’ve had a great time with that one. I’m always testing the waters. I’m like, Are there too many new ones? Are people going to be over it?” Lambert told Vulture.
The singer added, “That’s one of those songs that people were singing before they knew it. Sometimes songs on the records just pop out on their own, without being a single or whatever. I usually come out with guns blazing, but “Actin’ Up” has this build, and it’s been fun to do that.”
