With the 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards fast approaching, we’ve all got our eyes on one of the hosts and favorite “all-American girls,” Carrie Underwood.
From the nervous girl auditioning for American Idol wearing acid-washed flare jeans, to the confident woman in knee high black boots ready to defend her faith or key your car, Carrie captivates us.
So, like all country-music fans, we took to the neural network to predict the lyrics of Carrie Underwood’s newest song—complete with three verses, a chorus, and an outro. It’s called “Whiskey Storm,” and it’s more relatable than you might think (especially if you’ve recently been left on your wedding day and the world is on fire).
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
It’s me at a wedding alone
Always hanging, you remember
The days were whiskey
You love now, better, and I’m scared
You lied, I tried, baby
I saw it coming, sing through, resist
[Chorus]
One country, one messed whiskey
Church thrills, shotgun world
It’s smokin here, baby
I matter but I’m feeling ashamed
You take money, pride
I take your Remington
[Verse 2]
I’m praying I’m fearless
Cupid’s the devil
You, is it even you, baby
Wanna stop ringing, spinnin round me as you’re turning
But heartbeat beware
‘Cause all I want is you (yeah)
[Verse 3]
I need tears and miles
Southbound, pretend you’re still gone
Every horizon holds a storm for sirens
You loved light and she’s no blue
She’s heaven
You like her mistakes
[Chorus]
[Outro]
It’s tough but it breaks me sometimes
Everything she is to you
We love Carrie Underwood songs because they’re relatable, spiritual, a little dramatic, and often tell a story. In “Whiskey Storm,” the bot picked up on quite a few key elements that make up a Carrie classic.
Memorable Lyrics:
“Cupid’s the devil.” If you’ve ever been in a nasty breakup, then you know this is true. Cue the Louisville Slugger and some headlights that need smashing.
“Every horizon holds a storm for sirens.” In Greek mythology, beautiful women, or sirens, sang to sailors, drawing them toward the rocky shores and drowning them. Carrie’s man left for her another beautiful woman, at which point the storm started. Carrie could be saying his decision will be his downfall.
“The days were whiskey.” Those good old golden days, drinking whiskey, not a care in the world. Not a bad metaphor for a bot.
“I’m praying I’m fearless.” Classic Carrie, a call to religion and hope. During the hard times we’re all hoping we’re stronger than we are.
“I need tears and miles.” Sometimes you just need to cry it out and put some miles between you and a bad relationship. Preach, Carrie. Preach.
Our Interpretation of “Whiskey Storm”
Let’s set the scene for the music video we’ll never see. Picture Carrie on her wedding day, alone, imagining the good old times when “the days were whiskey.” A dark storm is brewing. There are at least eight fans blowing her hair in every direction, and she’s crying remembering his lies (but still looking hot as ever).
But it’s unlike Carrie to stay on the ground crying about it. Cue the chorus with thunder and a bolt of lightning sending the church up in flames. Gone are those “church thrills,” replaced with a “smokin’ shotgun world.” He took the money, she takes the Remington. (Cue an outfit change with Carrie walking dead-center in the street, looking determined as destruction erupts around her).
Verse two starts, “I’m praying I’m fearless” (like “Jesus Takes the Wheel,” sometimes all that will get you through is a prayer). She’s vulnerable now. Wondering if it was really her lover that left her, the world spinning round in chaos, her heartbeat a constant reminder that despite it all, she still loves him.
Verse three is a cathartic road trip. Cry it out, drive a few hundred miles, wonder why he picked another woman over her, and accept that sometimes there’s not a happy ending (but at least she has a Remington. That has to count for something).
Methodology:
We took the lyrics from Carrie Underwood’s six studio albums (Some Hearts, Carnival Ride, Play On, Blown Away, Storyteller, and Cry Pretty), excluding verses sung by guest artists, and used them to train a recurrent neural network. The neural network produced hundreds of lines of music, which we then cleaned up and reformatted to make Carrie Underwood’s next song (as predicted by a bot).
“Whiskey Storm” may not be nominated for Song of the Year, but it didn’t completely miss the mark, either. Whether it’s your new favorite jam or you just love Carrie Underwood as much as we do, be sure to tune into the 2018 CMAs on DIRECTV (or choose a plan so you can get started watching).