Music Review: Mary Lambert "Secrets"

Mary Lambert

Secrets

Album: Heart On My Sleeve

Year: 2014

               Mary Lambert is unapologetic about her issues in the  plain-spoken                “Secrets.”

                 In the intro, over an affable guitar  she says “game face” and laughs, setting an easeful tone.

                She reveals that she suffers from manic depression. She has no idea what she’s doing from one day to the next. She admits she could lose some pounds and doesn’t pay attention to the time. She’s opinionated and isn’t into fashion. High-waisted jeans are for her and she has a jewelry box full of earrings featuring different types of cats. She divugles her emotions to the anyone who’s willing to listen. Her family argues with each other all the time. It happens every holiday. By the time, her mother is cutting the pie, no one is speaking to each other. Then, the next day they will call each other to see how they are doing.  (“I've got bi-polar disorder/My shit's not in order/I'm overweight/I'm always late/I've got too many things to say/I rock mom jeans/Cat earrings/Extrapolate my feelings/My family is dysfunctional/But we have a good time killing each other.”)

         In the pre-chorus, she says children are taught to be ashamed of any perceived negative quality, such as being shy. For most of her teenage years, she dieted constantly, wore ill-fitting clothes and toned herself down. But she can’t do it anymore. (“They tell us from the time we're young/To hide the things that we don't like about ourselves/Inside ourselves/I know I'm not the only one/Who spent so long attempting to be someone else/
Well, I'm over it.”)

                In the chorus, she is going to be who she is. If other people don’t like it, it’s their problem. She’s making it her issue anymore. (“I don't care if the world knows what my secrets are/Secrets are/ I don't care if the world knows what my secrets are/Secrets are/ So, what?/ So, what?/ So, what?/ So, what?”)

                She says she’s a lesbian and she’s really emotional. She’s not into technology and stil uses an old alarm clock to wake herself up. She’s hyper and likes to talk to a lot. She likes to get her digs in with people without actually mentioning them. Nighttime frightens her. Also, going to the dentist freaks her out. She sees the tools and her anxiety level goes up. She’s proud of her butt and admits she’s immature. (“I can't think straight/
I'm so gay/Sometimes I cry a whole day//I care a lot/Use an analog clock/And never know when to stop/And I'm passive aggressive/I'm scared of the dark and the dentist/I love my butt and won't shut up and never really grew up.”)

            The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

             In the bridge, she lets out a brilliant operatic “oh” over the   

            An extended chorus is sung to end the single. (““I don't care if the world knows what my secrets are.. So, what?/ So, what?/ So, what?/ So, what?/ So, what?/ So, what?/ So, what?/ So, what?”)

                Lambert’s blunt vocals are perfectly content with her life. She wouldn’t want to relieve her teen years for anything, though. Now, she’s comfortable in her skin. It was exhausting trying to live up some idea she couldn’t even reach. It’s notable that she outright says she’s a lesbian and she can still get played on the radio.

             Like Adele and Meghan Trainor, Lambert is giving the average/plus-sized woman a voice and chipping away slowly (at least it’s happening) at pop star-supermodel image. For it to be mainstream, it signals an important change: the average/plus-sized women is also beautiful and worthy of  being treated like a person.

             The refreshing “Secrets” tells it like it is while being tactful.