As if “tomatogate” and a recent survey that stated country music fans want more female voices on the radio dial weren’t enough, something happened this week at Country Radio Seminar that should test the mettle of every single radio programmer across the country. Capitol Nashville Records own Mickey Guyton performed what just might have been the most important, poignant and powerful song of 2020. The piano-ballad “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” brought the entire Ryman Auditorium of 2,400+ programmers to their feet. It was transcendent, inspirational, honest, transparent and spoken from a place of experience. Now what they do with such a powerhouse song will speak volumes.
Guyton poetically called out the gender (and racial) injustices going on in country music and beyond with lyrical brilliancy. In this age of #MeToo, it’s as important as a song that’s been released since Kacey Musgraves “Follow Your Arrow” or Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)”. Anyone with a daughter, niece or granddaughter has to be hit directly in the gut. “She thinks love is love / And if you work hard, that’s enough / Skin’s just skin and it doesn’t matter” Guyton sings. “And her friend’s older brother’s gonna keep his hands to himself / And somebody’s gonna believe her when she tells/ But what are you gonnna tell her when she’s wrong / Will you just shrug and say it’s been that way all along?”
Guyton tweeted, “For the longest time, women in country music were told to keep our mouths shut and focus on the positive. But what was so hard about that was there was no positive. We have been given no other option. Until I started opening my mouth. Our truth is our option. Rise up.”
“The tipping point for me was when a Filipino girl reached out to me on Instagram informing me that she got accepted to Belmont and was going to move to Nashville. She asked me what she had to look forward to in her journey, and I had nothing good to tell her. That was a heartbreaking reality. I realized that women cannot do whatever they put their mind to because the world won’t allow it. And that needs to change now. So this song came from that realization.”
Guyton charted a couple mid-level singles back in 2015 and 2016 with “Better Than You Left Me” and “Heartbreak Song”, but this new track should (and better) change all of that.
Don’t believe me? Here’s what the rest of the “country-verse” is saying about the new single.
Variety.com’s Chris Willman- “It addresses the elephant in country radio’s room in a way that could be slightly uncomfortable, by addressing the prejudices, roadblocks and danger women face. It’s also exquisitely sung, moving and brilliant. Could it be a CMA or GRAMMY song of the year contender and airplay No.1, too? Who knows? It was, at least, the No. 1 song of Country Radio Seminar.”
RealCountry TV’s Ashley Eicher – “One of the most important songs I’ve ever heard. You need to hear this song NOW. And country radio needs to play the heck out of it.”
SongData’s Jada Watson – “Mickey Guyton deserves a No.1 and so much more. Expecting historic adds and major spins on “What Are You Gonna Tell Her.”
American Songwriter and Billboard's Marissa Moss – “Went to CRS and tried to make sense of it all: the data, the empty promises, the panels, the good stuff, the alarming stuff, the hope. Left with this lingering question, via Mickey Guyton: what are you gonna tell her when she’s wrong?”
Country Universe – “Mickey did not pull her punch with this. Country music is so lucky to have her in its fold and she is here to fight the good fight with purpose and real talent.”
Listen for yourself. And then call radio station and make a request...
I would like for them to mention the songwriters of this song!!! All too often the writers are not mentioned anymore
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