About the song
Background on Miranda Lambert’s “All Kinds of Kinds”
- Released in June 2013, it was the fifth and final single from her album “Four the Record.”
- The song wasn’t expected to be a single due to its unique style for country music.
- It reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart but wasn’t a major commercial hit.
Themes in “All Kinds of Kinds”
- Acceptance and Tolerance: The core message is celebrating individuality and embracing people despite their quirks or differences.
- Diversity: The lyrics feature a cast of unconventional characters, a “dog-faced boy,” a “cross-dressing congressman,” and a “can’t-help-herself pharmacist.”
- Looking Inward: The song challenges judgment and encourages self-reflection. It suggests everyone has something to hide and that diversity is what keeps the world going.
- Humor: The quirky characters and Lambert’s delivery add a layer of humor to the message of acceptance.
Video
Lyrics
Elsa was an acrobatWho went and fell in love with thatHoratio, the human cannonball
A wedding beneath the big top tentWith barkers, clowns, and elephantsSideshow and the oddities and all
The dogface boyHowled out with joyAs the tattooed lady was cryin’
Ever since the beginningTo keep the world spinningIt takes all kinds of kinds
Thomas was a congressmanWhose closet’s full of skeletonsAnd dresses that he wore on Friday nights
Phyllis was a pharmacistA dap of that a pinch of thisConcocted to suppress her appetite
When the children were fiddlin’She’d slip them some RitalinAnd wait for Thomasina to arrive
‘Cause ever since the beginningTo keep the world spinningIt takes all kinds of kinds (All kinds of kinds)All kinds of kinds
When I play this old guitarAt children’s shows to smoky barsI take a break and think about the past
When I stood up in geometryAnd everybody stared at meAnd I tossed my test into the trash
I scratched off my numberWhile hitching out underThat Bushly population sign
Ever since the beginningTo keep the world spinningIt takes all kinds of kinds
But some point the fingerLet ignorance lingerIf they’d look in a mirror they’d find
That ever since the beginningTo keep the world spinningIt takes all kinds of kinds (All kinds of kinds)All kinds of kinds (All kinds of kinds)All kinds of kinds
Yeah yeah
Oh yeah