"Famous in a Small Town" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country music, country singer. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place ...

. It was released in April 2007 as the second single from her album ''

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' is an American romantic musical comedy-drama television series that premiered on October 12, 2015, on The CW and ran for four seasons, ending on April 5, 2019. The series was created, written, and directed by Rachel Bloo ...

''. It was Lambert's second Top 20 hit on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. It was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as ...

in 2008. The song was written by Lambert and Travis Howard. The song was ranked number 40 on Engine 145's ''50 Best Country Songs of 2007''.

Content

"Famous in a Small Town" has a moderately fast tempo in the key of

B major B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its enharmonic equi ...

. The main chord pattern is B2-E2/B-F/B. The narrator describes the simplicities of living in a small town, where everyone knows each other and no one needs to have their face in a magazine to be famous. Thus, everybody dies "famous in a small town."

Music video

A music video was released for the song, directed by

Trey Fanjoy Trey Fanjoy is an American music video director. Fanjoy has directed over 150 major label music videos. Her videos have appeared on CMT, VH1, GAC, The Nashville Network, CMT Canada, and MTV. She is the first woman to win the Country Music Ass ...

. The video features Lambert singing in a town square in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon ( ) is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metro ...

mixed with scenes from

Shelbyville, Tennessee Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Bedford County, Tennessee. The town was laid out in 1810 and incorporated in 1819. Shelbyville had a population of 20,335 at the 2010 census. The town is a hub of the Tennessee Wa ...

. The video's depicts people's everyday lives in a small town, including a diner and high school; all of these scenes are shot in black and white. One major part in the video is every person/event seen is taken as a magazine picture (ending with Lambert herself getting one taken). Lambert is also seen playing her guitar and singing on a red carpet with camera flashes, neon signs, and her band, to contrast with the small town image, and is shot in color rather than black and white. This is her second video to be shot in both black and white and in color, after "New Strings" in 2006. In Lambert's own words, "Famous in a Small Town is really, (really) how it was growing up in Lindale." The music video reached the top spot of CMT's ''Top Twenty Countdown'' for the week of August 16, 2007.

Chart performance

"Famous in a Small Town" debuted at number 54 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart for the week of April 7, 2007. After 33 weeks on the chart, it peaked at number 14 on November 17, 2007.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2007 singles 2007 songs Miranda Lambert songs Music videos directed by Trey Fanjoy Songs written by Miranda Lambert Columbia Nashville Records singles Song recordings produced by Frank Liddell Songs about fame