"Kerosene" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. 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 o ...

. It was released in September 2005 as the third single and title-track to her debut album of the same name. It reached number 15 on the Hot Country Songs chart, Lambert's first Top 20 country hit. It also peaked at number 61 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The working title of the song was "Kerosene (Love's Givin' Up on Me)". The accompanying music video for the song was 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 A ...

. The song was Lambert's first to be certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

by the RIAA on March 6, 2006. It also gave Lambert her first Grammy nomination for

Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes: *From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female *In 1 ...

Content

"Kerosene" is an up-tempo song in the key of

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

that is backed with electric guitar and harmonica. The narrator, who is being cheated on by her boyfriend, expresses her being through with love; "I'm giving up on love / 'Cause love's giving up on me". Instead of letting him off easy, she takes revenge by burning down his house after soaking it in

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

fuel to ease the pain. Although Lambert was technically the sole writer of "Kerosene," she gave co-writer's credit to

alt-country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

singer Steve Earle after others noted a similarity to his song "I Feel Alright." She stated in an interview that she had inadvertently duplicated the melody and structure, saying: "I didn't purposefully plagiarize his song -- but unconsciously, I copied it almost exactly. I guess I'd listened to it so much that I just kind of had it in there."

Music video

A music video was released for the song, directed by

. In the video, Lambert carries a tin of kerosene, letting it spill out leaving a trail as she walks through the countryside. After she finds her boyfriend cheating on her in a bed in the middle of a road, she lights a match and lets fire to the kerosene. The flame burns all the way back to her boyfriend's house and sets fire to it. The music video reached the top spot of CMT's ''Top Twenty Countdown'' for the week of March 2, 2006. It was also featured on CMT's 100 Greatest Videos, where it was ranked at number 78.

Critical reception

'' Billboard'' and '' Paste'' ranked the song number nine and number eight, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Miranda Lambert songs.

Chart performance

"Kerosene" debuted at number 50 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart for the week of October 15, 2005. After twenty-two weeks on the chart, it peaked at number 15 on March 11, 2006.

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2005 singles 2005 songs Miranda Lambert songs Epic Records singles Music videos directed by Trey Fanjoy Song recordings produced by Frank Liddell Songs written by Steve Earle Songs written by Miranda Lambert