Brittany Howard’s “Goat Head” Lyrics Meaning
Brittany Howard is biracial, i.e. the child of a Black father and White mother. And being born in the late 1980s, she grew up in a part of rural Alabama which was a bit behind the times as far as such unions are concerned. That is to say that as a result of her parents’ marital choices, the family regularly experienced racism.
In fact you may notice that this song starts off sort of along a more-innocent note, pointing out that “tomatoes are green” and “cotton is white”. That is because when Howard first began writing the tune, it was intended to be one harping back to her childhood in general.
But considering that, once again, racism was part and parcel of her upbringing or at least most-powerful memories from her youth, that reality wound up being incorporated into the lyrics also. And yes, as the title implies one of those incidents did literally involve a goat head.
This is what happened
What actually transpired is that some racists apparently put a severed goat’s head into the backseat of her dad’s car, in addition to slashing his tires. And based on the second stanza of the song Brittany was clearly under the impression, from her young age even ’til now, that such had something to do with her very existence.
In other words, some of the residents of her ‘hood were totally against the idea, even beyond biracial marriage, of biracial children.
What this whole situation resulted in for Brittany Howard is realizing is that she is in fact Black. Or looked at another way, the option of say identifying herself as White, i.e. staking claim to her mother’s ancestry, was thrown out the window after that incident. For it made her realize that those around did in fact perceive her as being Black – or something like that.
Honestly the way the situation reads is that it was a bit too much for her young mind to process. The singer comes off as being a tad confused as to why those people would spaz out in the first place considering that, like them, she possesses White blood. And this is an issue that many biracial children in the United States have been known to face, i.e. an identity crisis.
The trauma caused by the “goat head”
And we can also safely presume, as warm-blooded human beings ourselves, that the whole “goat head” incident traumatized her. Such an experience is one that a person is not likely to forget, as evident by the presence of this song.
And the primary sentiment being relayed in the lyrics themselves isn’t that the singer suffered any type of personal or even emotional devastation as a result. Rather it’s more like she feels it may have been her fault that it all transpired in the first place, i.e. her parents having to perpetually deal with racism.
And yes, such a naïve thought process is the type that would develop in the mind of a child. Or put another way, if the same thing had happened to her as an adult, Brittany would be able to handle things much better. As an adult, she would be experienced and knowledgeable enough to know that the blame lies squarely on the racists, not the victims of the racism.
But apparently that does not make the pill of indirectly causing her family such discomfort, abuse even, any less difficult to swallow, at least not from a remembrance standpoint.
And logically one of the reasons this song was so well-received in the era in which it was dropped (i.e. the late 2020s) is because at the time America is confronting many of those long-standing racial issues.
Facts about “Goat Head”
This track is from an album entitled “Jaime” (named after the singer’s late sister). It is Brittany Howard’s debut solo album, although she has been professionally active since 2009.
Howard made a name for herself serving as the lead singer as well as guitarist for a band known as Alabama Shakes. And she was in fact born in Alabama, growing up in a city called Athens. And prior to becoming a musician, she was employed by the US Postal Service.
Concurrently Howard also serves as the lead singer of a couple of other musical acts, Thunderbitch and the Bermuda Triangle Band.
“Goat Head” came out on 20 September 2019, via ATO Records, as part of the aforementioned project. The track went on to be nominated for the 2021 Best R&B Performance Grammy Award. And this was despite the fact that it apparently has never been released as a single.
The three official singles that were issued from “Jaime” are “History Repeats”, “Stay High” and “He Loves Me”. And just to note, “History Repeats” earned Howard a couple of Grammy nominations in 2020.
Altogether the album garnered her an additional five 2021 Grammy nominations.
And for the record, Brittany has taken home a number of Grammys in the past as lead singer of Alabama Shakes. These include the following:
- “Always Alright” (Best Rock Performance)
- “Don’t Wanna Fight” (Best Rock Song)
- “Sound & Color” (Best Alternative Music Album)
- “Killer Diller Blues” (Best American Root Performance)
Brittany Howard also dropped a remix of “Goat Head” featuring Earthgang, a pair of Dreamville rappers from Atlanta, Georgia.
Howard is an out-of-the-closet lesbian. In fact she married one of her female bandmates from Bermuda Triangle Band named Jesse Lafser in 2018. However, the pair promptly divorced in 2020.
Did “Goat Head” win a Grammy?
No. This song was nominated for a Grammy. It along with four others contested for the “Best R&B Performance”. The award was eventually won by Beyoncé’s “Black Parade“.
