Kacey Musgraves’ “Good Wife” Lyrics Meaning

For starters, Kacey Musgraves is not actually married as of the release of “Good Wife”.  Unfortunately she got divorced from her husband of four years, Ruston Kelly, about a year before its dropping. 

However, the songstress has seemingly implied that she wrote this piece while the two of them were still together, which is how the lyrics read, i.e. the vocalist being a married woman. And considering that it was obviously a troubled relationship, that is why she is putting forth the desire to receive ‘help being a good wife’.

And if this song is in fact based on Kacey’s marriage with Ruston, well, the implication would be that she did the best she could in terms of keeping it intact. To some extent, it can be said that there is no overt indication, as presented in the lyrics, that this is a relationship with any type of issues. Rather as depicted the vocalist, as stated earlier, is going out of her way, or let’s say is paying attention to the minute details, in the name of making her husband content.

But mature minds may also be able ascertain that the fact she’s so preoccupied with “be(ing) a good wife” would probably be because her husband has proven hard to please. Indeed the chorus indicates that sometimes “he’s not right”. And that phrase, within the grand scheme of the lyrics, we will take to mean that sometimes he can be difficult to deal with. 

However Kacey is able to perceive that ‘he still needs her’ nonetheless. Therefore, her primary concern is obviously trying to make the best of the situation as opposed to, say bouncing.

Thesis Sentiment of “Good Wife”

And that brings us once again to the thesis sentiment, i.e. her desire to “be a good wife”. And conclusively what the situation reads like, also taking Musgraves’ own explanation of the song into consideration, is that despite doing the best she can, the vocalist’s husband still isn’t satisfied. 

So that is why she is crying out to the heavens, if you will, to send her “help” in that regard. And at the end of the day, it can be said her biggest wish in life is to make her spouse happy.

“Good Wife”, “Star-Crossed” and Kacey Musgraves

This track is from Star-Crossed, the Kacey Musgraves’ LP that came out via Interscope Records and MCA Nashville on 10 September 2021. 

This is the first studio album that Musgraves, who specializes in country music, has dropped since 2018’s Golden Hour, an undertaking that topped a couple of US Billboard listings (Folk Albums and Top Country Albums) as well as the UK Country Albums Chart, in addition to reaching number 4 on the Billboard 200.

Kacey Musgraves was born and raised in Texas and, being born in 1988, has a discography dating back to the year 2000, i.e. when she would have been 12 years old. 

She is acknowledged as one of the writers and producers of “Good Wife” alongside Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk, both of whom worked with Musgraves on her aforementioned Golden Hour project.

Kacey Musgraves & Ruston Kelly

As with Kacey Musgraves, Ruston Kelly is a singer who specializes in country music. The two of them are agemates, both being born in 1988. And they first met in Nashville, i.e. the center of American country music, in early 2016. 

Their relationship actually began more along professional lines. But by the end of 2016, Kelly and Musgraves were engaged. They even did go on to actually marry about a year later, in late 2017. However, by the time mid-2020 rolled around, Kacey and Ruston were filing for divorce, which within a few months’ time was expeditiously finalized.

During that period, representatives for both parties released a joint statement announcing the divorce and explaining what went wrong in the relationship. And as explained, breaking up was a ‘painful yet healthy decision’ that Musgraves and Kelly made “together”. According to them, they ‘tried the best they could’, but at the end of the day “it simply… didn’t work”. 

There was “no blame, anger or contempt” levied against either party, and the plan for the pair to remain friends, considering how they “both changed each other infinitely for the better” and felt as if they “were put into each other’s lives for a divine reason”. 

However, if “Good Wife” as well as the entirety of Star-Crossed, as speculated, is about said marriage, then obviously Kacey’s feelings about the union has changed since then.