MaRynn Taylor is pulling back the curtain on beauty, insecurity, and self-worth in her new single “Pretty Much.” With lyrics that trace her journey from a 13-year-old staring at magazine covers to a young woman reckoning with impossible standards, Taylor’s song is both a confessional and a rally cry. Vulnerable and unflinching, “Pretty Much” captures the pressure of chasing “pretty” while encouraging listeners to find beauty in themselves.
“Pretty Much” is from Taylor‘s debut album MaRynn, which will be available Friday, August 22. The Michigan native spent much of the last year on tour with Kelsea Ballerini – an experience that inspired her to write her debut album. A conversation with a fan during a meet & greet sparked the lyrics for “Pretty Much.” At first, Taylor didn’t understand the fan’s compliment. But then she did.
Taylor recalled: “She said, ‘When you came out on stage, and I saw the way your body looked, it made me feel better about my summer body.”
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MaRynn Taylor: ” I Don’t Have the Perfect Body”
The comment made Taylor self-conscious. She later ate a hot dog in her dressing room and felt better. The more she thought about the conversation, her thought process shifted, and she decided that maybe it was a good thing that she isn’t a size 0. She’s not trying to be whatever size society considers most desirable.
“I don’t have the perfect body at all,” she said. “I still choose to wear what I want to wear, and I still choose to move my body how I want to move my body. But I still struggle with how I look at myself and how others look at me. And I feel like society puts that pressure on women constantly.”
Taylor explained that there is a new makeup kit every day, targeted as a must-have for women. There are just as many new workout fads to sculpt a tiny waist, firm thighs, and a perky butt. She said the pressure is harmful and unnecessary.
“It’s been passed down through generations of how we’re supposed to feel and how we’re supposed to look,” she said. “It’s just freaking impossible. So, I had this title on my phone.”
She pitched the idea to songwriters Josh Kerr and Dan Wilson – two married fathers with little girls.
MaRynn Taylor and Songwriters Tackled Societal Pressure
“I was just complaining to them about how I feel, and how I think other women feel about not feeling pretty enough,” she said. “They were so knowledgeable about it, too. They’re like, ‘It’s just not fair, the pressure and the weight that gets put on women, on their bodies, on just the way they look, the way they act, all of it.’”
So, they wrote a song about it.
Lyrics include: Pretty much since the beginning/ Pretty much just wanted to be pretty/But the bar was set so high/For a small-town girl with stars in her eyes/I spent a bunch of money tryna drop a few inches/ So I can look like the girls on Pinterest/Pretty much don’t feel like еnough/ I wish that I did, but I don’t feel pretty much
The above lyrics are the chorus. The first lines of “Pretty Much” are: I remember standin’ in the grocery line/Starin’ at the magazines/Wonderin’ if I’d ever see a girl like that lookin’ back at me
Taylor remembers standing in line in Meijer as a child, seeing the magazine cover, and wanting to look like the girls on the front of it.
“God Created You to Be Uniquely Beautiful”
“You grow up and there’s a body type you strive to be,” she said. “It’s not the way God created you, and God created you to be uniquely beautiful.”
Six years after moving to Nashville, Taylor is seeing her childhood ambitions realized with the release of her self-titled debut album, MaRynn. Produced by Josh Kerr, the 12-song collection echoes a fearless contemporary coming-of-age story. The young woman bridges the growing pains between teenage sass and independent womanhood with memorable melodies, breathtaking vulnerability, and elegant vocals.
“This album is just who I am,” Taylor said. “I want listeners to be like, ‘Dang, I could be friends with her. I relate to her. I’m building this thing from the ground up. I want people to feel at home with me, which is how I felt with all the artists I looked up to growing up.”
MaRynn will be available on Friday, August 22. “Pretty Much” is out now.
Photo Courtesy of MaRynn Taylor
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