What is the story of Natalie Hemby's verse in "Highwomen"?

October 28, 2019 7:20 PM

Verse 4 of "Highwomen" (by The Highwomen) is sung by Natalie Hemby. I understand the references in the other verses, but I am not sure what incident or historical person(s) this verse is about.

These are the lyrics:
I was a preacher
My heart broke for all the world
But teaching was unrighteous for a girl
In the summer, I was baptized in the mighty Colorado
In the winter, I heard the hounds and I knew I had been found
And in my Savior's name, I laid my weapons down
But I am still around


Knowledge and speculation both welcome.

posted by Emmy Rae to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

This may not be about a specific person or event. According to Genius Lyrics, this verse is intended to echo that "Waylon Jenning’s character was a dam builder who was killed while working on the Colorado River. Natalie Hemby’s (preacher) character sealed her fate of persecution in the same river."
posted by beaning at 7:30 PM on October 28, 2019

The specific phrase "the mighty Colorado" is an exact quote from the 1970s version, which I'm sure was put in to link the two songs. Otherwise, the verse is about a woman who becomes a preacher and is treated as a heretic, which frankly describes a lot more religious groups in American history than it leaves out.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 9:49 PM on October 28, 2019

It might be an amalgam of various mythical/historical female figures: Mary Magdalen (the preaching), Jezebel (the hounds) and Joan of Arc (the weapons) come to mind.
posted by rjs at 11:34 PM on October 28, 2019

Someone asked on twitter, and got a response from Brandi Carlile that the preacher in the song was a "hybrid of several women." It's embedded about halfway in his article about the topic: "'Teaching was unrighteous for a girl': The History of Violence Against Women Preachers".
posted by neda at 3:17 AM on October 29, 2019