Miranda Lambert Gives Jim Croce Classic a Warm Country Makeover
Miranda Lambert has found a surprisingly natural place for one of Jim Croce’s most beloved songs.
On her new album Crisco, Lambert turns her attention to “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song,” giving the 1973 Jim Croce classic a distinctly country treatment. The result fits comfortably alongside the album’s vintage influences, while allowing Lambert’s own voice and personality to come through.
Released October 2, Crisco marks a new chapter for the Texas native. The 12-track album was co-produced by Lambert and Jesse Frasure and explores a brighter, more dance-oriented side of country music, drawing on sounds associated with the 1960s and 1970s. The project was released through MCA.
Miranda Lambert Steps Into a Different Kind of Country
Lambert has built her career around songs that can move between heartbreak, grit, humor and traditional country storytelling. Crisco gives her room to bring those elements together in a more playful setting.
The album includes 12 songs, beginning with “Snakeskin Boots,” her collaboration with Ella Langley, and continuing through tracks such as “Cowgirl Curtsy,” “Two Things Can Be True,” “Cuttin’ Onions,” “Whiskey Business” and “Right Where We Left It.” The tracklist also includes “A Song To Sing,” Lambert’s collaboration with Chris Stapleton, before arriving at “I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song” as the album’s 11th track.
Lambert has described her approach to the record as an attempt to stop separating the different sides of country music. She wanted space for songs that make listeners think, songs that deal with heartbreak and songs that simply make people want to get up and dance.
That idea helps explain the unusual but cohesive mixture heard across Crisco. The album leans into a country-disco sound while retaining the twang and storytelling that have long been central to Lambert’s music. The Associated Press likewise described the project as a joyful pivot toward a country-disco fusion.
Lambert has also pointed to Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton among the artists who helped inspire the musical direction. That interest in an earlier era of country helps put her Croce cover into context.
Why Jim Croce’s Song Works So Well
At first glance, Jim Croce might seem like an unexpected choice for a Miranda Lambert country album. But “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” has always carried a warmth and simplicity that translate naturally into Lambert’s style.
Croce wrote the song himself, and it appeared on I Got a Name, his fifth and final studio album. The album was released in December 1973, after Croce died in a plane crash on September 20 of that year. “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” was subsequently released as a single in March 1974.
The song became Croce’s fifth and final Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 9. It also topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and reached No. 68 on the country chart, making it the only Croce song to appear on that country ranking.
More than five decades later, Lambert brings the song into a completely different musical setting without losing its emotional core.
Her version has the kind of twang that immediately places it inside the world of Crisco. Croce’s original was rooted in folk, folk rock and soft rock, but Lambert’s delivery gives the song a stronger country identity.
A Classic That Feels Surprisingly at Home in Lambert’s Catalog
Lambert has never been afraid to revisit songs from outside her immediate musical lane. Previous albums have included her versions of “Easy from Now On,” “That’s the Way That the World Goes ’Round,” “You Wouldn’t Know Me” and “Wandering Spirit.”
Her take on Croce’s song, however, feels especially well matched to her voice.
There is an intimacy to the material that makes the performance sound less like a detour and more like a song Lambert has carried with her for years. That is particularly striking given how different the song’s original setting was from the country-disco world of Crisco.
The album’s retro influences make the choice even more fitting. Lambert and Frasure drew inspiration from a broad stretch of country history, including the polished, orchestrated country sounds associated with artists such as Glen Campbell and the Nashville tradition represented by Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette.
That wider historical lens gives Lambert plenty of room to reinterpret a song that was never originally marketed as a country recording.
And rather than sounding out of place, “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” settles naturally into the album.
One of the Album’s Most Nostalgic Moments
There is something particularly appealing about hearing Lambert approach a song that is more than 50 years old while still making it sound like part of her own musical world.
The performance keeps the tenderness at the heart of Croce’s composition, but Lambert’s vocals bring a country edge that changes the character of the recording. It is familiar without feeling like a museum piece.
That balance is central to what makes Crisco interesting. The album looks backward for inspiration, but Lambert is not attempting to recreate the past exactly. Instead, she is using those older sounds as a foundation for something that feels current.
Her duet with Ella Langley, “Snakeskin Boots,” is another example of the album’s willingness to play with the boundaries between country and disco, while “A Song To Sing” with Chris Stapleton taps into the era’s tradition of memorable country duets. The full tracklist reinforces just how deliberately Lambert has built the album around different corners of country music.
Miranda Lambert’s Croce Cover Fits the Moment
For Lambert, Crisco represents a noticeable change in direction, but “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” shows that the shift does not require her to leave behind what listeners already know her for.
The song’s gentle storytelling, emotional directness and country-friendly melody give Lambert plenty of room to sound like herself. Her interpretation also makes sense within an album built around the idea that country music can hold many different moods and styles at once.
That may be the most satisfying part of the cover. Lambert has taken a familiar Jim Croce song, brought it into her own musical world and allowed it to sit naturally beside the album’s disco touches, vintage country influences and modern production.
For listeners drawn to the nostalgic side of Crisco, “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” stands out as one of the record’s most compelling moments. It connects Lambert’s present-day sound with a song that first appeared in 1973, creating a bridge between two very different eras of American music.
And after more than five decades, Jim Croce’s song still has plenty to say.
“I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song”
The original: