The title track from Kacey Musgraves’s second studio album, Pageant Material, uses the idea of pageant competitions to humorously recall experiences her growing up in the South (Golden, Texas), not fitting in with the how young Southern girls were expected to act. In a more literal interpretation, it also connects to her early days on stage looking like a “dime store cowgirl” in a kids' band, encountering stage moms and their spotlight-groomed children.
Lessons Learned
Always do you
It's always better to loose for what you really are, than win for what you're not.
Opinions aren't facts
During the pageantry, the contestants are rated on a scale of "0.00-10.0", but whose to say you're a 4.0 or a 9.0 if they don't really know you.
Self expression really matters
Most girls smile an hug when they're called out as runner ups, but they're wearing the smiles when the smile is not really what they're felling
And finally "Life ain't always roses and pantyhose"