Justice For Leighton Meester's Country Music Era

Leighton Meester’s music is finally getting the love it deserves. Well, her pop songs, at least. Anyone who grew up in the late 2000s knows that along with serving salacious drama as Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl, Meester also had inescapably catchy bops as a pop star, like “Good Girls Go Bad” and “Somebody to Love.” But her true musical gems are actually hiding in another genre. For a brief, glorious moment, Meester was a country star. And honestly, a really good one!

Back in 2010, Meester embraced her Texas roots to transform into the up-and-coming country star Chiles Stanton in the musical movie Country Strong. The movie itself is just OK, but the soundtrack is another story. It’s packed with original country songs that are incredibly catchy and emotional, with Meester’s four tracks as definite standouts.

Personally, I’m a “Summer Girl” stan. Meester performs the bubbly, carefree country-pop song as Chiles’ introduction in the movie, which initially gets the character written off as a frivolous “country Barbie” by the more established singers. Clearly, they just don’t like fun, because listening to “Summer Girl” instantly evokes the feeling of driving to the beach with all your windows down on a perfect day.

Despite my own preferences, I will recognize “Words I Couldn’t Say” as Meester’s best song from the soundtrack. On the yearning breakup ballad, she leans into her twang more than ever. With a massive, building chorus and plucky guitar, it’s a torch song that could’ve fit in perfectly on Taylor Swift’s debut album.

In terms of vocal performance, Meester is most impressive on the tender, seductive duet “Give In To Me.” Her soft, romantic voice complements Garrett Hedlund’s deep, gravely tone in a uniquely satisfying way. This song is also built up as the centerpiece of Chiles’ story in the movie, so it comes with serious emotional payoff for fans.

Sadly, they can’t all be bangers. Meester’s cover of “A Little Bit Stronger” is a really good pump-up jam for anyone who needs some encouragement — the problem is, there’s a better version of the song out there. Sara Evans’ performance of “A Little Bit Stronger” is much more passionate, as she angrily belts the chorus that Meester doesn’t imbue as much emotion into.

Now that country music is so in vogue and fans of certain country divas are looking for new genre superstars to stan, it’s time for Chiles Stanton to reemerge from the Spotify nether-land. Hopefully Meester kept her cowboy hat, because a country comeback would be everything.