Ashley McBryde Concludes Revenge Saga in ‘Hang in There Girl’ Video
With “Hang in There Girl,” Ashley McBryde concludes the felonious video trilogy she began with “One Night Standards” then followed with “Martha Divine.” The latest installment adds a few twists and turns including a mysterious coda that suggests there may be more to the tale (spoilers ahead).
A fist-pumping, crunchy-rock anthem of solidarity, “Hang in There Girl” finds McBryde empathizing with the song’s 15-year-old subject, who is “barely hangin’ on” in a trailer park on the other side of town. The chorus repeats the title phrase three times, followed by “it’ll be alright,” but for its simplicity the message is clear: McBryde can relate and wants to offer comfort and encouragement.
As for the video storyline, McBryde continues her role as a motel desk clerk who alerts her friend to the exploits of her philandering father and one “Martha Divine” in room 108. In the previous installments, the cheaters incurred the young woman’s wrath as she burst into the room brandishing a shovel, but while her dad got away, the Martha character was next seen wrapped up and dumped into the trunk of a yellow Plymouth.
With McBryde riding shotgun, the car is driven to a salvage yard and crushed, but Martha Divine doesn’t end up buried alive, as the lyrics to that song suggest — instead, she’s left in the woods without her shoes, and the hotel ledger with her name is buried. But there’s one more surprise in store, as a mystery man enters the scene with a small duffel bag and uncovers the ledger. Who he is, and why he took the ledger, remain to be seen, but it seems possible that the answer may be revealed in a future video.
The reigning CMA New Artist of the Year, McBryde launches her headlining One Night Standards Tour tomorrow, January 30th, in Birmingham, Alabama. Her new album, Never Will, is out April 3rd.