Sure, maybe pop has Adele’s operatic tones to help stew over a divorce and Taylor Swift’s (we’re talking post-Red here) Oxford dictionary lyricism to remind one how ‘Bejeweled’ they are, but when it comes to breakup songs, the country genre always takes the rodeo. And if that statement has woken up the inner-keyboard warrior in you, it’s clearly been a minute since you’ve heard the boot-stomping, tight blonde curls, and sass belonging to many of these female country singers. After all, there’s a reason why Spotify has a whole Angry Breakup Country Mix playlist devoted to them getting their voices back via a good guitar riff.
However, then comes the other side of the coin in a country breakup. Those wistful, impactful melodies shine a giant spotlight on the dancefloor when a whisky-fueled two-step turns into collecting one’s things for a walk home. As much as we need bitterness, lonely storytelling usually heals the remaining scab of heartbreak. Luckily, three new country releases this past week helped us get there!
‘Still Gonna Miss You’
Starting with Colbie Caillat’s ‘Still Gonna Miss You.’ The first word of that title is a symbolic reference throughout the song, not only because it carries the guilt of falling out of love with someone romantically, but since it’s used a record 30 times, it represents the familial tenderness she has for them that is neverending. Whether it’s solely through friendship now or one of those acquaintance run-ins at the grocery store, she’ll still love him, just in a different way than they were used to. It’s for the newly separated. Those who haven’t posted their Instagram statements to let their family and friends know, perhaps even a part of themselves who reaches for them on their side of the bed as the first sun rays come through the morning blinds.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COLBIE CAILLAT:
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‘Give Her That’
Carrie Underwood’s voice has always been powerful. There’s the type of growl one emits before keying their ex’s car on ‘Before He Cheats’ and a calculative accent on ‘Undo It’ as she takes back her independence. However, when she’s lying in the wake of not feeling chosen anymore, it’s more complex and sorrowful.
Two things are beautiful about this track. The first is that despite her heartbreak, she doesn’t talk down on the third party; she addresses that she’s beautiful (“A CoverGirl face / Full of southern bell charm”), but she’s still in those icky sentiments of wanting it to be her, so as much as he tries, he’ll be unable to rewrite the time that they had together. Those months and years will be laced with her features. The other is that the second verse, in a perfectly crafted ode to Deja Vu stowed from tracks like Olivia Rodrigo’s, makes it seem like every act of winning this girl over is something from his dating rulebook—things he did previously for her.
The lyric visualizer adds to this, as the verses show romantic imagery that sweeps the entire frame. Still, when it comes back to the chorus, it’s through a tunneled vision. She still has those rose-colored (the color scheme for the video she perhaps deliberately chose) glasses for what could have been.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CARRIE UNDERWOOD:
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‘Interlude (Full Length)’
Kelsea Ballerini’s tune, an extended version of her original ‘Interlude,’ which sits as track four on the first iteration of Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, falls into that first bracket of country heartbreak. Nothing really changes at first. The lyrics stay the same until it switches about halfway through the first verse with “Am I right? ‘Cause hindsight says, “I was right.” It acts as a remark to the past self that initially wrote the track. It’s like when you find an old diary in a drawer. One of those lock-padded ones, and as you flip through the pages, you end up scribbling in the margins with those pearls of wisdom you wish you had then. But you have it now, and it’s scary to look back on that time and wonder if all of those old doubts you healed from will resurface.
“Kinda scary openin’ a wound that time had mended,” Kelsea even notes. “But everyone wanted the “Interlude” to be extended.” This song won’t appeal to everyone, but that’s the point because Kelsea originally didn’t intend to have either EP out in the world, merely going back to her best healing method in songwriting. So the lyrics are so intricate and rightfully her story, like “I hope you sleep better at night now that you got an army / Of people that believe I’m the word that you used to call me” and the implications of cheating with “I told you mine, so when location died, what was your secret?” But the toxicity of a dying relationship is a universal feeling.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT KELSEA BALLERINI:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
Hopefully, one of those country twangs is enough to heal your ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ (a hay-between-teeth classic by Billy Ray Cyrus, by the way!). But if it isn’t, you can listen to the rest of Kelsea’s Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good), which has a new addition in the tenderly awkward first date ode ‘How Do I Do This.’ As for Carrie and Colbie, the prior’s deluxe edition of her Denim & Rhinestones album comes out on September 22, and the latter’s Along the Way releases on October 6! Which one are you most looking forward to? Tweet us @thehoneypop.
Even outside of breakup territory, country radio (whether that comes in the form of a streaming platform like Spotify playlists or quite literally turning the car’s radio dial) is something that we listen to often here at The Honey POP, and you can track our favorites by clicking the follow button on our Facebook and Instagram accounts!
