Blake Shelton Previews New Duet With Miranda Lambert, ‘Red River Blue’

The title track from Blake Shelton's new album is a sensitive and emotional number, something we are not used to from the wisecracking Shelton. But it's a side of him that we offer two thumbs up to, especially since it's a duet with his wife, Miranda Lambert.

The song was previewed on Country Weekly today, and Shelton sings about the "woman I love" being on the other side. The women he does love in real life is indeed featured on the song. Shelton sings the verses and Lambert comes in on the choruses, making a painfully pretty song even prettier. It's one of the most heartwrenching, fractured love songs we've heard come down the pike in quite some time. When they sing, "Tears in my eyes / She said goodbye / And now I'm red river blue," we're reaching for the Kleenex.

In an accompanying video, Shelton talks about being given the song by a songwriter years ago and takes us through the genesis of the tune becoming the title track on his new album, out July 12. While he fell in love with it when he first heard it, it sat on the backburner -- and with good reason. "I didn't know where it would fit, album-wise, with the last two projects I did," Shelton admitted. But that didn't stop him and his lucky lady from listening to the demo in their car, singing along to it. "When I decided to cut it, I knew it would be with Miranda," Shelton said.

In fact, the song was practically written for the couple. It's obvious from the lyrics about an Oklahoma boy and Texas girl, which is biographical information about Shelton and Lambert. Shelton said it was penned for them, after the "few times when we broke up for like a week, way back in the day. It's about a relationship falling apart and he has to take the blame. Miranda and I have lived that song a bunch of times. It is very special. I could not think of a better title."

Listen to 'Red River Blue'