Kelsea Ballerini Looks Back on Young Love in New Song, ‘High School’ [Listen]
Kelsea Ballerini is taking her fans back to "High School" in a new song she's previewing in advance of her second album, Unapologetically.
Ballerini has been performing the song at her live shows for a while now, and she's shared an acoustic performance of "High School" with fans via YouTube. Check it out in the video above.
"High School" tells the story of two people who had a relationship in school, but begin to grow apart because he can't move on from his younger, wilder days, while she has “traded in prom queen for a big-city dream / And a slate that’s clean.”
“This ain’t high school / Where all you care about is if the pretty cheerleader thinks you’re cool / 'Cause it’s five years later, and you can’t get off of the elevator / That’s going up, ’cause you’re growing up / And the world gets cruel when you're still living in high schoool." Ballerini sings.
Everything You Need to Know About Kelsea Ballerini's Unapologetically
The rising country star wrote the songs by herself after making a trip to her hometown.
“I think sometimes when you go back to your hometown after your life has changed so much, you realize that some things don’t change — and some things do," she tells Time. "And I was one of the things that did. Part of that was really bitter, and part of that was really sweet. I think it was just one of those songs where I realized that I’d changed a lot."
Unapologetically features 12 new songs from Ballerini, including her latest single, “Legends,” and another song titled “I Hate Love Songs” that she has also previewed during live shows.
Ballerini announced the album's title during an appearance on Good Morning America, and she shared its cover online on Aug. 5. Ballerini has said that she wrote about more mature themes on Unapologetically than her debut album, 2015’s The First Time.
Unapologetically is currently available for pre-order in advance of its Nov. 3 release.
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