Kelsea Ballerini Debuts a Searing New ‘Blindsided’ Verse on ‘Saturday Night Live’ [Watch]
If you thought Kelsea Ballerini was finished sharing pointed personal lyrics aimed directly at her divorce from Morgan Evans, you'd be wrong. During her Saturday Night Live debut on Saturday (March 4), the star added a new verse to the end of her song "Blindsided," and its words are a direct response to "Over For You," the ballad that Evans released shortly after they announced their split.
"Now you're singing it loud on the radio / You couldn't say it to my face / You would have searched the whole world over? / Yeah, sure, okay," Ballerini sings in the new lyrics, which come at the end of the song. "Now you're singing it loud on the radio / Like you're the only heart that breaks / You would have searched the whole world over? / Yeah, sure, okay."
That's a callback to a line in over for you where Evans sings, "I would have searched the whole world over for you / Took a flight through the night to be that shoulder for you." His song describes being caught off guard by Ballerini wanting out of the marriage, a theme she deals with less specifically throughout "Blindsided," where she recounts months of couples therapy, nights she spent on the couch and the sense that her ex had no reason to feel surprised by the rifts that mounted in their relationship.
It isn't the first time that Ballerini has responded specifically to an "Over For You" lyric in song. In "Mountain With a View," the leading track off her Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP, she answers to Evans' titular question. "I'm wearin' the ring still, but I think I'm lyin' / Sometimes you forget yours, I think we're done tryin' / I realized you loved me much more at 23 / I think that this is when it's over for me," she sings.
Released on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14), Ballerini's Rolling Up the Welcome Mat is a six-song reflection on the heartbreak, grief, anger and healing that she experienced while going through divorce.
Her SNL performance of "Blindsided" was up-tempo and spirited: Ballerini wore a sheer black outfit and danced with a shadow version of herself, portraying by a performer standing behind a screen, as she delivered her searing rendition of the song. Later on in the episode, the singer changed up the mood, donning a white gown and standing in front of a piano as she performed "Penthouse" -- another Rolling Up the Welcome Mat track.
The singer channeled grief and heartbreak this time around, with a couple of soaring a capella moments and an emotional -- and nearly tearful -- conclusion to her song.
Ballerini's SNL performance was her debut as a performer on the late-night program. Saturday night's episode featured Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl-winning tight end Travis Kelce as host.