Country music has plenty of songs about heartbreak. But some country songs about the end of a relationship are based on true events. These three country songs are all big hits, and were all inspired by a real-life break-up.
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“Run” by Miranda Lambert
Few songs are as bold and honest as Miranda Lambert’s “Run“. Written solely by Lambert, the song is on Lambert’s 2024 Postcards From Texas record.
Lambert wrote “Run”, about the end of her relationship to Blake Shelton, ten years before it was released. But even Lambert, known for her honesty in her music, admits it was terrifying to share the song with the world.
“At the time, it might feel too raw, but then it can come back around… And it’s an admission of human error too,” Lambert says on Apple Music’s Today’s Country Radio.
“It’s an apology,” she adds. “But it’s also a resolve.”
“Run” says, “Oh, this freedom I found, baby, sure wasn’t free / I owe you a lifetime of apologies / I’m tellin’ the truth now, I love you so much / I’m sorry for lyin’ about who I was / I was gonna run.”
“Here’s A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)” by Travis Tritt
In 1991, Travis Tritt released “Here’s A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)”. On his sophomore It’s All About To Change album, Tritt wrote “Here’s A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)” by himself, inspired by an ex-wife.
“Here’s A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)” says, “You say you were wrong to ever leave me alone / And now you’re sorry, you’re lonesome and scared / And you say you’d be happy if you could just come back home / Well, here’s a quarter, call someone who cares / Call someone who’ll listen, and might give a damm / Maybe one of your sordid affairs / But don’t you come around here handin’ me none of your lies / Here’s a quarter, call someone who cares.”
Ironically, Tritt had the idea for the song while at his home, after his wife moved out, taking most of their belongings with her. He recalls being served divorce papers, which he was reading when she called, asking for another chance.
“I wrote that song in about 15 minutes,” he tells The Boot. “It just came to me. It’s a song I wrote never considering to release it. I wrote it because it was a personal song for me to pick me up whenever I would get depressed over my personal situation.”
“Miss Me More” by Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Ballerini’s “Miss Me More” is the break-up anthem we all need. Out in 2018 on her Unapologetically record, Ballerini wrote “Miss Me More” with David Hodges and Brett McLaughlin.
“Miss Me More” is about going through a breakup, and realizing you are better off without them. The anthemic song says, “I thought I’d miss you / But I miss me more / I miss my own beat, to my own snare drum / I miss me more / Miss my own sheets in the bed I made up / I forgot I had dreams, I forgot I had wings / Forgot who I was before I ever kissed you / Yeah, I thought I’d miss you / But I miss me more.”
“In a lot of young relationships, you fall in love for the first time, and you give every part of yourself to make it work,” Ballerini says (via Songfacts). “But sometimes, when it’s not treated right, that’s how you lose yourself. I think it’s really a beautiful moment when you get to the other side, and you’re looking in the mirror, and you’re like, ‘Huh. I thought I was going to miss him, but actually, I miss me!’”
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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