In her gripping new music video for “Same Car,” burgeoning country artist Madeline Merlo taps into the pain of mourning a failed relationship. The second-season winner of NBC’s reality competition television series Songland reflects on the memories of better times that haunt her mind, even in the wake of intense heartbreak. As she sits behind the wheel, Merlo tries to navigate through a wave of flashbacks from time spent with her former flame.
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Viewers see the excitement and joy from a relationship’s early moments fade into a visceral rift between lovers. When Merlo looks back on the path that led her to where she is now, it’s hard for her to accept their fate.
“It’s the same front seat where I fell for you / It’s the same cross hangin’ from the same rearview,” she sings mournfully, emotion dripping from each line as she strains to keep her eyes focused on the road that lies ahead. “It’s the same four wheels where you broke my heart / It’s hard to believe it’s the same car.”
Merlo penned the powerful track with producer Zach Crowell, along with Josh Osborne, Jason Saenz, and Sara Haze. “Same Car” marks the 29-year-old’s first new track since the release of her debut EP, Slide, which dropped in September 2022.
“The ‘Same Car’ video is out in the world today and I’m so proud of this one,” Merlo says in a statement. “When I was dreaming up a music video idea for this song I happened to be reading Colleen Hoover’s ‘It Ends With Us.’ I was deeply moved by the story. The song ‘Same Car’ is about a relationship being so amazing and then completely falling apart in the same place. I couldn’t help but think that even the most toxic relationships probably started out beautiful too.”
Photo by Brad Hersh / BBR Music Group
