Singer Faith Hill was one of the biggest country stars of the turn of the 21st century. But success wasn’t immediate upon her moving to Nashville. In fact, she experienced a series of setbacks when she arrived: she was rejected when she auditioned to be a backup singer for Reba McEntire, and then her first marriage fell apart. Though her first album was a success, her second was delayed by surgery on her vocal cords. Thankfully, Hill recovered and completed her second album, It Matters to Me, which became her big breakthrough.
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The album’s title song was also its biggest hit. Music critics saw it as a more mature effort, as a singer coming into her own style and expertly interpreting more personal subject matter. “It Matters to Me” is a powerful ballad that lets Hill show off her impressive vocal abilities. The song not only peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart; it also infiltrated the Hot 100 pop chart—Hill’s first song to do so.
Though “It Matters to Me” would later be eclipsed by bigger singles in Hill’s career, it was undoubtedly her major breakthrough as a country star. But what is the meaning behind “It Matters to Me,” and how did it come to be?
Some Background
“It Matters to Me” wasn’t Hill’s first hit song. Her first album, Take Me As I Am, did well when it was released in 1993. The album included the single “Wild One,” which stayed at No. 1 on the country charts for four weeks straight. Several other singles also charted, and Hill’s career was on the rise. However, her first album only set the stage for her, and was later considered a little under-developed compared to her later work.
Extensive touring with other artists had damaged her vocal cords by February 1995, and Hill developed a blood clot on one of them. She underwent surgery to remove the clot, delaying releasing her all-important follow-up album. It was a risky endeavor for an up-and-coming singer, but thankfully, Hill fully recovered and released It Matters to Me in August of that year.
Critics were impressed with the album and considered it a step up from Take Me As I Am. The album’s title song was the standout, a soulful ballad about falling out of love.
“Though she initially patterned herself vocally after heroes like Reba McEntire, Faith Hill seems to be coming into her own style,” Wendy Newcomer wrote for Cash Box. “‘It Matters to Me’ is a top-notch second single from Hill’s sophomore album. Hill has always found her [highest] chart positions with uptempo songs, but the strength of her performance on this song may secure success with a ballad as well.”
Meaning of “It Matters to Me”
“It Matters to Me” is a reflection of a failing relationship. The worst part is that the singer thinks her partner is apathetic about their impending breakup. He seems disinterested in maintaining their relationship and doesn’t care about their future. This is worse than him wanting to break up, because the song’s protagonist still cares.
Baby, tell me, where’d you ever learn
To fight without sayin’ a word
Then waltz back into my life
Like it’s all gonna be alright
Don’t you know how much it hurts
It’s clear to the protagonist that something isn’t right in the relationship. They’re fighting a lot, but there is no resolution. Instead of working together through their problems, they ignore them and pretend
everything is OK.
When we don’t talk
When we don’t touch
When it doesn’t feel like we’re even in love
It matters to me
His apathy is the worst part of it all. It might be easier to bear if he had strong feelings one way or another. The singer hopes that if he only realizes she’s still invested, it will be a wake-up call for him to recommit to their relationship.
Maybe I still don’t understand
The distance between a woman and a man
So tell me how far it is
And how you can love like this
‘Cause I’m not sure I can
If something doesn’t change, they will have to break up. But she doesn’t want to—she just knows that being with someone who isn’t passionate about her isn’t sustainable.
Hill’s Future As a Country Star
The success of “It Matters to Me” pales in comparison to that of Hill’s later songs, such as her massive hit “This Kiss,” released in 1998. “This Kiss” propelled her to the mainstream pop scene, broadening her appeal. But It Matters to Me undoubtedly laid the stage for that future success.
Photo by Kevin Winter/ACMA2017/Getty Images for ACM
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