The public has their eyes firmly planted on Kelsea Ballerini right now following the release of her EP Rolling Up The Welcome Mat. The EP details her divorce from fellow singer-songwriter Morgan Evans with marked candor. Ballerini’s songwriting has never been so honed as it is on this EP, boding well for what the Knoxville, Tennessee, native has in store for the future.
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While Rolling Up The Welcome Mat is getting its rightful dues, Ballerini has been pumping out stellar country music for years now. We’ve decided to take a look back at Ballerini’s career and chosen some of her best efforts thus far. Check out our picks for Ballerini’s Top 10 songs below.
10. “hole in the bottle”
Ballerini’s “hole in the bottle” puts a modern spin on a classic country two-step. Taken from her 2020 self-titled album, Ballerini throws moderation out the window in favor of drinking away her sorrows. There’s a hole in the bottle / Leakin’ all this wine / It’s already empty, it ain’t even suppertime, she sings.
9. “LOVE IS A COWBOY”
If there’s one thing that country does well, it’s crafting a stellar metaphor. Ballerini compares love to the wayfaring, elusive life of a cowboy in this track. Rough around the edges, stops you in your tracks / Wrecks you in the worst way when it looks like that / Knocks you off the horse but it keeps you comin’ back / Love is a cowboy, she sings.
8. “Miss Me More”
Taking things back to the earlier days of Ballerini’s career, “Miss Me More” is an empowering anthem about finding oneself in the wake of a breakup. Everything she had to give up while in a relationship (I retired my red lipstick ’cause you said you didn’t like it / I didn’t wear my high heel shoes / ‘Cause I couldn’t be taller than you) is coming back out again, now that he is out of the picture.
7. “Penthouse”
Taken from Ballerini’s lauded EP Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, “Penthouse” speaks to playing nice and pushing away problems while in a marriage. Her lush Nashville digs may seem enviable from the outside but, within the walls, things are less picturesque. I guess wrong can look alright / When you’re playing home in a penthouse, baby, she sings.
6. “I GUESS THEY CALL IT FALLIN”
I guess they call it fallin’ ’cause you end up on the ground / You can’t live forever with your head up in the clouds / Think it’s written in the stars ’til they burn out, Ballerini sings in “I GUESS THEY CALL IT FALLIN.'” Ballerini has a plethora of songs about relationships but, this one stands out among the pack.
5. “Leave Me Again”
In a similar vein to “Miss Me More,” Ballerini sings about compromising herself in her marriage in “Leave Me Again.” The emotional lyrics hit twice as hard with just an acoustic guitar backing up Ballerini’s stunning vocals. For a while the shoe fit / But then I outgrew it / And staying only made me get real good at pretend / So, I hope I never leave me again, she sings.
4. “Just Married”
Ballerini puts a unique spin on the breakdown of her relationship in this track. She starts off by reminiscing on their “fairytale” start: Rode off in a car that said, “Just Married.” She then cleverly turns the phrase in the chorus singing, It was love / Then it was just married.
3. “UNIVERSE”
With Ballerini’s latest endeavor being a break-up album, it’s nice to look back at her more loved-up options. In “UNIVERSE,” she sings about a higher power pulling two people together. Maybe I’m not supposed to understand / If it’s just dumb luck or somewhere in God’s plan / But whatever got you here to hold my hand / Is some kind of magic, the lyrics read.
2. “Mountain With A View”
Part of what makes Rolling Up The Welcome Mat so enticing is the lack of fear from Ballerini to be deeply referential to her marriage with Evans. That spirit is heavily evident in “Mountain With A View” – You’re across the pond at a show, I think, in Amsterdam / And the pictures look pretty, at least they do on your Instagram / We say good morning, then goodnight / I wonder if you even know where I am.
1. “half of my hometown (featuring Kenny Chesney)”
Ballerini was planted firmly on the country map with “half of my hometown” in 2020. The effort earned her Music Event of the Year and Video of the Year at the CMAs – not to mention she got Kenny Chesney to hop on the song, which no doubt bolstered her stake in the genre.
(Photo: Daniel Prakopcyk / Courtesy The Oriel)
