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Kelsea Ballerini is telling her side of the story in her new, six song EP, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat. The record is incredibly raw and personal, with Kelsea diving into her decision to divorce Morgan Evans in 2022. The first song on the EP, “Mountain With a View,” features a direct response to the song Morgan wrote about the breakup himself, “Over For You.” In Morgan’s song, he wonders when the marriage was over for Kelsea and why she decided to pull the plug.
It turns out that moment happened when Kelsea was spending time in Big Sur California (on a “mountain with a view,” of course), while Morgan was across the pond playing shows. In the chorus, Kelsea sings, “I’m wearing the ring still, but I think I’m lying. Sometimes you forget yours, I think we’re done trying. I realize you loved me, much more at 23, I think that this is when it’s over for me.”
In the bridge, Kelsea actually makes a direct reference to Morgan’s song, singing, “I think that this is when I cut the ties, I think that this is when I set myself free, one day you’ll ask, ‘When was it over for you?’” Morgan first played the song at a concert in September, and then went on to release it officially a few weeks later.
One of the biggest takeaways on Kelsea’s new EP is that she went into her marriage with Morgan at too young of an age. She also hints that distance due to the pair’s busy careers wound up taking a toll on the relationship. In a subsequent track, “Blindsided,” she calls Morgan out for acting so surprised by their breakup, asking, “Were you blindsided, or were you just blind?”
In the song, Kelsea points out that there were plenty of signs that Morgan must have seen before she filed divorce papers. “Now you’re saying that your lost, and that’s lost on me,” she sings. “Years of sitting across from me in therapy. I know the truth is hard to hear, but it wasn’t hard to find.” She also hints that different opinions on the future may have been part of the reason for the split, adding, “You didn’t ever wanna leave the house, or didn’t want a family.” By the end of the song, she gets scathing, adding, “It’s not f***ing news to you, babe, you’ve been in this relationship, it’s not news to you.”)
Kelsea also looks back on the relationship fondly, though, as she recalls their wedding day in the first verse of the song “Just Married.” However, she also admits that she wasn’t meant for marriage at such a young age. “I wasn’t made for fixing a plate, or keeping our problems buried,” she sings. “I wasn’t strong enough to keep on with all of the weight that I carried, yeah it was love, then it was just married.” In the bridge, Kelsea recalls their “beautiful wedding,” and says she “wasn’t this ready to undo I do.”
By the final song of the EP, “Leave Me Again,” Kelsea wishes Morgan well during the holidays. “I hope you’re spending Christmas with your family, I hope you’re writing songs that you love, I hope you’re feeling happier than you’ve ever been,” she sings. However, the message of the song is one of empowerment for herself, as she adds, “I hope I never leave me again.”
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