WATCH: Our favorite moments from Kelly Clarkson for her birthday
Kelly Clarkson opens up about the reality of love in a new song.
In her new single “I Hate Love,” which features actor Steve Martin on banjo, Clarkson explores what happens after you find love and sings about what movies like “The Notebook” don’t tell you.
The talk show host, who references the classic romance film in the pop-punk song, said her new single is a “playful” take on the reality of life after finding love.
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“That line has a hidden meaning to me,” Clarkson said in an interview on Talk Shop Live, referring to a famous line from The Notebook that she referenced in her song. “It was just a nod to how I think we’re taught at such a young age that it works like this: you fall in love and everything will be fine — it’s like asking, ‘What happened after they got together? Because.” There is an afterlife.
Clarkson, who also references the 2009 film It’s Complicated, in which Martin starred alongside Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, says in the song that love is more like that film.
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Steve Martin on February 9, 2023 in New York City. | Kelly Clarkson on February 9, 2023 in Phoenix.
“It’s like ‘It’s Complicated’ to me, which is the other film I’m referring to [the song] “It’s just more real life,” she said. “It’s more like what could happen than the other. I just feel like we have faith in things.”
“Not to say there isn’t and life can’t be like that and love can’t be like that. I’m just saying it’s funny how we’re doomed because nothing lives up to that ideal.” “I’ve kind of been fed,” she added. “So it’s just about being playful with it.”
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Kelly Clarkson poses at the Dolby Theater on March 27, 2023 in Hollywood, California.
When asked if she could get Martin to be a part of the song, Clarkson said she was “still shocked that he said yes.” The Grammy-winning singer said she’d always thought of the actor and wasn’t sure if he’d say “yes” since he’s mentioned in the song.
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“I figured I was wondering if he would play because it’s like that pop punk song, but I listened to banjo on it and I thought I was wondering if Steve Martin would play it? And he did,” she said.
While Clarkson and Martin still haven’t met in real life (Martin recorded the banjo part of the song separately), the singer said she heard Martin liked the line in the song, “So, you can keep Gosling and I’ll take.” Steve Martin.
“I haven’t spoken to him, but I heard he liked that phrase, that he was chosen over Ryan Gosling,” she said.
“I Hate Love” is taken from Clarkson’s upcoming album Chemistry, out June 23.