Chemistry is still bleeding sad songs that center around the end of a once-promising relationship. Where “Red Flag Collector” is a proclamation of strength and surviving a toxic partner, “I Hate Love” an aftermath of a draining relationship, “Roses” is the song that ties ’em up together in an “I’m going to live through this” sort of way.
There’s a reason Chemistry is heralded as Clarkson’s most vulnerable record, and “Roses” is a perfect example of why. The single perfectly captures the way time heals all our hurts and how it makes our memories and moments filled with pain become distant memories. Maybe the song’s composition could have been better, but the lyrics cut deep just the way they are.
“Your eyes still point in my direction, but they lost the light / I don’t know why I don’t mind,” she sings in the first verse, signifying that all the pain, tension, and anguish we heard her cry about in Chemistry is beginning to lose its weight.
“Well, last week, I would’ve caved” is a line that particularly reminds me of the moment in Chemistry where she confesses that there are times she loses her mind and feels like burning her house to the ground. “Time is funny that way, kills me to say.”
This line from the second verse, “I was so patient, chances wasted, had to draw a line/And you crossed it every time,” lets us in on why she told us in the chorus that no amount of roses and diamond rings can save their love.
Perhaps the most hard-hitting part in the song comes from the bridge where she sings, “I don’t like your kind of love / There’s nothin’ left to say / Keep your words, you never mean them anyway.” But there’s hope to the pain, as she adds, “Every day, I miss you less / ‘Til one day, there’s nothin’ left.”
“Roses” is a preview of the upcoming deluxe version of her tenth studio album. On September 22, fans can get their hands on the expanded 22-track Chemistry (deluxe), which features five brand new songs as well as remixes and more. Produced by Jesse Shatkin, “Roses” was written by Amy Allen, Shatkin, Clarkson, and Sean Douglas.
Clarkson is set to celebrate the release of Chemistry (deluxe) live from Rockefeller Plaza for the TODAY Show’s 2023 Citi Summer Concert Series on September 22. This will be followed by performances at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 23.
