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- March 28, 2021
Pouring out his feelings to a modern-day Daisy Buchanan, pop-country heavyweight Hunter Hayes has evolved his sound. Not only did he herald in the subgenre’s rise to mainstream relevance during the early 2010’s, as much as a Florida Georgia Line or others, but his career has been active for about as long as he’s been able to walk.
From toddler to now near thirty, to still be in the game? That inherently required a healthy dose of adaptations. This latest maturation, “If You Change Your Mind”, signaled a more sophisticated romanticism than his heartthrob days.
The second single for Red Sky, Part II of an album trilogy that began with 2019’s Wild Blue, relied on the melancholic basis for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel. Hayes sang of a former sweetheart, who found a new life with another. That other guy left her wanting for nothing, except, he suspected, true love.
“…I know, You Love the Change of Scene, You love the finer things, A different side, Kind of a brighter green, You couldn’t find in me, Yeah but, Does he remind you of your diamond eyes, Like I used to, like I’d love to, promise me that…”
-hunter hayes
That beautiful allusion to the green light from this American Literature classic, that dually incorporated a reference to ‘the grass is always greener’ misconception, was one of a handful of cleverly crafted lines to the song cowritten by Hayes, Rachel Braig, and John Luke Lewis.
Hayes admitted his responsibility for their breakup and understood why she would seek those greener pastures, but simultaneously pled for a second chance. A less thirsty attempt however, as he touched on patiently waiting for her at the fancy parties thrown at his mansion in her honor. If she would only attend, he’d illustrate how all the progress made on himself had been for her approval. On second assessment then, perhaps slightly thirsty. Though, could one fault the gentleman bravely fighting for love against insurmountable odds?
While not ruling out all hope, there was a definite dreamscape to the track. Hayes recognized the fantasy-come-to-life that would be her giving him a mulligan. Through this sprouted the insight that, finding ‘The One’ is as predicated on serendipity, as it is with both people being ready to commit to each other when crossing paths.
Hunter Hayes dropped a corresponding music video encapsulating the updated romantic tragedy.
