Carly Pearce Shares The Story Behind Her New Song, 'Should've Known Better'

Shortly after announcing her upcoming album, 29, Carly Pearce released one of the project's new songs, "Should've Known Better." The track finds Pearce reflecting on heartbreak and the lessons she has learned from the painful experience.

"I gave you my heart, you let it go to waste / You made me do the leaving and you made me take the blame," she sings in the chorus. "Does it make you feel good to make me feel bad? / Yeah, you should’ve known better, should’ve known better..."

On Monday (February 8), the country singer turned to Instagram to share more insight on the powerful track and share some of the inspiration behind it.

"'Should've Known Better,' is kind of to me, as an adult, something that you probably wrestle with more of trying to not assign too much blame to yourself and also calling it is what it is," Pearce says in the black-and-white clip. "I wanted to take both sides of it and show that a lot of times there are things that you overlook and there are things that maybe you, in the end, know that you should've known."

She continued on to explain how this song represents "the end of that" and that from now on, she hopes to pay more attention. She adds, "I think as you grow and go through life and you go through all different kinds of relationships, you learn that and you figure that out and hopefully you're better for the next."

"Should've Known Better," written by Pearce alongside Emily Shackelton and Jordan Reynolds, is one of the seven songs featured on her forthcoming album.

When the singer first announced 29, she introduced it as a collection of songs showcasing the emotional journey she's been on following the death of her producer Busbee in 2019, as well as her divorce from Michael Ray in 2020.

"Losing busbee was a jolt, he was my champion before anyone believed," Pearce said in a promo video for 29. "Then came the divorce, something I never saw coming. In that grief, I started swimming to save myself from the sadness, then realized I've found something even deeper. 29 came from that recognition."

"I got back to myself, to my roots, to my truth, and then the songs just kept spilling out," she continued. "I was so excited that I wanted to share them with you. To introduce you to who I've always been, and who I am as an artist, a person and a woman who understands. I am Carly Pearce, this is 29."

29 follows Pearce's self-titled second studio album released in February of 2020.

Carly Pearce, 29 Tracklist:

1. “Next Girl” | Carly Pearce, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne

2. “Should’ve Known Better” | Carly Pearce, Jordan Reynolds, Emily Shackelton

3. “29” | Carly Pearce, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne

4. “Liability” | Carly Pearce, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne

5. “Messy” | Carly Pearce, Sarah Buxton, Jimmy Robbins *

6. “Show Me Around” | Carly Pearce, Emily Shackelton, Ben West

7. “Day One” | Carly Pearce, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Matthew Ramsey

produced by Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne

* produced by Jimmy Robbins

Photo: Getty Images