Ashley McBryde and Carly Pearce are among the 2022 ACM nominees for Music Event of the Year for "Never Wanted to be That Girl," a heartwrenching and honest look at infidelity.
McBryde says she and Pearce each wanted to write a classic cheating song — with a twist.
"Carly and I both wanted to write together and when we finally lined up our schedules, it turned out we came into the session with the same idea — to write a duet together," McBryde tells Wide Open Country. "We are both huge fans of classic country and the cheating song has been written before so we knew we didn't want to do that exactly but felt like there was an angle in there that hadn't been explored or spoken about. We (along with our other co-writer on the song, Shane McAnally) just talked for a little while before writing and the concept fell out pretty quickly. We are all really proud of how it turned out and it seems the fans that have found it have had a really strong reaction to it so far, which is all you could ever ask for."
The result is a powerful conversation between two women, reminiscent of Reba McEntire and Linda Davis' "Does He Love You."
Read More: The 5 Best Carly Pearce Songs, Ranked
Pearce and McBryde performed the song at the 2021 CMA Awards.
"Never Wanted to Be That Girl" stemmed from McBryde and Pearce's first writing session and the two incredible artists have formed a strong bond and friendship, both in an out of the studio.
McBryde even had her friend's back during an emotional moment during the CMA Awards. After Pearce won the CMA for Female Vocalist of the Year, she was overcome with emotion. But McBryde joined her onstage to offer her support and help her get through her speech.
"It was so cool to see her win," McBryde says. "She so deserves it. When I saw she was feeling all the feels, I didn't really think about it and kinda hopped up there to try and give her a moment. I gave my manager and publicist a heart attack as I was heading up there on stage I'm sure, but I think most people understood my intentions were pure and I simply wanted to have my friend's back. It just happened to be that it was in front of millions of people... I couldn't be happier for Carly though."
'Never Wanted to Be That Girl' Lyrics:
He said we both could use a beer and I said, "Hell, why not?"
What started out as one night turned to six months just like that
He never had a ring on so I never thought to ask
That said, "Hey, babe, what time you comin' home?"
I never wanted to hate myself
I thought this kind of lonely only happens to somebody else
Bein' the other one when there's another one
God, this feels like hell
Thought I knew who I was, but it's gettin' hard to tell
I never wanted to be that girl
The ones that made excuses like my mama used to do
And he jumps in the shower just as soon as he gets home
And I spend half an hour goin' through his phone
I never wanted to hate myself
I thought this kind of lonely only happens to somebody else
Bein' the other one when there's another one
God, this feels like hell
I thought I knew who I was, but it's gettin' hard to tell
I never wanted to be that girl
I feel cheap
I feel used
I feel weak
I never wanted to hate myself
I thought this kind of lonely only happens to somebody else
Bein' the other one when there's another one
God, this feels like hell
I thought I knew who I was, but it's gettin' hard to tell
I never wanted to be that girl
I never wanted to be that girl
