Sugarland and Taylor Swift Release Breakup Song 'Babe' — Find Out the Story Behind the Track

Melody Chiu
Updated

Taylor Swift and Little Big Town struck gold with their hit collaboration “Better Man,” and now the country singer-turned-pop superstar has done it again by teaming up with Sugarland for their new song “Babe.”

Though the lyrics detail love gone wrong, the melody of the song — co-written by Swift and Train’s Patrick Monahan — is surprisingly upbeat with the “Delicate” singer providing vocals in the chorus.

“You really blew this babe / We ain’t getting through this one, babe / This is the last time I’ll ever call you, babe,” read the lyrics to the chorus.

The bridge of the song also reveals the reason behind the breakdown of the relationship: cheating.

“Since you admitted it, I keep picturing her lips on your neck, I can’t unsee it / I hate that because of you, I can’t love you babe.”

Monahan first spoke about the track in 2013 in an interview with ABC News Radio, saying Swift asked him to co-write a song for her hit album Red after he told the entertainer he wanted to collaborate with her for Train’s album.

“It’s a song called ‘Babe,'” he said at the time. “So it’s her song; I was just lucky enough to be a part of it with her, and I’m gonna ask the same of her in the future. She’s very talented, she’s a no-nonsense young kid. I’m not going through different relationships and breakups and all the stuff that young people do, so her perspective is very fresh. And I think that’s what I admire the most [about her].”

The newly reunited Sugarland opened up at the ACMs on Sunday about the track (which will be featured on their upcoming album Bigger), saying Swift, 28, reached out after Jennifer Nettles, 43, and Kristian Bush, 48, announced they were reforming their duet.

“She was excited that we were getting back together. She said ‘Hey, I have a song…’ and we said ‘Yep!'” Nettles told reporters backstage at the awards show. “We’ve obviously known each other for many years when she was just getting started. We just had our first EP out called Premium Quality Tunes. She still has a copy of it that we signed for her.”

Bush added that it’s the first time they’ve included a track written by another artist on a record, and “we didn’t want to mess it up,” he said. “We didn’t tell anybody about it until we got finished, and she liked it, thank God. It’s a really good song.”

On the red carpet, Nettles also called Swift “such a professional,” adding that the singer — who’s heading out next month on her massive Reputation Stadium Tour — was “so sweet” to offer them a song.