Sam Hunt isn’t done with country music, and country music isn’t done with the former Alabama (Birmingham) football player. In February, Hunt dropped his latest single, “Hard to Forget,” from his upcoming second studio album, Southside.
The track samples and interweaves an audio clip from Webb Pierce’s 1953 song “There Stands the Glass.” But Hunt turns the old tune on its head with a drum-loop and a modern country flavor.
And just like he’s playing off the old tune, the song itself finds Hunt playing off of old feelings. It’s all about a girl that he can’t seem to get over. And, if his suspicions are correct, she doesn’t really want him to.
The song opens with Pierce’s clip: “There stands the glass/That will ease all my pain/That will settle my brain/It’s my first one today.” Hunt seconds Pierce as he says he too has “a bottle of whiskey” nearby. But alcohol doesn’t seem to help him escape memories of his ex.
Why? Because she’s seemingly everywhere in his life, in one way or another: “I’m pretty sure I saw your car at the mall/I see your face in the clouds/I smell your perfume in crowds/I swear your number’s all my phone wants to call.”
But no matter how hard he tries he can’t seem to escape her (“You showed up tonight/In that dress just to mess with my head”).
In the end, he suggests that maybe it’s her fault he can’t move on (“I think I know why you’ve been dragging your feet/Ain’t it funny how I can’t seem/To get away from you?”)
And maybe, just maybe, when two people have such a hard time forgetting each other, it’s because they’re mean to be together.
As for the song’s video, it features Hunt as a guy hanging out in a cheap hotel complex as he sings the song. Various other residents include some young women in bikinis who eventually throw a beer-bong party in their room with some guys; a very sad male clown whom we see drinking, shirtless and with smeared makeup; a young girl who repeatedly dances about innocently; and an older man putting on a costume for his cowboy routine.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
