Single Reviews

  PARKER GRAYE - Halfway - Independent Release

Having notched over 1 million collective streams since January, earning a place in the Top 8 for the SiriusXM Top of the Country competition, and making her Whiskey Jam debut here in Nashville, Canadian country import Parker Graye has had a monumental breakout year that’s raised her status to a buzzworthy level.

On the heels of her raw and very vulnerable single, “Lyin’ To Me,” she now returns with her brand-new release, “Halfway.”

Written by Parker, Dan Botch, and Garrett Ward, the mid-tempo flow of the melody expertly enhances the freeing nature of the lyrics as Graye unbinds her heart after yet another fight with her better half, vigorously stamping down her foot as she lays the law as to what things will need to look like if he decides to try and come back to her again this time.

Not coming from a place of broken heart, but rather of being over and done with all the back and forth, halfway kind of love that she’s been getting, Parker uses the opening verse to paint the picture of the night that their last fight went down, lamenting how she could see his shadow under the door pacing back and forth while reliving how he abusively called her everything but her name before peeling out the driveway, cowardly running away.  

However, rather than staying stuck on the pain and heartache, the lift into the chorus instrumentally matches her redemption moment as she clearly spells out to him what she needs while boldly reiterating to not even try and come back if you can’t do it this way going forward.

“If you’re headed for the highway

Better stop by the church and pray

If you’re dialing half my number

Better have something good to say

If you’re running out of reasons

You’re running out of time

So if you’re coming back and want to stay

Then you can’t love me halfway”

Flowing off the feels of the chorus, the second verse then provides an audible smirk as she spotlights her clear understanding of his predictable next moves during this too-often, reoccurring sequence, poking at the truth of the current situation while quizzically bringing us into what she already knows he’s doing and thinking about; speeding down 1-65, trying to sleep on his mama’s couch, etc.

With a firm balance on the emotional tilts of the lyrics, Parker Graye raises a fist pump of empowerment into “Halfway” that sees her taking hold on the reigns of the relationship that she desires while embracing the fact that it’s okay to be single if that’s not what she’s gonna get from here on out, providing a powerful anthem to those who know exactly what they want and won’t settle for anything less.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

 

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