War Paint

Album: Piece by Piece (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • This Julia Michaels, Joleen Belle and Sir Nolan penned song finds Kelly Clarkson singing about taking off her war paint. She is willing to risk peeling off her mask and letting people in, so they can see the real Kelly.
  • Clarkson told VH1 the story of the tune: "That song came a long way, [producer] Jason Halbert nailed the production on that."

    "I loved the message of it. Everybody keeps relating it to "make up to break up" but I relate it to our guards. Everybody has their guard up and we've painted this whole wall around us because of the situations that have happened to us in our life. We build this wall but at our core we all want the same thing—you want to be loved, and you want to be a part of something. That's what I love about that song."

    "That lyric really grabbed me and then Jason Halbert just took it to the most amazing place, production-wise. It sounds nothing like the demo, he created a masterpiece. Those drums are my favorite drums in the whole album. I love it, it's like a chant and it's just a great lyrical message."

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