Friends Don't

Album: One Heart to Another (2018)
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Songfacts®:

  • Jon Nite and Justin Ebach helped Maddie and Tae write this song, which describes a platonic relationship where the feelings for one another may be starting to develop into something more.

    They don't almost say I love you
    When they're downtown somewhere just a little drunk
    They don't talk about the future
    And put each other in it
    And get chills with every accidental touch


    This is the first track of a kind of concept album that starts with a friendship, which develops into a romantic relationship, before a breakup and eventual independence.
  • Maddie Marlow said the lyrics are based on fact:

    "So, the story behind our song 'Friends Don't' is actually my sister's story. My little sister back home in Texas was kind of dating this guy and they're kind of in the friend's zone, but they like each other, but they really didn't know what was going on. And so, Tae and I got inspired by her story and wrote it. She kinda gets frustrated when we write songs about her, but I know she secretly likes it." [laughs]
  • The video was shot in Nashville with director TK McKamy and mirrors the flirtatious uncertainty that comes at the beginning of relationships. Both Maddie & Tae get their own storyline - and their own romance – during the clip.

    "To us 'Friends Don't' feels sexy and confident, but with a dash of that uncertainty you have at the start of a relationship because you don't know if the other person feels the same way you do," shared Dye. "We wanted to play off that push and pull we've all felt before."

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