Pretty Heart by Parker McCollum

Album: Hollywood Gold (2019)

Charted: 36

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Austin, Texas native Parker McCollum first came to Lone Star prominence as a live act on the club circuit. This tormented heartbreak song finds him taking the blame for a breakup. It was released as his first single after signing with Universal Music Group on August 30, 2019.
McCollum birthed the song in 2014 when he was playing music at his brother's house. He came up with a couple of lines:

What does that say about me
That I could love somebody like you

McCollum was thrilled with the lyric, so he posted a clip on Instagram of him singing the words. He came across the clip again four years later, shortly before a co-writing session with songwriter Randy Montana. After changing the line to "What does that say about me. I could do you like I did," they developed the rest of the song by creating a character who beats himself up for the way he treated his girl. "Sometimes in other genres it's not that way where the guy's kind of down on himself," noted Montana to Billboard. "And that's what I love so much about the song is that I feel like it's a real thing. It's a guy kind of being vulnerable, and that's why I love Parker and where he comes from writing-wise. He's cool with going there."
The chorus ends with McCollum stretching the word "heart" out across an 11-note journey until it ends on the hard "rt" sound. "I'm thinking to myself, 'No way,'" recalled McCollum, remembering the time he first unwound the 11-note hook. "I mean, that's just goofy."

But for Montana, it's a quirky moment that works. "'Heart' is not the word where you kind of do the move," he said, "but he's just a little left of center, and it really works for his voice and, I think, for his style."
The song is included on McCollum's debut EP with Universal Music Group. Hollywood Gold was the name of an Australian race horse the singer's grandfather owned decades ago and he named the record in gratitude for his influence on his life. It was McCollum's granddad who exposed him to artists such as Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and Steve Earle when he worked summers on his cattle ranch. Parker shared in a Facebook video that growing up, his grandmother often told him the story of how Hollywood Gold was stolen from their property and it took them months to find him.
Parker McCollum made his national TV debut on January 26, 2021 on NBC's Today show performing this song.

Comments: 2

Justamanda from Ft Worth TexasI think its reflective and insightful, that a guy like this even gives, any idea he has emotions or a conscience, for his behavior. I mean, lets face it, most men Don t. Also, for Taylor in California, idk who hurt you baby, but it wasnt Parker. Lol. Why does he owe us a more mature version of anything? Song went to number one so....id say he might be on to something here.
Taylor from CaliforniaHe’s vulnerable? Maybe. Maybe he’s just freaked out & self-indulgent ... if he were vulnerable, he’d figure out what it says about him and DO something about it. He’s weak ... and it doesn’t sound as if he’s exactly on a self-examination road trip. Like too many others, he just drinks and smokes (and whatever else, if you know what I mean), so it isn’t exactly a revelatory situation. Song is not done. Or maybe there’s a sequel that’s more mature? More informative & I-figured-it-out-and-I-changed-my-behavior positive. Whatevs....

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