"Somebody asked me this one time... If there was a song, one song you
could show somebody that never heard of you before and you were like,
'Hey, this is a song that represents my whole life and artistic career
and what I do,' it'd be 'Your Place.' That's what I thought about."It is only the second single by a female artist this year (after 'Wildflowers and Wild Horses' by Lainey Wilson) to reach the top 10 of the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart, sitting at number 5 on the list dated June 7th. It is a motivational mid-tempo ballad titled 'Your Place', which at the same time is the debut single for Florida native Ashley Cooke, after a very first self-produced single featuring Brett Young ('Never Til Now') only reached number 49 on the radio charts.
The song 'Your Place' dates back to August of 2022, when Ashley Cooke wrote it together with Jordan Minton and Mark Trussell around a personal experience. An experience that is about an ended relationship. But it is not a painful processing of a disappointment, but an encourageing look forward. "You basically kind of regain your power by saying, 'Hey, you know, you don't get to know those things anymore. You’re the reason this thing broke. You should already know that this isn't your place anymore,'" Ashley Cooke tells billboard.com about the creation of the song.
The lyrics put double meanings and new perspectives on commonly used phrases. The bond of a relationship, which is defined not least by a shared place, becomes separate places again after the couple's paths have separated. That way he no longer has the right to be part of her life.
It ain't your place to walk up, say hey,ask how I've been at some party.
when you see 'em out if I'm seein' somebody.
You don't get to call me up 'cause you're drunk
at 2 a.m., say you miss us.
No, you don't get to care where I'm wakin' up
these days,
it ain't your place [anymore].
The song is from Ashley Cooke's debut album titled "shot in the dark", which holds an impressive 24 songs and got released almost a year ago, in July of 2023. An album to which the artist contributed as a songwriter on 20 tracks, and about which she says: "I put up with a lot of stuff in different relationships that, if you listened to my whole debut album, it’s a lot about relationships and about toxicity."
While Ashley Cooke plays an active role in ending her relationship and setting limits in her song 'Your Place', Carly Pearce is not over it yet in her song 'My Place'. It is one of 14 songs on her fourth studio album, released on June 7, 2024, whose title ("hummingbird") is written in lowercase letters, just like Ashley Cooke's.
Speaking to billboard.com, Carly Pearce says of the album, on which she co-wrote 13 of the 14 tracks: "It's hard to pick favorites on records, but I do think that 'My Place' is my favorite."
Again this song was created around 1 1/2 years before its release. Written together with Lauren Hungate and Jordan Reynolds, the bitter ballad remembers a time when his place was also hers. "I wrote this song about the feeling you get after a devastating break up. Where you find yourself still feeling entitled to what they're doing, who they’re with… but realizing those thoughts don't belong to you anymore," Carly Pearce describes the motivation behind the song.
"It speaks to the deepest pain of rejection," writes Tom Roland at billboard.com about the song. "Making a difference is one of the strongest motivations most people experience. To disappear from his mind is to make zero impact."
"You don't want to be forgotten, you do want to matter," adds Carly Pearce. "You’re battling these insecurities of all the 'what ifs' and the realization that this person has moved on."
The new album, with a back-looking Carly Pearce on its cover, is still influenced by the failure of her brief marriage to singer Michael Ray in 2020. That way, 'My Place' is quite the opposite from 'Your Place', vulnerable and full of disappointment. Yet, both of them deal with the same situation. For Carly Pearce, the song was an important part of her coming to terms with the relationship, as she eventually puts an optimistic spin on it talking to people.com:
"Hummingbirds are a sign that the healing process can begin, and that good luck is on the way. To me, that’s kind of what this whole album was. It was my healing journey, and it was very messy at times. Even in the songs that are sad, there’s this underlying realization that there’s a reason you’re hurting, and it’s for something bigger."
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