Music

Kelly Clarkson's new song sounds exactly like Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle"

by Mark Teo

It’s been four years since one-time American Idol star Kelly Clarkson released a proper studio album—not counting her Christmas album, Wrapped In Red—and since then, she’s undergone an incredible transformation: She’s gone from pop singer-songwriter to a swoop-haired, cardigan-rocking emo kid. The proof? Her new song, “Heartbeat Song,” which is, uh, liberally influenced by Jimmy Eat World.

OK, OK, who are we kidding—it sounds exactly like Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle,” right down to its hyper-processed, palm-muted guitars. Listen to Clarkson’s “Heartbeat Song” below.

Next, compare it to “The Middle,” a song that immediately recalls riding a ferris wheel at the county fair, holding hands with your crush underneath the table at an all-night diner, and awkward, arms-length swaying at a middle-school dance. It sounds like childhood. Romance. Liberty. It is an indisputable jam.

To our ears, she owes Jimmy Eat World songwriting royalties—Sam Smith, after all, is sending cheques to Tom Petty for “Stay With Me.” So, pony up, Kelly. [H/T Paul Lawton]