Kelly Clarkson is the queen of the breakup song, having penned the incomparable “Since U Been Gone” years before devoting an entire album to her divorce from Brandon Blackstock. Now the artist is proving that her ex isn’t even safe from her previously released material. After altering the lyrics to hits by Billie Eilish and Gayle to take jabs at Blackstock during her popular Kellyoke performances, the artist just leveled up by rewriting the words to one of her own tunes, erasing her ex-husband’s presence from “Piece by Piece” and turning the song into an anthem of empowerment.
In promotion of her 10th studio album Chemistry, Kelly Clarkson has begun her Las Vegas residency, opening up her catalog for a more intimate experience with fans in lieu of going on a whole tour. During her shows, she’s continued to cover other artists’ songs — a well-known fixture of The Kelly Clarkson Show — singing Harry Styles’ “As It Was” and Gayle’s “abcdefu,” to which she added her own topical, post-divorce twist. At her recent show she debuted a new version of the title track off her 2015 album Piece by Piece. Introducing the song, Clarkson told the audience (per ET):
This song I initially wrote just super hopeful, right? And well, sometimes hopeful turns into hopeless, so here we go, ‘Piece by Piece.’
The song was reportedly written about Brandon Blackstock, praising him for being a better father to their two children than her father was, thus restoring her faith. However, in the version she sang this weekend, “He collected me up … He filled the holes that you burned in me,” became “I collected me up … I filled the holes,” taking back the credit for her healing. The lines, “He never walks away. He never asks for money. He takes care of me. He loves me,” became:
I just walk away when they ask for money. I take care of me ’cause I love me.
Furthermore, instead of singing, “I will never leave her like you left me, And she will never have to wonder her worth, Because unlike you, I'm gonna put her first. He'll never walk away. He'll never break her heart. He'll take care of things, he'll love her. Piece by piece, he restored my faith that a man can be kind and the father should be great,” the new version went:
I will never leave them like you left me. They never have to wonder their worth because unlike you, I'm gonna put them first. I never walk away. I never break their hearts. I take care of things when you leave scars. Piece by piece I restored my faith that a heart can still beat even when it breaks.
Those lyric tweaks might not be as cathartic as belting, “Fuck you and your dad and the fact that you got half,” in her cover of Gayle’s hit, but there’s something so brutal about erasing Brandon Blackstock from a song about being a good father. Check out one fan's video of the performance below:
@kellyc_live ♬ original sound - KellyClarkson_LIVE
Now I have to wonder if there are more changes coming to some of her classic songs, and if they're as empowering as these, I can't wait to find out what’s next. We’ll definitely be keeping our eye on that, as well as the 2023 TV schedule for when The Kelly Clarkson Show and all of your other favorite shows are coming back.
