‘Heart Letting Go (from Netflix's ‘Nobody Wants This’ Season 2)’ by Chris Stapleton

Season 1 of Netflix's Nobody Wants This had us reaching for tissues during the heartbreaking lows of the unlikely romance between Kristen Bell's Joanne and Adam Brody's Noah - before requiring the Kleenex yet again for the happy tears that followed.

Naturally, Season 2 takes viewers on another emotional rollercoaster ride - and to help bring the peaks and troughs to life, Netflix has dropped a stellar accompanying soundtrack, featuring the likes of Selena Gomez, Teddy Swims, Ella Langley, Kacey Musgraves, Just Jayne, Role Model - and country legend, Chris Stapleton.

The Kentucky maverick delivers a sumptuously stripped-back offering in the form of ‘Heart Letting Go’, which captures the will-they-won't-they spirit of the beloved series.

Rather than opting for the electric-guitar-fuelled drama and gravitas of anthems like ‘White Horse’ and ‘Watch You Burn’, Stapleton pares down the production for ‘Heart Letting Go’. It captures the fragility and vulnerability that permeates the narrative, with the ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ crooner's charismatic Southern drawl drifting across the sparse backing. It showcases both Stapleton's wonderfully weathered delivery and the evocative story - the two stars of the show.

There's a lovely but subtle set of harmonies that appear during the hook - the vocalist is uncredited, but we suspect it might be Chris’ wife and prolific co-writer, Morgane.

“I don't see the same look in your eyes
The one that used to say we're meant to be
I don’t feel the hunger in your touch
You used to tell me I'm all you need”

Across the intricate, acoustic guitar-led riff, Stapleton describes the bittersweet feeling of still being in love with your partner, but you can tell the flame is faltering. It smacks of George Strait's gut-wrenching ode, ‘The Chill of an Early Fall’, with the narrator here lamenting how he no longer feels that she needs him.

“It's hard to stay but leaving hurts
And I'm not sure which one is the worst
Because tonight I'll hold the love I used to know
And listen to a heart letting go”

He finds himself in a crippling limbo, where he can't find the strength to walk out of the door because of his lingering feelings, but it also breaks his heart to stay and feel the shadow of what their love once was. “Because tonight I'll hold the love I used to know / And listen to a heart letting go” is a classic killer Stapleton line.

“Just how long it's been I can't recall
Since I felt the warmth of your kiss
And all the little things you used to do
Are all the things that I already miss”

The protagonist adds further detail about the desperate situation, with Stapleton describing the unique sadness of missing someone when they're still right there with you.

“When you decide to say goodbye
How am I supposed to live without you
I don't know
Don't know why I'm holding on
We both know that you're already gone”

Just when it looks like our narrator is leaning towards leaving, he reminds us just how deeply he still lovers his partner. He can't fathom living without her, before rebuking himself for holding on to a lost cause (“We both know that you're already gone”). How does the story end? Hopefully we'll find out on Nobody Wants This....

“I don't see the same look in your eyes
The one that used to say we're meant to be
I don’t feel the hunger in your touch
You used to tell me I'm all you need

-

It's hard to stay but leaving hurts
And I'm not sure which one is the worst
Because tonight I'll hold the love I used to know
And listen to a heart letting go

-

Just how long it's been I can't recall
Since I felt the warmth of your kiss
And all the little things you used to do
Are all the things that I already miss

-

It's hard to stay but leaving hurts
And I'm not sure which one is the worst
Because tonight I'll hold the love I used to know
And listen to a heart letting go

-

When you decide to say goodbye
How am I supposed to live without you
I don't know
Don't know why I'm holding on
We both know that you're already gone

-

It's hard to stay but leaving hurts
And I'm not sure which one is the worst
Because tonight I'll hold the love I used to know
And listen to a heart letting go

-

Oh, tonight I'll hold the love I used to know
And listen to a heart letting go

-

A heart letting go”

For more on Chris Stapleton, see below:

Chris Stapleton

Artist