‘Scissors’ by Julia Michaels & Maren Morris - Lyrics & Meaning

At the start of January 2025, Julia Michaels and Maren Morris joined forces to tease a brand new collaboration, ‘Scissors’. The infectious, light-hearted earworm serves as Michaels and Morris’ second duet, following 2024's ‘cut!’, one of the stand-outs from the latter's first EP, Intermission, since announcing her exit from country music.

Although the titles ’cut!’ and ‘Scissors’ would suggest the songs are linked in some way, the two artists underlined in a 2025 Rolling Stone interview that the connection was unintentional.

While Maren Morris was the lead artist on ’cut!’, Julia Michaels takes the helm on ‘Scissors’, with the playful collaboration expected to appear on Michaels’ sophomore album.

The arrival of ‘Scissors’ on January 10th, 2025 was accompanied by a colourful, tongue-in-cheek music video starring both Julia Michaels and Maren Morris. In the visuals, the artists take the titular theme a little more literally than listeners might expect, with Michaels playing the part of a wife who finds out her husband is cheating on her. With the help of the neighbourly Morris, the duo utilise their clippers in a dark, Edward Scissorhands-esque way in order to exact their revenge.

‘Scissors’ is an R&B-tinged pop anthem, with Julia Michaels and Maren Morris trading verses across a feel-good, beat-driven instrumental. As is the case on ‘cut!’, Michaels and Morris’ vocals complement each other seamlessly, with each artist striking the perfect balance in their delivery between nonchalant and mischievous.

‘Scissors’ pivots around a killer hook, and although having a relatively trimmed-down running time (pun intended), it nonetheless acts as an energising sonic espresso shot.

“You wanna say goodbye, I'm not crying rivers
If you wanna cut ties, I'll get the scissors, baby
I don't mind, I'm not even bitter
If you wanna cut ties, I'll get the scissors, baby”

The central message of ‘Scissors’ is that, despite the protagonist's partner initiating talks of a break-up, they won't be missed. Julia Michaels adopts an amusingly blasé attitude to the prospect of the romance ending, quipping that, “If you wanna cut ties, I'll get the scissors, baby”, suggesting she was never that emotionally attached in the first place. It's a refreshingly jovial take on the end of a relationship.

“You should know about me
When it comes to love, I'm pretty cautionary
Hurt your feelings, involuntary
When I say I'll see you, I mean in Nev-uary, so”

Julia Michaels goes on to stress that she's very cautious about falling in love, again suggesting that she never got to that stage with her soon-to-be-ex, before offering a back-handed apology by underlining that, if she hurt his feelings, it was involuntary. We then get a witty play on the classic break-up line, “I'll see you”, with Michaels clarifying that, in reality, she'll only see him in “Nev-uary” - i.e. never.

“Kiss me while you can
And babe, when you're ready
I'll be there with hands so steady”

The ‘Scissors’ imagery is extended here, with the protagonist teasing that, if their partner feels it's time to call things off, then she'll be there with steady hands, ready to ‘cut’ them off. This implies she won't be feeling any anxiety or worry about the decision.

“You should know about me
When it comes to lovers, I'm not repetitious
I know I look it, but I'm not that precious
You don't have to stay the second we get finished so”

Here, the lead character stresses that her track record of lovers shows she's happy to switch things up, emphasising she's “not repetitious”, before hinting that it's a mistake to underestimate her and patronise her by calling her “precious”. The protagonist again highlights that she doesn't feel any particular emotional attachment to her current flame, and therefore has no qualms about calling it quits immediately.

In their Rolling Stone conversation, Julia Michaels touched on the inspiration behind the duet, “‘Scissors’ is a funny way of saying that I’m unbothered. My skin is thick. I’m not pressed if someone wants to leave. Half the time I don’t want them to stay either”.

Maren Morris echoed Julia Michaels’ sentiments, as well as remarking how she was excited to be involved in a track that treats a break-up with more levity than usual, “It’s about being nonchalant when a relationship fizzles, because, let’s be honest, most of them do. Not everything ends in heartbreak, but sometimes apathy and a lightheartedness, which sorely needs representation in break-up songs!”

Julia Michaels expanded on how Maren Morris was an obvious choice for ‘Scissors’, “I was so honored when she asked me to sing ‘Cut’ with her and had no idea what she was going to say when I asked her about ‘Scissors,’ and when she said yes, I was so flattered and honored. I adore her, her sense of humor and her just as a person.”

Maren Morris returned the compliment by paying tribute to Julia Michaels’ artistry, “She’s so brilliant when I bring an idea in and elevating it. We just giggle and sing melodies all day to each other. We always choose the lyric that makes us laugh”.

“You wanna say goodbye, I'm not crying rivers
If you wanna cut ties, I'll get the scissors, baby
I don't mind, I'm not even bitter
If you wanna cut ties, I'll get the scissors, baby

-

You should know about me
When it comes to love, I'm pretty cautionary
Hurt your feelings, involuntary
When I say I'll see you, I mean in Nev-uary, so

-

Kiss me while you can
And babe, when you're ready
I'll be there with hands so steady

-

You wanna say goodbye, I'm not crying rivers
If you wanna cut ties, I'll get the scissors, baby
I don't mind, I'm not even bitter
If you wanna cut ties, I'll get the scissors, baby

-

Cutting you, cutting you out, cutting you off (Out)
Feels so good, really good, really good when I say that I'm
Cutting you, cutting you out, cutting you off (Off)
Feels so good, really good, really good when I say that I'm

-

You should know about me
When it comes to lovers, I'm not repetitious
I know I look it, but I'm not that precious
You don't have to stay the second we get finished so

-

Kiss me while you can
And babe, when you're ready
I'll be there with hands so steady

-

You wanna say goodbye, I'm not crying rivers (Ooh)
If you wanna cut ties, I'll get the scissors, baby
I don't mind, I'm not even bitter
If you wanna cut ties, I'll get the scissors, baby (Oh)

-

Cutting you, cutting you out, cutting you off (Off)
Feels so good, really good, really good when I say that I'm
Cutting you, cutting you out, cutting you off (Cutting you out, it feels so right)
Feels so good, really good, really good when I say that I'm

-

It feels so good
Mm, cutting you off, baby, I love it
Cutting you off, baby, I love it
Cutting you off, baby, I love it
Cutting you off, baby, I love it
Cutting you off, baby, I love it
Cutting you off”

For more on Julia Michaels, see below: