‘Two Things’ by Kelsea Ballerini - Lyrics & Meaning

Album rollouts are generally good fun, but with Kelsea Ballerini, there's always an extra layer of intrigue thanks to the plethora of teasers, hints and easter eggs she sprinkles in the lead-up to dropping a new project. This has been particularly evident for her 2024 studio album, Patterns, which drops on October 25th.

On September 20th, the third single was released from Patterns - ‘Two Things’ - which followed the Noah Kahan-assisted ‘Cowboys Cry Too’ and the introspective ‘Sorry Mom’.

Kelsea had dropped a slew of cryptic clues ahead of the arrival of ‘Two Things’, with the ‘Penthouse’ singer-songwriter referencing how the idea that ‘two things can be true’ has been crucial to her post-divorce healing journey in a number of interviews.

It seems ‘Two Things’ was intended to be the keystone of the new album, with Kelsea Ballerini confirming in the comments of a recent post that Patterns was originally going to be called ‘Did You Make It Home’. This phrase appears in ‘Two Things’.

Although Kelsea Ballerini has leaned into a sleek, R&B-tinged sound in recent years, as was epitomised by 2023's Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, ‘Two Things’ finds Kelsea embracing a sparser, more acoustic feel. The first portion of the track predominantly consists of the ‘Peter Pan’ hitmaker's sinuous vocals combined with an intricate guitar. Then we get the introduction of an energising, weighty drum pattern, before the instrumental is stripped away again ahead of the climax.

“I love New York City, but I can't stay at the Carlyle anymore

My head and bed were messy from the night before

Sunflowers at the door

We said that it was over, what'd you send 'em for?

If I'm bein' honest, let 'em sit outside of 701

Except for that one

I pressed between those two pages of Hemingway poems we love

Probably because”

‘Two Things’ opens with the song's protagonist explaining how New York's famous Carlyle hotel now holds too many painful memories linked to a previous relationship.

The narrator explains how the impassioned night she spent with her old flame in the hotel room has left her bed sheets in a mess, with the protagonist using this to symbolise how her head is similarly jumbled and chaotic due to her conflicting feelings.

Following the break-up, the narrator's ex sends her sunflowers - a recurring motif throughout the Patterns roll-out - which leaves her wondering what they are supposed to imply.

Regardless of whether her old flame was trying to rekindle the romance or simply provide a peace offering, the narrator leaves most of them outside her room, No. 701.

However, she confesses she took one and pressed it between two pages in a book of Hemingway poems that held a special meaning during their relationship. This suggests the protagonist looks back on their fling with fondness, despite not wanting to get back together, which embodies the notion that ‘two things can be true’.

“Two things can be true

I'll love and hate you

I'll be your best and your worst day

I'll be your blessin' and curse, babe, yeah

Sometimes I'll cut and ghost

But sometimes I'll get too close

You're nothin' and everythin' I got to lose

Two things can be true

Two things can be true”

Kelsea Ballerini has repeatedly explained that this idea that ‘two things can be true’ is a pivotal concept for her. Rather than viewing her conflicting emotions towards her ex as problematic or something that needs to be solved, she accepts each of these complex feelings as valid. Kelsea then portrays herself as embodying this idea, due to the way in which she can be both a ‘blessing’ and a ‘curse’ for her partner. Similarly, sometimes she'll decide to cut off communication and ‘ghost’ her lover, while on other occasions, she might dive in heart-first and get too close.

“The next hundred-twenty hours I was obsessively lookin' at my phone

And checkin' your location, did you make it home?

Are you feelin' alone?

Are we turnin' into people that we used to know?

If I'm bein' honest

Couldn't get to Carolina quick enough, I'm not givin' up

Chartered a plane to your doorstep

We made up in your bed

Probably because”

Here, the lyrics could be implying that, after they'd broken up, she couldn't help but ‘obsessively’ keep an eye on her ex's location and make sure she got home safely. This could also suggest she was worried her old flame might find a new love interest, and if she saw she was sleeping at someone else's, this would seemingly confirm it.

Again, despite apparently initiating the break up, this verse captures the conflicted emotions the narrator feels towards her ex, with the two ending up back in the sheets in Carolina.

“My eyes are green (My eyes are green)

Yeah, your jeans are blue

I wish it was that easy

When it comes to me and you”

For a moment, the protagonist puts aside all the complicated emotions and levels to this relationship, and boils down each lover to one feature - her green eyes and her ex's blue jeans. She wishes their compatibility was as simple and easy as this, and that they didn't have to wade through all the complex emotions and baggage.

Kelsea Ballerini has peppered her interviews over the past year or so with references to this idea that ‘two things can be true’, which she cites as a central part of her healing journey.

Taking to TikTok shortly before the song's release, Kelsea shared a montage of recent interview clips discussing this concept, alongside the caption, “my therapist told me this phrase years ago and its been a consistent reminder to hold space for everything”.

“I love New York City, but I can't stay at the Carlyle anymore

My head and bed were messy from the night before

Sunflowers at the door

We said that it was over, what'd you send 'em for?

If I'm bein' honest, let 'em sit outside of 701

Except for that one

I pressed between those two pages of Hemingway poems we love

Probably because

-

Two things can be true

I'll love and hate you

I'll be your best and your worst day

I'll be your blessin' and curse, babe, yeah

Sometimes I'll cut and ghost

But sometimes I'll get too close

You're nothin' and everythin' I got to lose

Two things can be true

Two things can be true

-

The next hundred-twenty hours I was obsessively lookin' at my phone

And checkin' your location, did you make it home?

Are you feelin' alone?

Are we turnin' into people that we used to know?

If I'm bein' honest

Couldn't get to Carolina quick enough, I'm not givin' up

Chartered a plane to your doorstep

We made up in your bed

Probably because

-

Two things can be true

I'll love and hate you

I'll be your best and your worst day

I'll be your blessin' and curse, babe, yeah

Sometimes I'll cut and ghost

Sometimes I'll get too close

You're nothin' and everythin' I got to lose

Two things can be true (I'll be your best and I'll be your worst day)

Two things can be true

-

My eyes are green (My eyes are green)

Yeah, your jeans are blue

I wish it was that easy

When it comes to me and you

-

Two things can be true

I'll love and hate you

I'll be your best and your worst day

But you wouldn't want it any other way, yeah

Sometimes I'll cut and ghost

But, baby, don't let me go

You're nothin' and everythin' I got to lose (I got to lose)

Two things can be true (I'll be your best and I'll be your worst day)

Two things can be true (I'll cut and I'll ghost, don't let me in)

-

Mhm
Oh yeah”

For more on Kelsea Ballerini, see below: