‘WAIT!’ by Kelsea Ballerini – Lyrics & Meaning

In the last two years, Kelsea Ballerini has been no holds barred when it comes to her music.

Following 2022's SUBJECT TO CHANGE, which started the metamorphosis from her signature upbeat, happy-go-lucky offerings to more honest and evocative musings, the award-winning hitmaker blew the door off its hinges in 2023 with the surprise drop of Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (RUTWM) and its For Good expanded edition. Diving into the intricacies of her failed marriage to fellow country artist Morgan Evans and her experiences undergoing such a public divorce, the project felt like the turning of the page in her musical career, and the next chapter has finally arrived with her new album, PATTERNS.

Marking her fifth studio record, PATTERNS continues to draw on the forward-facing emotions heard throughout RUTWM, but this time taking on the form of a series of diary entries across its 15 tracks, unpacking them one by one. Less focused on picking up the pieces, the collection follows Ballerini as she finds love, reflects on the last few years and finds deeper understandings within herself as she embraces the highs, lows and imperfections that life brings.

Just past the halfway mark of PATTERNS, sits one of the more vulnerable tracks, 'WAIT!,' which ironically enough was the final song written for the album. As Ballerini looks in the mirror and realizes her fears and setbacks when it comes to relationships, it's a truly gorgeous display of her songwriting prowess.

As has been the case for the last handful of Ballerini's projects, the entirety of PATTERNS sees her serving as co-producer alongside beloved collaborator Alysa Vanderheym, who also co-wrote this song with the Grammy-nominated entertainer.

Knowing this, it's no surprise that 'WAIT!' and the record as a whole straddles the lines of country and pop, almost taking on moniker that can best be described as "genre agnostic." Rather than being put in any singular box – whether it be country, pop, R&B or whatever else – the song and record borrow bits and pieces from across genres, becoming a musical melting pot full of bops, ballads, stripped-down serenades and everything in between.

In the case of 'WAIT!,' Ballerini takes on some heavily pop-inspired production choices with a menagerie of beats and artificial instrumentation that leans towards the latter end of her country-pop dichotomy.

Tallying just over three minutes long, it's a drum-heavy anthem that, in another life, likely could've been included on Taylor Swift's debut pop album, 1989. Either way, it's one of the many offerings from PATTERNS that is just waiting to be screamed by the thousands in packed arenas all over the country.

"I have a nasty habit
Leaving before I get left
You’ll think my light’s on yellow
When I’m keeping you on read
Stonewall my emotions even when I wanna
Cry tears as wide as the ocean, but I don’t

One fight, too many 3AMs
I guess we’re broken up
You’re like, 'This is just a conversation
Baby, what the fuck?'
Now I’m screaming 'Goodbye' out
Like it means 'I love you'
Internal warfare, it’s what I always do
Now I’m watching you
It’s hitting different now
But I’m telling myself"

At its core, 'WAIT!' is an extremely cadence-driven song, finding Ballerini taking on the conversational and confessional tone that makes you feel like you're being let in on a secret.

From the jump, Ballerini is quick to call out her flaws, notably being that she has a deep fear of abandonment that oftentimes finds her leaving before the other person has the chance to do so first. With some masterful turns of phrase – such as "you’ll think my light’s on yellow when I’m keeping you on read" – she explains in various ways how she's able to put up an emotional wall and separate herself from the situations at hand.

Noting that perhaps she struggles with confrontation, assuming that one fight with her significant other means that their relationship is simply over and unsalvageable, we start to see the back and forth tug of war she's in with herself as head and heart try to reason with each other.

"I’m better on my own
I’m better on my own
WAIT! Don’t go
It’s all I’ve ever known
It’s all I’ve ever known
WAIT! Don’t go"

We see this battle between head and heart play out in real time in the chorus.

While her mind and her long-forged habits and patterns try to tell her that's she better on her own and that it isn't worth the fight for love, her heart interrupts the chants of independence as she begs for her significant other not to leave her.

"I’m codependent with my independence
Through and through
My September makes me stubborn
But it’s fighting with my moon
When I said, “Just leave then,” I was only fishin’
How stupid of me to think you wouldn’t listen

Now you’re packing up your t-shirts
But I want ‘em in the drawer
Can’t get myself to say
STAY! before you’re out the door
Been time under tension
It’s blurring my vision, and so once again
My head and heart are at war"

As is common in Ballerini songs of late, she includes a few references to astrology and horoscopes in an attempt to blame her indecision and inner battles on her being a Virgo.

Even though she didn't really mean it when she told her partner to leave, they're left with no choice as they pack up their things and do as she asked. In desperation, Ballerini wants to tell them it wasn't real but her mind can't seem to give up its pride to ask them to stay. Once again, she's left with just her head and her heart alone in a sparring match.

"I’m better on my own
I’m better on my own
WAIT! Don’t go
It’s all I’ve ever known
It’s all I’ve ever known
WAIT! Don’t go

I’m screaming on the phone
I’m screaming on the phone
WAIT!
Don’t go
You’re all I wanna know
You’re all I wanna know
WAIT!"

In preparation for the highly-anticipated release of her fifth studio album, Ballerini teased and hinted at several things to come from PATTERNS and its 15 tracks.

Deep diving into the songs with media, the Knoxville native explained that "'WAIT!' is me looking in the mirror and acknowledging that I have this massive fear of being left, so I leave. That can be in any form of my life. I'm very scared of something ending, whether it's a career thing, a friendship or a relationship. If I see it start to go a little south, even if it's salvageable, I'll just jump ship to save myself."

Ballerini added: "'WAIT!' is that moment of acknowledging that and being like, 'Okay, I know I told you to leave, but can you turn around and come back now? My bad!'"

Using PATTERNS as more or less a series of diary entries from the last few years of her life, she notes that within the collection fans will get to see a more raw and introspective starlet that they ever have before.

“I’ve always been an open book, but this is a different kind of deeper. Just like it was scary sharing all the details of a divorce, this is me, now. Yes, I’m in a very happy, almost two-year relationship; but it’s not all the perfect Instagram stuff you see posted. There’s family history, past relationships, all the things you bring with you, friendships, being there, not being there,
showing up, not knowing... I have a massive fear of abandonment, of failing, I’m hyper-sensitive. I want to cut and run when I’m thinking it’s going to fall apart. Those are all patterns," she expressed.

I have a nasty habit
Leaving before I get left
You’ll think my light’s on yellow
When I’m keeping you on read
Stonewall my emotions even when I wanna
Cry tears as wide as the ocean, but I don’t

One fight, too many 3AMs
I guess we’re broken up
You’re like, “This is just a conversation
Baby, what the fuck?”
Now I’m screaming “Goodbye” out
Like it means “I love you”
Internal warfare, it’s what I always do
Now I’m watching you
It’s hitting different now
But I’m telling myself

I’m better on my own
I’m better on my own
WAIT! Don’t go
It’s all I’ve ever known
It’s all I’ve ever known
WAIT! Don’t go

I’m codependent with my independence
Through and through
My September makes me stubborn
But it’s fighting with my moon
When I said, “Just leave then,” I was only fishin’
How stupid of me to think you wouldn’t listen

Now you’re packing up your t-shirts
But I want ‘em in the drawer
Can’t get myself to say
STAY! before you’re out the door
Been time under tension
It’s blurring my vision, and so once again
My head and heart are at war

I’m better on my own
I’m better on my own
WAIT! Don’t go
It’s all I’ve ever known
It’s all I’ve ever known
WAIT! Don’t go

I’m screaming on the phone
I’m screaming on the phone
WAIT!
Don’t go
You’re all I wanna know
You’re all I wanna know
WAIT!

If I drive you away
Will it cut like a blade?
Will it carry the same
Weight?

At the end of the day
I’m a girl, I’m afraid
Turn around, hit the brakes
Ooh, and now you got me...

Screaming on the phone
I’m screaming on the phone
WAIT! Don’t go
You’re all I wanna know
You’re all I wanna know
WAIT! Don’t go

Can I take it back now?
Can we make it last? Oh

Feelings ain’t the facts
Just the patterns of my past, so
WAIT!

--

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