Kelsea Ballerini’s Reimagined ‘Love Me Like You Mean It’ Shows Her Growth [Listen]

To mark the 10th anniversary of her success, Kelsea Ballerini is revisiting a classic: Her debut single, "Love Me Like You Mean It."

Ballerini’s reimagined version is devoid of the youthful innocence of the original recording.

While the 2014 release is bubbly, fun, carefree and slightly flirtatious, the reworked rendition offers more rumination and a moodier delivery, with Ballerini transforming it into a self-affirmative anthem of celebrating her triumph over life's curveballs.

“If you're gonna hold me, hold me like I'm leavin' / If you're gonna kiss me, kiss me like you need it / Baby, if you're not, you best get to leavin' / If you're gonna love me, love me like you mean it / If you're gonna talk the talk, you better walk it / If you wanna keep me, keep me like you lost it / If you're gonna say and make me believe it / If you're gonna love me, boy, love me like you mean it,” Ballerini sings in the moody chorus, a marked difference from the bubblegum country-pop original.

On the production front, slow-groove bass and electric guitar lines take centerstage with assistance from banjo and mandolin strums, which took a more prominent role in the 2014 release. The result? A more stripped-down delivery that spotlights Ballerini's raw emotions and the very heart that inspired those life-inspired lyrics.

Of the updated rollout, Ballerini shares, “Ten years ago, i was twenty, naive, [starry-eyed], and absolutely relentless on putting my music out into the world. [I’m] proud to say, nothing has changed…except a DECADE of this wildly beautiful journey we’ve gotten to share full of tours and [singalongs], wins and losses, and growing up together.”

“Soooo, before we move into new music (yes, it’s coming i swear) [I] wanted to celebrate the beginning with you,” she says.

Ballerini’s set to perform “Love Me Like You Mean It (Reimagined)" and host the 2024 CMT Music Awards Sunday, April 7, at 8PM ET on CBS and Paramount+.