Leaving a relationship is hard, we all know that. Sunny Sweeney's "Staying's Worse Than Leaving" video does not even try and sugarcoat that fact or soften the blow. What appears to be the breakup of a fractured relationship unfolds before our eyes, as Sweeney and her partner are hanging out separately in different parts of their well-decorated home, deep in thought, sporting long faces.Follow-up to her recent successful Top 10 debut hit, "From a Table Away." Confronted by the end of a long-term romance, Sweeney steps forward to call it quits on "Staying's Worse Than Leaving," the second single from her upcoming self-titled sophomore studio album. The moderate-tempo ballad song's female narrator describes being in a failed relationship that has gone on for quite some time, because she felt like staying was easier. Although she acknowledges that the best option she can do at this point is walk away, because she knows that "staying's worse than leaving."
Sweeney's songs often carry an emotional heft and insight into that little thing called heartache. At the outset of the song, after an ominous guitar lick signals trouble ahead, Texan Country artist admits this is just the beginning of her healing process. With a voice that recalls Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Sweeney takes a melodically tasty and moody ballad in "Staying's Worse Than Leaving" and spins a yarn of a story about a couple that tried as hard as possible to stick together and as the narrator, Sweeney realizes that staying together is doing nothing but hurting both her and the man she's trying to let go of.
Directed by Roman White, the music video is a refined but beautiful visual to this emotion-packed song. In the video, Sweeney and her husband are shown walking around their spacious home separately, both appearing distraught; Sweeney tears up, and the man frequently wrings his hands. At the end of the video, the two finally come together to sleep in the same bed. Whoever said parting is such sweet sorrow should choke on those words. Though the thought of goodbye has whipped her into a tailspin, she's composed herself to make the final break. Her voice, bending and curling around these bitter words, shines a sharp glow on the painful truths of human relationships.
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