I love this duo.
Ben Chapman and Ashley Monroe recently released a duet version of his song “Is It Ever Really Gone,” which was a co-write by the two of them, along with Meg McRee.
Ben first cut it as a solo song for his Amber Sound, Vol. 1 record that came out in February, and then re-recorded it with Ashley for this newer version.
Of course, I’ve long been a massive fan of Ashley, and in my opinion, she simply makes every song sound better. Her vocals are so incredibly unique, and I definitely think Ben made the right call by recording this as a duet.
Ashley says she loves writing and singing songs like these (it’s kind of her specialty, in my opinion), and joining Ben to sing a few verses was a joy:
“On the day Ben, Meg and I wrote this song, we were talking about the feelings of love lost that can often live buried inside our hearts.
Sometimes, no matter how long it’s been and how far down you’ve buried it, you can’t fully move on.
The only thing I love more than writing songs like these are getting to sing them, and I’m grateful to Ben for inviting me to be a part of the duet version.”
Ben added that, while he loved the original version on Amber Sound Vol. 1, he felt like it was missing something, and having Ashley on the more stripped-back version was the perfect way to enhance the heartbreaking feelings in the lyrics:
“The day that we wrote ‘Is It Ever Really Gone’ I knew we had something special because it’s about something that everyone in this crazy world has experienced- heartbreak. No matter how much healing we do, you’ll never loose that little piece of hurt and brokenness.
The first time I recorded the song was on ‘Amber Sound Vol. 1’ & I love how we did it, but I still felt that the song needed to feel more raw and emotional, so you can really feel the heartbreak when you listen.
That’s when I called in Ashley to do a more stripped down duet version and that’s exactly what the the song wanted, and sometimes that’s what it’s all about- giving the song what it wants.”
The song itself finds our narrators reflecting on a former flame, and questioning whether or not it’s truly something they can ever move on from.
While it may seem from the outside looking in that it’s long over, that may not really be the case…
“Do you ever lose the flame if you keep it yourself?
Do you really turn a page if you put it on the shelf?
Does the door really close, or do you always leave it cracked?
Even though you let go, don’t ya sometimes want it back?”
I think that’s a pretty universal concept, and something we can all relate to or have felt at some point in time. Moving on from anything can be really damn hard, and they captured that sentiment so sweetly and perfectly with this song.
And their new music video, which we are pleased to premiere today, finds Ben and Ashley showing off their soulful vocals and delivering a beautiful rendition of “Is It Ever Really Gone.”
Check it out:
