Rising country artist Bailey Hefley’s song “Dust on a Diamond” is the first single from her EP to be released later this year, Hopeful Romantic. “Dust on a Diamond” tackles a failed relationship that Bailey hopes can comfort other young women who have found themselves in similar circumstances.
“I went through a really difficult breakup with a guy that I think a lot of girls can relate to,” says Bailey about co-writing “Dust on a Diamond” with Marti Dodson and Linda Greene. “It totally tore me apart. I was in school and I was trying to study and I can remember taking my notebook and just trying to write in the margin little notes to myself. I was so distracted by the fact that I couldn’t move on from this guy. I was so broken and I didn’t believe in myself. I would write little positive notes to myself in the margin and then stand up and go look in the mirror in my bathroom and just cry. As embarrassing as that is, I would just cry and with tears streaming down my face, red eyes, looking in the mirror, saying, ‘You are gonna be okay. You’re good enough. This doesn’t define you.’ Shortly after I went through that myself, I had a friend go through a very similar situation and I thought, ‘Maybe that’s why God put me through all that pain.’ I kept wondering why I had to go through it. And then the thought dawned on me that maybe I can help more than just this other girl. Maybe I can write a song about it and help a lot of girls. Maybe I can write the song I wish I had when I was in that place.”
The six-song offering, all of which Bailey co-penned, is about finding love—and all the ups and downs that come with it. There are themes of broken trust in “Not Your Cinderella” and the mystery—and thrill—of the unknown in “Gotta Find Out,” while the title track serves as an autobiographical lesson in the optimism of love.
Bailey says the EP, which is produced by Jamie O’Neal, is a “roller coaster ride of love” commensurate with some of the relationships she’s had over the last five years. It’s marked with the “depth” she developed as the optimistic young woman who overcame those childhood seizures.
“Hopeful Romantic is the perfect name for this EP because it totally describes the ups and downs of my love life over the years,” says Bailey. “There’s something for every emotion you go through in a relationship. I want listeners to experience the passion that I wrote about. From the sadder songs, they can relate to the way that I felt when I wrote them, and from the happy songs, maybe they can turn it up in the car and have some fun or dance. I want them to feel something.”
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“Dust on a Diamond” Lyrics:
All the pretty girls looking in the mirror
Crying black mascara rain
Cause of some pretty boy’s sweet words
That don’t mean anything
Girl you thought you were the only one
Gave your heart up to a hit and run
Now you’re thinking you’re not good enough
But you’re good enough
You were good enough
Chrous:
You’re a diamond
You were trying to shine for a blind man
Wasting all your pretty and your tears on a man who was picking up pennies
With a dime in his hand baby don’t spend any more
Time on tryna figure out whatcha did wrong
I know you thought it was love
But it was lying that boy was dust
Dust on a diamond
V2:
All the broken girls picking up the pieces
From the mess he left you in
Trying to stop your heart from beating so you never fall again
He ain’t gonna be the end of you
He’s just something that you’re going through
One day you’re gonna know that it’s true
That you’re good enough
He wasn’t good enough
Chorus
Bridge:
Get up stand up shake the dust right off your shoulders
Hold head your head up girl you’re better off it’s over (woah)