By Gabriella Steffenberg

Gwen Stefani has had a tough year. Two singles have been released prior to “Used to Love You” earlier in 2014, but this track speaks unabashedly about the trials and tribulations Stefani has been battling in 2015.

Taken from the Music Times.
Taken from the Music Times.

“Used to Love You” is a heartbreaking ballad, featuring Stefani’s signature tongue-in-cheek lyrics such as, “I don’t know why I cried, but I think it’s cause I remembered for the first time, since I hated you, that I used to love you.” Leading up to the chorus, she questions, “I thought I was the best thing that ever happened to you, I thought you needed me the most.” With the publicized falling out of Stefani and her ex, Gavin Rossdale, there’s no guessing game as to who this emotional track is directed to.

But through the hardest times often come the most rewarding outcomes. Stefani voiced her amazement to her record label’s excitement regarding “Used to Love You” on a recent radio interview with KIIS-FM (listen to the interview clip here), saying “we think you have a big song, we think you have a hit” after strong initial doubt over the first draft of the chorus.

Watch for yourself the stripped down beauty in the haunting track, “Used to Love You” below: