Slow Me Down

Album: Slow Me Down (2013)
Charted: 89
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Songfacts®:

  • This Marv Green, Heather Morgan, and Jimmy Robbins penned mid-tempo Country ballad was released by Sara Evans as the lead single from her seventh studio album. Evans debuted the song during her annual fan club party in June 2013.
  • The track is sung from the perspective of a woman threatening to walk out on her man. "I knew, as I've known with other songs that I've written and recorded, that 'Slow Me Down' was me," said Evans. "I love songs that evoke emotion — it really is what connects people to the music. When we went into the studio to record ['Slow Me Down'] my main goal was to capture the desperation and passion in the song — to strike a balance between a strong vocal and the emotion that would pull in the listener."
  • The song's narrator finishes by telling her man that if he has something to say that he should "hurry up and slow [her] down."

    "There's definitely something about it," Evans told Billboard magazine. "That's what we all felt when we heard it. When they pitched it to us, it was so emotional and the thought of 'Hurry Up and Slow Me Down' is one of the best lines I have heard in a song in so long. I'm very lucky they pitched it to me."
  • The song's music video was directed by Peter Zavadil, who has helmed many of Evans' previous clips. Her love interest is played by NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, who got a call from the singer just days before the scheduled shoot. Evans admitted that she didn't know who Edwards was. "I don't really follow NASCAR. I love going to the races, and I've sung the National Anthem at the races, and it's so exciting. But, I really didn't know much about him until he came to be in the video - and he's a great actor. He was so into the role," she said to Billboard magazine, smiling.

    "I told him to be mean and be a jerk, and be a total ass so I could muster up the emotion I needed for the part," Evans continued. "He was incredible. He was a great bad guy, but a real nice guy."
  • Evans said to Billboard magazine regarding the album's alluring cover art: "I loved the idea of standing in front of the clock because of 'Slow Me Down.' We were shooting at this beach house in Malibu, and this clock was outside. We liked the way – not to sound weird – that the legs looked, thought it was sexy, but still classy. We're standing in front of the clock, it says 'Slow Me Down,' and the legs are a part of the clock, almost."

    I also loved the one-sleeve sweater with the bangles," she added, "so style-wise, I thought it was cool with the fashion."
  • Evans said regarding the song's meaning: "I love what the song says. 'hurry up and slow me down' is obviously a great play on words, but it means so much more than that. She is basically saying, 'I need you to know that I'm willing to give this relationship a chance, but if you don't change your ways, I'm leaving. But when I'm walking away, I want you to hurry up and slow me down. I want you to pursue me.'"
  • The song became the centerpiece of Evans' Slow Me Down album as it was the singer's favorite track. "There's just something about it," she told Radio.com. "It's sad, but it's also kind of mysterious."

    "I just love how the girl in the song is so completely vulnerable because she's saying, 'I love you and I want to be with you, but I'm trying to tell you that these things need to change, and if they don't, then I've got to leave," Evans continued. "I've got to have that much self respect, and I have to walk away from the situation, but I hope that you won't be able to live without me and that you'll stop me from leaving.'"

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