Diane
by Cam

Album: The Otherside (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, a girl comes clean to a married woman about an affair with her husband.

    Oh, I promise I didn't know he was your man
    I would have noticed a gold wedding band
    Diane, I'd rather you hate me than not understand, oh Diane


    According to Cam, "Diane" was inspired by Dolly Parton's "Jolene," written from the point of view of the other woman.
  • Cam explained the song's meaning: "It's the apology so many spouses deserve, but never get," she said, "The other woman is coming forward to break the news to the wife about an affair, respecting her enough to have that hard conversation, once she realized he was married. Because everyone should be able to decide their own path in life, based on the truth. Women especially should do this for each other, since our self-worth can still be so wrapped up in our partners. And in true country fashion, I've set the whole raw story to upbeat music, so you can dance while you process it all."
  • Cam wrote this song with Jeff Bhasker and Tyler Johnson, the team behind her breakthrough hit "Burning House."
  • Speaking to Taste of Country News host Ania Hammar, Cam revealed that there some specific people on her mind while writing this song. "For me 'Diane' is some people I knew when I was younger, some parents of friends... a lot of people are 'Diane,'" she said.
  • The song's music video combines a gut-wrenching storyline with artistic cinematography. Cam revealed to Taste of Country that the inspiration behind the clip was Kendrick Lamar, who is known for his eye-catching visuals. Cam's manager, Lindsay Marias, is good friends with Lamar's manager, and a meeting was set up between the pair so the rapper could tell her about the process. Lamar assured her that the skill didn't come immediately. "He was just like, 'Go back and look at the early videos, they weren't good and we got better.'"

    Cam was so inspired that she wrote and created the concept for the "Diane" video: "We worked with a director who's so great at just making the whole thing come together in a really beautiful way," she said of the final product. "It's my story, I want to tell it the way I want to tell it visually."

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