Page 181 of The Song We Lost

I knew this whole situation was eating away at her. Because this wasn’t Bailey. With everything spiralling around her, she was allowing her grief to hollow her out until anger became easier to carry.

She started writing songs faster after that. One about Sadie, then about the industry chewing people apart. One about feeling like a ghost inside her own life and then there was the song about public perception of her. She called it In Her Shoes.

The first time I heard it I had to leave the studio halfway through because I thought I might throw up. Every line forced me to finally understand what the past few years had cost her.

Bailey sounded tired, resigned in her anger. Like someone who spent years breaking quietly. That hurt more than screaming ever could.

I tried talking her down twice. Not because I disagreed with her anger. God knows she earned it.

But because I knew Bailey. And I knew once the grief shifted, once the sharpest part of this pain dulled even slightly, she would have to live with whatever happened next.

“You’re going to burn everything down,” I told her softly one night after everyone else finally left.

Bailey sat on the studio floor surrounded by lyric sheets and an empty tea mug. Without looking at me she said, “Maybe it deserves to burn.”

I didn’t have an answer for that, because part of me agreed. She had every right to feel the way she did about the machine that wanted to keep feeding off her even after Sadie died.

I understood why she wanted to set fire to all of it. But I also knew Bailey wasn’t rage. She wasn’t malicious and she would never want to attack her fans.

Bailey had her anger to shield her soft heart from the pain of her grief. But she was love, she was all heart and that is what her music was. That is who she was to her fans. How she took the pain from a line I had said carelessly and turned it into an anthem for the people who loved her. Her fans. And I was terrified she would destroy herself trying to make everyone else hurt as badly as she did. That night after Bailey finally fell asleep on the couch in the studio, I stepped outside into the cold mountain air and called Rachel.

She answered immediately. “Please tell me she’s sleeping.”

“For now.”

Silence. Then Rachel sighed. “How bad is it?”

I looked through the studio window at Bailey curled beneath a blanket surrounded by pages of songs that looked more like wounds than music. I knew what needed to be done. This wasn’t about me or Rachel or the label… It was about saving her.

“She’s going to walk onto that stage and burn her entire career to the ground,” I said quietly. “And I need your help to stop her.”

what they say

COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS – OPENING PERFORMANCE CONFIRMED

After months of silence, Bailey Brooks' team confirmed she will open this year’s ceremony with her first live performance since her tour ended last year.

The announcement comes just weeks after Brooks received five major nominations, including Performer of the Year.

@cmadaily

BAILEY BROOKS IS OPENING THE SHOW AGAIN.

@reply

This woman disappears for months and still gets the opening slot.

@reply

Because she’s Bailey Brooks.

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This is huge.

@reply

She hasn’t performed live ONCE since the album dropped.