Kelly Clarkson’s New Song Featuring Her Baby’s Prenatal Heartbeat Debuts as Two Heartbeat Cases Are Heard in Court
Josh Shepherd /
On Monday, new mom and pop/country superstar Kelly Clarkson released “Heartbeat Song”—an upbeat, synth-driven single that celebrates her new baby girl in a unique way.
“The beat is actually River’s heartbeat slowed down from when she was in my tummy!”shares Clarkson in a radio interview. Clarkson and her husband Brandon Blackstock, married in 2013, welcomed their baby girl River Rose into the world on June 12, 2014.
A preview of the track released first on Twitter, in a video featuring pink-clad baby River:
It's here…the first official #HeartbeatSong teaser! Share on http://t.co/VQIYiQYKaZ – Team KC https://t.co/R5twtw8arm
— Kelly Clarkson (@kelly_clarkson) January 9, 2015
Released in its entirety on Monday, “Heartbeat Song” raves about her experience of motherhood with these lines:
Until tonight, I only dreamed about you
I can’t believe I’ll ever breathe without you
Baby, you make me feel alive and brand new
After winning the first season of “American Idol” and achieving three No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart (with seven more in the Top 10) since then, Clarkson has worked for three years on the follow-up to “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”—her most successful single ever, with more than 5 million copies sold.
On the same day as “Heartbeat Song” released, two national pro-life groups released a collaborative video calling attention to the “Heartbeat” court cases being heard in federal appeals court the following day.
The two cases, heard back-to-back on Tuesday, concern recent laws passed in Arkansas and North Dakota—restricting abortions based on when a baby’s heartbeat is detected. Seeing the potential for life-saving state policies, Matt Lockett of Bound4LIFE International and Lou Engle of TheCall have been tracking these cases for months.
“For these two events to unexpectedly happen at exactly the same time should make us all ponder for a moment,” says Matt Lockett, Executive Director of Bound4LIFE.
He continues, “For ‘Heartbeat Song’ to come along, set to the heartbeat of her baby in the womb, just as two important Heartbeat laws are being defended in court—it’s either an extraordinary coincidence or a confirmation. I take it as a great confirmation that God is drawing our attention to the sanctity of life in the womb.”
In the two court cases, heard Tuesday at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, Mo., pro-life advocates present in court say they are encouraged by how the states made their case.
“Both states approached these issues using an entirely new argument that has never before been heard in federal court,” says pro-family legal advocate Allan Parker. His group The Justice Foundation filed briefs supporting the states’ cases with an innovative legal strategy centered on Safe Haven laws.
A decision by the federal appeals court is expected in a matter of months.
Listen to “Heartbeat Song” below, from Kelly Clarkson’s forthcoming album Piece by Piece: