Carly Pearce is offering an unfiltered look into the realities of fame in her new song, “Dream Come True.” Out today, November 14, the vulnerable song finds Pearce reflecting on her journey and pulling back the curtain to reveal the sacrifices that often go unseen behind the glitz and excitement fans see from the outside.
She wears her heart on her sleeve as she explores the price of chasing success, from missed milestones to the lonely nights and the emotional toll that comes with having every aspect of her life put on display in the news. These are the downsides to the career that Pearce never saw coming when she was just a young girl chasing her dreams.
This tune, co-written by Pearce alongside Lauren Hungate, Tofer Brown, and Emily Weisband, and co-produced by Pearce with Ben West, hones in on the realization that even the greatest victories in life can come with a cost.
“Nobody loves you for you/ Nobody calls you if you lose your shine/ Nobody tells you everything you’re gonna lose/ Trying to make the dream come true,” the Kentucky native delivers on the chorus with a raw honesty in her voice.
Still, even with all she’s experienced, the GRAMMY, CMA & ACM Award-winning country star acknowledges the weight of her journey, singing, “A million girls would love to wear your shoes / You can’t complain if it’s the kind of life you choose.”
During an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Highway, Pearce recalled the day she and her co-writers wrote the song and shared the inspiration behind it.
“I went in to write this particular day and was just feeling really defeated, if I’m being honest. I felt just in a lull in my career. And I think that when you’ve been in this, when you pursue a dream like so many people do, whether you’re a singer or not, if you just, if you have a dream and you chase it, it comes with a price and there are sacrifices that happen,” she explained. “And I was just feeling that deeply that day and wanted to be honest and didn’t wanna live in the world where we all try to just show the highlight reel. I kind of was like, no, this is, I’m really just feeling, it’s not that I’m not grateful, it’s just that I’m feeling the effects of this. And feeling like, do people care? Can I, you know, go viral. Did I or did I miss out on, you know, a family and all of these different things. And so line by line, this song is my real story. I live in a cul-de-sac with a four bedroom house. I have had to miss countless friends’ weddings. I am grateful, but it is hard to be in the public eye and it’s hard to feel like a lot of your success has been wrapped up in real life experiences that maybe weren’t that great.”
Toward the end of the song, Pearce opens up about an even deeper weight she carries when she reveals that her mom is sick and her busy tour schedule doesn’t allow her much time off to see her loved one. However, even in the face of this heartache, Pearce finds strength in the sacrifices her mother made, noting, “She says I can quit / But then all of her prayers would be in vain / She worked my whole damn life to make this dream come true.”
Of this particular lyric, Pearce shared, “And the end of this song is a very honest moment as well, just about my mom and the journey that she’s been on with her health and feeling like this dream that she and I wanted as little when I was a little girl has kind of like taken me away from her. She doesn’t want me to quit, but she tells me I can, you know, it’s just all those kind of push and pulls of when you have this like dream that you wanna pursue.”
The song was paired with an equally moving music video that captures Peace sitting at a brightly-lit vanity all alone with just photos of her family and pets hung up to keep her company. She lets her emotions run free while members of her team move around her. Although technically she’s not alone, the emotional loneliness is extremely present.
“Dream Come True” arrives just a few days before the country star is set to deliver her final shows of 2025. A full list of upcoming tour dates can be found on her official website.
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