"Twilight" Fan Kelly Clarkson Talks "New Moon" Song "Empty As I Am"

Like the millions of people who have made Robert Pattinson and Stephenie Meyer superstars, Kelly Clarkson is a big fan of the Twilight series. In fact, Clarkson classified herself as a "nerd Twilight fan" in a recent interview with MYX in which she confirms she and her backup singers penned a song about New Moon before the soundtrack to the film was finalized. "Empty As I Am," written from the perspective of the series' heroine Bella, didn't end up on the film's soundtrack, but but you can listen to a raw version of the track on Idolator. "It's a sweet song, but it's pretty sad," Clarkson says, noting, "but it's a sad book. [The books are] very relatable — everyone goes through those emotions."

While the song might be closer thematically and lyrically to anything that actually wound up on the New Moon soundtrack, "Empty As I Am" sounds quite different from the tracks by Radiohead's Thom Yorke, the Killers, Grizzly Bear and Death Cab for Cutie that ended up on the disc. "It's a really sad book," Clarkson says of New Moon and the inspiration behind the song. "It's the one where she gets left behind, a Romeo and Juliet tragic kind of thing."

Luckily for Clarkson, she'll have two — and potentially three, if they slice Breaking Dawn into two films — more chances to appear on a Twilight Saga soundtrack. In case she needed any more inspiration, New Moon werewolf Taylor Lautner was recently on the cover of Rolling Stone:
• Taylor Lautner's Wild Ride: The New Issue of Rolling Stone
• The Man on the "Moon": Q&A With "Twilight Saga" Director Weitz
• Jacob's Lautner: New Moon Werewolf on Twilight's Steamy Love Triangle
• Taylor Lautner: "New Moon" 's Teen Wolf Hits the Beach With Rolling Stone

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter