The Middle of Starting Over (song)

"The Middle of Starting Over"
Single by Sabrina Carpenter
from the album Can't Blame a Girl for Trying
Released	August 19, 2014 (2014-08-19)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2013 - 2014
Genre	Folk pop teen pop country pop
Length	3:32
Label	Hollywood
Songwriter(s)	Jim McGorman Robb Vallier Michelle Moyer
Producer(s)	Brian Malouf McGorman (co-producer) Vallier (co-producer)
Sabrina Carpenter singles chronology
"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" (2014) "The Middle of Starting Over" (2014) "Silver Nights" (2014)
"Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" (2014) "The Middle of Starting Over" (2014) "Silver Nights" (2014)
Music video
"The Middle of Starting Over" on YouTube

"The Middle of Starting Over" is a song performed by American singer Sabrina Carpenter, taken from her debut EP, Can't Blame a Girl for Trying (2014) and the track appears at her debut studio album, Eyes Wide Open,^[1] released a year later. It was released by Hollywood Records as the album's second single. The song was produced by Brian Malouf and co-produced by Jim McGorman with Robb Vallier, the last two wrote the song with Michelle Moyer. Musically, "The Middle of Starting Over" is an midtempo teen pop song which relies on country pop and folk pop. The song's lyrics speak of moving on, start all over again and forget the mistakes. The song impacted at Radio Disney on July 2014, and was released officially on August 19, 2014.

Background

After the release of her debut single, Carpenter tried to choose a second single to promote her EP, Can't Blame a Girl for Trying. The song was written by Jim McGorman, Robb Vallier, and Michelle Moyer, and was produced by Brian Malouf, who had previously worked with Carpenter. In an interview with Teen.com, she said "The whole song is really just about taking in life's mistakes and just finding fun ways to get through life. Even if you are starting over, even if you do have to try new things, just make the best of it and have fun with it.".^[2] The song was released as a single on 19 August 2015, and it had a radio impact on Radio Disney a month before. The song was also included on Carpenter's first studio album, Eyes Wide Open, which was released on April 14, 2015.

Recording and composition

"The Middle of Starting Over" is a three minutes and thirty-two seconds teen pop song with folk pop and country pop influences. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com.^[3] The song is composed in the time signature of common time with a moderate rate of 92 beats per minute. It is written in the key of D major and Sabrina's vocal range spans from the low note A3 to the high note of A4, giving the song one octave of range. "The Middle of Starting Over" is a lively midtempo song that, lyrically, talks about moving on, start all over again and forget the mistakes.

In addition to producing "The Middle of Starting Over," Brian Malouf played keyboards and did the mixing at the Cookie Jar Recording in Sherman Oaks, California. Eric Boulanger did the audio mastering at The Mastering Lab, Inc. in Ojai, CA. Robb Vallier and Jim McGorman co-produced the track and McGorman played the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, piano and keyboards. Marc Slutsky play drums and Daniel Kalisher play mandolin while Vallier and Michelle Moyer did the backing vocals. Chris Thompson engineered the track.

Music video

Sabrina drawing a flower petal and singing.

Background and release

The music video was directed by The Young Astronauts.^[4] It was released on Vevo and YouTube on September 21, 2014, and it premiered on Disney Channel the day before. A lyric video was premiered on August 19, 2014 and it features various scenes of her playing with her sister, Sarah Carpenter, with an inverse filter. Sabrina commented that when they were making the video, they really wanted to have as much fun as they could. She said that some things were planned and some of it was improvised.

Synopsis

The video begins with Sabrina walking with a guitar in her hand to a set with a ladder, a sofa, boxes and paint cans. Throughout the video is shown several scenes where Sabrina is in different backgrounds singing the song or drawing flower petals. At the top line of the song, Cast out of sea, Sabrina is shown standing on a piece of land. Throughout the video are shown various fun scenes like a pillow fight with your friends, playing with balloons, changing the scenes and having fun with it, taking pictures and throwing petals of flowers. The video ends with Sabrina walking out the first set.

Critical reception

Anna Marie of A Kid's Point of You sayed "A folk-meets-pop jam, “The Middle of Starting Over” is certain to be added to countless sleepover playlists everywhere. It has an inspirational message and a unique, unforgettable sound only made stronger by Sabrina’s powerful vocals. The message of the song has that girl power theme, which I personally love and can relate to. One thing’s for sure; this song has already been added to my Summer playlist".^[5] The song received several comparisons with Taylor Swift's early works.^[6]

Live performances

Carpenter first performed at the 2014 Radio Disney Music Awards along with her debut single ^[7] and a few time later she performed at Disney Playlist Sessions along with the other songs of her EP and a cover of "Radiocative".^[8] A few time later, she performed at the Disney Social Media Moms Conference 2014.^[9] She performed the song at Fox&Friends Concert on New York in June 29 ^[10] and in July 19 at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles Benefit Concert.^[11] She performed the song on Big Ticket Summer 2014 ^[12] and she performed an acoustic version of the song on Perez TV along with "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying".^[13] She performed the song on Slimefest in 26 September ^[14] and in November at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2014.^[15] In 2015, she performed the song at D23 Expo in 2015 along with "Take on the World", "We'll Be the Stars", a cover of "FourFiveSeconds", "Can't Bame a Girl for Trying" and "Eyes Wide Open" and at the BeautyCon LA.^[16]

Credits and personnel

Recording and management

• Mixed at Cookie Jar Recording (Sherman Oaks, CA)
• Mastered at The Mastering Lab, Inc. (Ojai, CA)
• Val Derringer Music (ASCAP), Little Cyclone Music (ASCAP), Moyer Publishing (ASCAP)

Personnel

Credits adapted from Eyes Wide Open liner notes.^[17]

Release history

References