Kelly Clarkson’s Where Have You Been Lyrics Tell a Love Story

Kelly Clarkson‘s “Where Have You Been” lyrics about the kind of love you see in the movies — or, in her case, on a television show.

The singer explains that she got inspired after watching an episode of the Hulu mystery/comedy Only Murders in the Building.

Specifically, she recalls a scene where Martin Short’s character sees Meryl Streep’s for the first time and says the line that became the title of her song.

“It was just a pure moment,” Clarkson says in a video explaining the story behind the song. “And everything on his face when he said those words, he looked at her and he was just so in awe, and he was like, ‘Where have you been?'”

It’s the first new solo music to come from Clarkson since her 2023 Chemistry album, a project based heavily on her divorce from her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, and the journey of heartbreak she endured to get to where she is today.

Read More: Did Kelly Clarkson Change Her Mind About Dating After Divorce?

In that sense, a love song like “Where Have You Been” feels like the natural next step. But Clarkson says she hasn’t had that awestruck moment with a new partner yet, though she’s open to it someday.

“I’m not not looking and I’m not looking,” Clarkson said in a Today interview this week when asked if she thinks “Where Have You Been” could describe a future romantic relationship in her own life.

That’s a change from what her response might have been a couple years ago.

For the first couple of years after her divorce was finalized, Clarkson was pretty adamant about avoiding dating, and she said she might not ever want to get married again.

For now, her romance will play out in her new single — and a music video that’s one of her sultriest to date.

Here Are Kelly Clarkson’s “Where Have You Been” Lyrics:

I like my freedom but I’d trade some for a kiss / Little do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this / When it came to my hopes, well, they left / Skies I won’t miss / I was getting so lonely I didn’t count on, count on this

Chorus:

Where have you been? / What took so long? / I thought I’d find you / Found out I was wrong / I almost gave up / The light was so dim / And now here you are / Where have you been?

I felt it from the moment you walked in the room / Nothing could keep my eyes from drifting over to you / When it came to wild love, I wondered what it meant / And then you show up, making me believe again…

Repeat Chorus