Stella Lefty’s new release “Summer You Were Mine” interpolates the Chicks’ Grammy-winning classic “There’s Your Trouble,” as confirmed by Rolling Stone.
Following the release of her debut album, Long Way Home, fans quickly drew comparisons between Lefty’s new track and the Chicks’ iconic 1998 hit, “There’s Your Trouble.” However, the newly released track’s credits initially failed to acknowledge the original song, which earned the Chicks a Grammy for Best Country Performance.
The discrepancy was resolved when a representative for Atlantic Records explained to Rolling Stone that a technical error on streaming platforms had omitted the names of the original songwriters, Tia Sillers and Mark Selby. The credits have since been updated to include both writers, though representatives for Spotify and Apple Music did not immediately return requests for comment.
Rolling Stone reviewed internal documents confirming that Lefty’s team secured the necessary clearance from Sony Publishing back in June. Furthermore, label records from late July show that both Sillers and Selby were properly credited in internal preparations before the album’s official launch.
Sillers, a seasoned songwriter behind major country hits like Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” and Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s “Blue on Black,” co-wrote the track with her late husband, Mark Selby, who passed away in 2017. She shared with Rolling Stone, “We wrote a bang-up, awesome song. People are going to fall in love with Stella’s song, but hopefully, they’ll also discover that it’s an interpolation of ‘There’s Your Trouble.’ For a new generation unfamiliar with the original, it could lead them to discover a timeless classic.”
Interpolation—recontextualizing or slightly altering an existing melody or lyrics, distinct from direct, unaltered sampling—has become a staple in modern music. Prominent examples include Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings,” which reimagined “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music, and Taylor Swift’s “Father Figure,” which draws inspiration from George Michael’s classic track of the same name.
Like sampling, interpolation provides a familiar hook that can instantly capture a listener’s attention. A music publishing source explained to Rolling Stone that A&Rs frequently utilize interpolations to break new artists because of the inherent familiarity. “It’s a proven way to get a new song out to a broad audience. People instantly attach themselves to familiarity.”