Who Is Hilary Duff’s ‘Mature’ Single About?

THE RUNDOWN

Hilary Duff has officially made her return to music with her new single, “Mature.”
The song is an ode to her younger self and a previous relationship.
“I was looking back on this relationship and thinking about whether this guy had a habit of dating younger women or whether I was ‘special.’ The whole experience was super therapeutic to write about,” she said.

This is what dreams are made of: Hilary Duff has officially returned to music. It’s been a decade since her last album, Breathe In. Breathe Out., was released, and now she’s back with her new single, “Mature.”

The song, written by Duff, Matthew Koma (who’s also her husband), and Madison Love, is an ode to her younger self and a previous relationship. In the first verse, she sings about being dazzled by an ex, who’s not as interesting as she once thought: “Bet she’s so impressed by your Basquiat / And she thinks you’re deep in the ways you’re not.” In the chorus, she reflects on how this ex used to say she was mature for her age: “Bet she loves when she hears you say / ‘You’re so mature for your agе, babe.’”

She never explicitly shares who the song is about, but in the early 2000s, Duff dated Joel Madden when she was 16, and he was 25.

“It is definitely about a brief experience that I had in my—a long, long time ago,” Duff told Vogue about “Mature.” She continued, “But it is not totally autobiographical. I took a few artistic liberties just to make the song work structurally, but the gist is the gist. I was looking back on this relationship and thinking about whether this guy had a habit of dating younger women or whether I was ‘special.’ The whole experience was super therapeutic to write about, but being so vulnerable through your music can be really scary.”

In a press release, Duff said, “[My present self and my younger self] are reflecting on a past experience and sending love to each other. It’s a chuckle, a wink, and a sense of being grateful that we are sure footed in where we landed.”

Duff also released the official music video, which shows her performing onstage in an empty theater while another version of herself watches.

“It was important to me that the video felt like a performance instead of just laying out the story of the lyrics,” she told Vogue. “I wanted it to feel slightly meta, where it shows this girl in the audience watching herself sorta ‘perform’ back to her. I wanted to get across that idea of looking at some of the more performative elements of your prior self: Was it ever authentic, or were you always putting on a show for someone?”

Read the full lyrics below, courtesy of Genius:

Verse 1
She’s me, I’m her in a different font
Just a few years younger, a new haircut
Very Leo of you with your Scorpio touch
Now, now
Going down on her on your vintage rug
Bet she’s so impressed by your Basquiat
And she thinks you’re deep in the ways you’re not
Now, now

Pre-Chorus
I can’t put it on her, she’s a sweet kid
But she’s taking the bait like we all did

Chorus
She looks
Like all of your girls but blonder
A little like me, just younger
Bet she loves when she hears you say
“You’re so mature for your agе, babe”
She looks
Like shе could be your daughter
Like me before I got smarter
When I was flattered to hear you say
“You’re so mature for your age, babe,” oh

Verse 2
You dim all the lights so you look real wise
As they trace the lines underneath your eyes
And mistake your charm for a cosmic sign
Now, now

Pre-Chorus
I can’t put it on them, it’s his best trick
And they’re taking the bait just like I did

Chorus
She looks
Like all of your girls but blonder
A little like me, just younger
Bet she loves when she hears you say
“You’re so mature for your age, babe”
She looks
Like she could be your daughter
Like me before I got smarter
When I was flattered to hear you say
“You’re so mature for your age, babe”

Post-Chorus
Watched the tide rise up as high as you got on me
Listening to “Strawberry Letter 23”
Hid my car at Carbon Beach so I wasn’t seen at yours
You knew better of course

Bridge
Oh, you’re so mature
You’re so mature
Oh

Chorus
She looks
Like all of your girls but blonder
A little like me, just younger
Bet she loves when she hears you say
“You’re so mature for your age, babe”
She looks (She looks)
Like she could be your daughter
Like me before I got smarter
When I was flattered to hear you say
“You’re so mature for your age, babe”

Post-Chorus
Watched the tide rise up as high as you got on me
Listening to “Strawberry Letter 23”
Hid my car at Carbon Beach so I wasn’t seen at yours
You’re so mature for your age, babe

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