Caroline Marquard Debuts Touching 'Never Should've Left,' Penned With Taylor Swift Co-Writer Liz Rose: Premiere

For Caroline Marquard, co-writing “Never Should’ve Left” with revered songwriter Liz Rose, has been a career highlight.

The yearning ballad, which premieres below, is out May 8 and appears on the 24-year old’s self-released debut EP, The Prologue, out June 26. It follows the previously released “Train of Thought,” “Keep My Eyes on You” and “Not a Rolling Stone.”

The Swiss-born Marquard moved to New York when she was 16 and, after attending Boston’s Berklee College of Music for a semester, moved to Nashville, where she met Rose.

Among the artists Rose is best known for working with is Taylor Swift, one of Marquard’s favorite acts. “This was my first write with Liz Rose and I was freaking out to say the least,” she tells Billboard. “I am a big Taylor Swift fan like every other girl my age, so this was a big moment. I brought in this idea and melody, Liz loved it so we ran with it."

"My producer, Jordan Lehning, was coming up with a cool chord progression on the guitar and Liz was the lyrical genius we all know and love her to be," she continued. "I believe we wrote it in about an hour and a half. This song is about regretting leaving someone. You know you weren’t your best self in the relationship and realize after the fact you’re pushing them away to find someone else to love, when all you want is for them to love you.”

Marquard also co-wrote and performs the song “Look in the Mirror,” currently used in a 60-second spot for German beauty company Flaconi.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Marquard, whom AOL named an artist to watch, has launched a weekly Instagram Live series, “Caro-Wine Down Wednesdays.”