LISTEN: Kelly Clarkson's 'I Dare You' Is a Plea for Love

Kelly Clarkson asks for love, compassion and understanding — not for herself, but globally — in her brand-new song "I Dare You." The sometimes-country singer released the track on Thursday morning (April 16).

Natalie Hemby, Laura Veltz and Best West co-wrote "I Dare You," Rolling Stone reports, and the song was produced by Jesse Shatkin. Backed by a driving beat and echoing vocals, Clarkson pleads listeners, "You may not have a stage, but you still have a voice / You may not have the strength, but if you have the choice / I dare you to love."

"I dare you to love / Even if you're hurt and you can only see the worst / Even if you think it's not enough," goes the chorus. "I dare you to love."

"It's basically like, 'I dare you to love instead of fear, instead of hate, instead of wonder about something, and actually just engage with people and engage with yourself again and remember that we're all a human race,'" Clarkson tells Today of the song's message. "At the end of the day, we're all the same human race."

In a tweet, Clarkson calls "I Dare You" "my favorite/hardest project that I’ve ever worked on." She's been working on the song for over a year, she tells Today, and while the irony of of releasing the song in the middle of a global pandemic that has connected the world in a not-particularly-positive way isn't lost on Clarkson, she and her team opted to push forward with their original release plans.

"I thought, 'Maybe people need this kind of message right now,'" Clarkson explains of that decision.

Doubling down on that message of global unity, Clarkson worked with a number of singers from across the world to release "I Dare You" in multiple languages. A French version is sung by Zaz; Blas Cantó sings it in Spanish; Faouzia offers up an Arabic version; Maya Buskila sings in Hebrew; and Galsperlenspiel is responsible for a German version. They and Clarkson, who grew up singing opera in different languages, all performed the song together for Thursday's episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Clarkson was set to begin a new Las Vegas residency on April 1; however, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, those plans are on hold until July. Clarkson's Invincible shows will take place at the Zappos Theater inside Planet Hollywood.

As artists began postponing tours and other large events began shutting down, Clarkson also made the decision to indefinitely suspend filming of her daytime TV talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show. Now, however, she's begun — as many TV hosts have — putting new episodes together from her Montana ranch, where she is quarantining with her family.

"[My husband] Brandon [Blackstock] and I love wide open spaces and coming to the ranch," Clarkson says of the spot. "Both of us grew up in the countryside, one, and two, we literally work almost seven days a week, if not seven days a week. So when we have time off, we really like to check out.”

New The Kelly Clarkson Show episodes feature "Good Neighbor" segments highlighting good deeds being done during the pandemic, as well as new "Kellyoke" bits. All interviews are being done via video chats.

Quarantined fans can also hear Clarkson's voice in the recently released Trolls World Tour movie. In the film, Clarkson sings the song "Born to Die."

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