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Blake Shelton explains why 'Go Ahead and Break My Heart' means so much to him

Tuesday on TODAY, country star Blake Shelton explained just why the duet he wrote with his girlfriend, singer Gwen Stefani, means so much.
/ Source: TODAY

Tuesday on TODAY, country star Blake Shelton explained just why the duet he wrote with his girlfriend, singer Gwen Stefani, meant so much to both of them.

The reason Shelton felt the need to explain? Both Hoda and Kathie Lee were baffled by the title and lyrics of the single, "Go Ahead and Break My Heart," which they saw as contradictory.

The track debuted earlier this month on "The Voice" with a live performance by the couple.

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"The words are 'Go Ahead and Break My Heart,' and you're singing it to this girl who you clearly love," said Hoda. "So we don't get the words versus the vibe."

But Shelton, 39, made sure our hosts understood that those lyrics weren't as contradictory as one might think. In fact, they're extremely romantic.

Shelton said they reflect his and Stefani's acceptance of the fact that a relationship will likely have its share of ups and downs.

"We were just writing it about ... it was hard to kind of let our guards down again, you know what I mean? Just going through some issues, and so that's what the song was even written about," he said. "It's like, I know something bad is going to happen, because it always does, so let's just get it over with now."

RELATED: Blake Shelton: Writing duet with Gwen Stefani 'is so important to both of us'

"When do you know, too bad, I know I've been hurt before, but I'm going for this?" asked Kathie Lee.

"I think you can see the look on our faces there," Shelton replied. "It's like, at some point you're, like ... 'It just is what it is now, so let's go for it.'"

As happy as he was to tell Kathie Lee and Hoda about the meaning of the song, Shelton did recently tell TODAY's Savannah Guthrie that the constant attention on his and Stefani's relationship has been "a little weird."

"We could not be, on paper, any more different," he went on to say. "I mean, I'm a country singer and she's a ska, rock, pop, whatever it is ... and it's just an odd idea. But man, it's a lot of fun. I've gotta be honest about that."