What Hilary Duff’s ‘Mature’ Lyrics Reveal About a Past Age-Gap Relationship
Hilary Duff has made her long-awaited return to music with her new single “Mature,” marking her first release in a decade since Breathe In. Breathe Out.
A Reflection on Youth and Relationships
The track, co-written by Duff, her husband Matthew Koma, and songwriter Madison Love, serves as a reflection on her younger self and a past age-gap relationship. In the song, she looks back on how she once saw an ex-partner as deeper and more intriguing than he truly was.
“Bet she’s so impressed by your Basquiat, and she thinks you’re deep in the ways you’re not.”
Through the chorus, Duff recalls how her former partner once called her “mature for her age,” echoing a sentiment that felt flattering at the time but now carries a different meaning with hindsight.
“Bet she loves when she hears you say, ‘You’re so mature for your age, babe.’”
Personal but Not Entirely Autobiographical
Although Duff doesn’t identify the subject directly, in the early 2000s she dated Joel Madden when she was 16 and he was 25. In an interview with Vogue, Duff described the song as inspired by that time in her life but not a literal retelling.
“It is definitely about a brief experience that I had a long, long time ago. 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.”
She explained that writing “Mature” allowed her to explore those memories with new perspective, wondering if her former partner had a pattern of dating younger women or if she was “special.”
“The whole experience was super therapeutic to write about, but being so vulnerable through your music can be really scary.”
Author’s Summary
Hilary Duff’s “Mature” turns an old memory into a heartfelt reflection on youth, vulnerability, and learning from age-gap relationships.