It was 2013. Indie rock was undergoing a massive, shimmering transformation, and three sisters from the San Fernando Valley were leading the charge with leather jackets and syncopated basslines. When Days Are Gone dropped, everyone was obsessed with "The Wire" or "Forever." But tucked away toward the end of that debut record sat a track that felt a bit more vulnerable, a bit more desperate, and incredibly catchy. Change Your Mind Haim fans will tell you, isn't just a filler track. It’s a blueprint for the "Haim sound" before they became the stadium-filling icons they are today.
People forget how much of a gamble that first album was. They were blending 70s Fleetwood Mac vibes with 90s R&B production. It sounds normal now because everyone copied them, but back then? It was weird.
The Raw Energy Behind Change Your Mind
You can hear the urgency. Danielle Haim’s vocals on this track have this stuttering, percussive quality that really defines the early era of the band. It’s about that universal, slightly pathetic feeling of begging someone to stay when the door is already halfway closed. We’ve all been there. You’re standing in a kitchen or a driveway, and you’re just throwing words at a wall, hoping one of them sticks.
The production on Change Your Mind Haim relies heavily on that tight, dry drum sound. It’s very 80s, very Prince-adjacent. Producers Ariel Rechtshaid and James Ford helped the sisters refine this, moving it away from the purely folk-rock sound they had when they were just playing local California fairs as a family band.
Honestly, the bridge is where the magic happens.
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Most pop songs today are too scared of a long bridge. Haim isn't. They let the instruments breathe. You get those layered harmonies from Este and Alana that feel like a soft cushion underneath Danielle’s lead. It’s sophisticated songwriting hidden inside a "simple" pop-rock shell. If you listen closely to the isolated tracks, the bassline—played by Este "Bassface" Haim—is actually doing a lot of heavy lifting. It’s melodic, almost acting as a second vocal lead.
Why the Lyrics Resonate a Decade Later
"I'm not gonna try and stop you / But I'm gonna try and change your mind."
It's a contradiction. It’s human. We say we won't beg, and then we immediately start pleading. The lyrics aren't trying to be Shakespeare; they're trying to be honest. That’s the secret sauce of the Days Are Gone era. They wrote about the messy, indecisive parts of being in your early 20s.
Comparisons to the rest of Days Are Gone
- The Wire: This was the "hit." It was confident.
- Falling: This was the atmospheric opener.
- Change Your Mind: This was the emotional core. It didn't need the flashy music video or the radio push to find its audience. It found people through headphones at 2:00 AM.
Sometimes a song doesn't need to be a chart-topper to be essential. Look at the live performances from the 2014 Glastonbury set. You could see the band leaning into the rock elements of this track, making it heavier and grittier than the studio version. It proved they weren't just a "studio band" manufactured by a label. They were musicians first.
Technical Nuance in the Production
If you’re a gear head, you’ll notice the guitars. There’s a specific "clean" tone that Haim uses which has become their signature. It’s bright but not piercing. On Change Your Mind Haim, they use a lot of palm muting to create that rhythmic "chug" that keeps the song moving forward. It’s a technique borrowed more from funk and disco than traditional rock and roll.
The layering is also insane. There are probably forty different vocal tracks in the chorus alone. This creates that "wall of sound" effect that makes the chorus feel like a giant wave hitting you. It’s why the song feels so much bigger than it actually is. It’s only about three minutes and forty seconds long, but it feels like a journey.
The Legacy of the "Early Haim" Sound
Looking back from the perspective of their newer albums like Women in Music Pt. III, you can see where they started. They’ve gotten more experimental lately—using saxophones and weird samples—but the heart of it is still that sisterly harmony.
There was a rumor for a while that the song was written about a very specific breakup Danielle went through right before they signed to Polydor. While the band hasn't confirmed every detail, the specificity of the lyrics suggests it came from a real place. It’s not a generic "I love you" song. It’s a "Please don't walk out that door because I've made a mistake" song.
Critics at the time, like those at Pitchfork and NME, praised the album for its "calculated cool." But songs like this one showed there was heat underneath the cool. It wasn't just an aesthetic. It was a feeling.
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What listeners often miss
Listen to the very end of the track. There’s a slight fade where the percussion lingers just a second longer than the melody. It feels unresolved. That’s intentional. The song is about a situation that hasn't been fixed yet. The mind hasn't been changed.
If you're trying to learn the song on guitar, the chords are relatively simple, but the rhythm is the killer. It’s all about the syncopation. If you miss a beat, the whole thing falls apart. It’s like a clock; every part has to move in perfect unison.
Moving Forward With the Haim Discography
If you’ve only ever listened to the hits, you’re missing out on the texture of their work. Change Your Mind Haim is the perfect gateway into their deeper catalog. It bridges the gap between their pop sensibilities and their rock roots.
To really appreciate the song now, you have to put it in the context of 2013. The world was dominated by EDM and massive, over-produced pop. Haim brought back the idea that three people playing instruments in a room could still be relevant. They made the "band" format cool again for a new generation.
Next Steps for the Listener:
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- Listen to the Live Version: Find the iTunes Festival or Glastonbury recordings. The energy is vastly different from the polished studio track.
- Analyze the Bass: Focus entirely on Este’s bassline during your next listen. It’s a masterclass in melodic pocket playing.
- Track the Evolution: Play "Change Your Mind" and then immediately play "The Steps" from their third album. You’ll hear the growth in their confidence and production style while seeing the thread that connects them.
- Check the Credits: Look at the engineering credits for the track. It shows how much work goes into making a song sound "effortless."
The brilliance of Haim is their ability to make complex music feel like something you’ve known your whole life. This song is the peak example of that talent.