[caption id="attachment_34220" align="aligncenter" width="607" caption="Kelly Clarkson looks intense"][/caption]

This is a very Kelly Clarkson kind of week: She's premiering the video for her new single "Dark Side," she's appearing on that new show Duets, and she's probably digging a well in a poor village somewhere.

Which is fine by me, because I love Clarkson's music. Like, lizzy-lizzy-love it. Like, in the last week, I've taken two long runs with a Kelly Clarkson soundtrack. I just can't get enough of her voice, and her recent albums have delivered some flawless pop songwriting. I'm not saying every track is perfect, but most of them have that magical blend of freshness and hookiness. I can get addicted after one listen, but I don't feel like I've heard it all before.

So anyway, on my last run, I started thinking about all the Kelly Clarkson songs that the general public doesn't know. They've never been released as singles, but they're still fantastic and deserve to be heard.

And now I want to give those songs to you! Because I care! So taken a listen to these "lost hits" by Kelly Clarkson. They haven't been on the radio, but they should definitely be in your heart.

(1) "I Forgive You"

from the album Stronger

If there's any justice, this song will be a single someday. “I Forgive You” not only has a sweet hook and amazing power notes, but also delivers a refreshingly advanced message for a Kelly Clarkson song. This time, instead of simply scorning the dude who broke her heart, she’s trying to forgive and understand him. She’s not necessarily succeeding, but at least she’s trying. (And as I've mentioned before, listening to this song will make your mom think you're awesome.)

(2) "Don't Let Me Stop You"

from the album All I Ever Wanted

Let me describe what I imagine when I hear Clarkson wail her way through this song about her emotionally unavailable boyfriend: I imagine that I am running down a busy city street, perhaps wearing a super-cool denim jacket, and that I am moving at normal speed while everyone around me is frozen. As I run, I’m singing the lyrics, and I occasionally touch people that I pass. When I touch them, they unfreeze and start running with me. Eventually, there’s an entire pack of us, racing to some kind of river, and when we get there, the power of this song’s guitar line actually lets us run over the water.

Oh, and during the power note in the bridge, all the glass breaks out of a skyscraper.

(3) "Cry"

from the album All I Ever Wanted

Glee covered this scorching power ballad earlier this season, which is the least it deserves. But seriously, nothing compares to the original version, which features some of Clarkson's most subtle and vulnerable singing. And I am such a sucker for the 80s-friendly theatrics in the chorus. Those drums! Those harmonies! It's like all the passion in the world just exploded in my ears!

Mark Blankenship tweets as @IAmBlankenship. He recently ranked Katy Perry's singles from worst to best.