Carrie Underwood, ‘Blown Away’ Video Left Her Bruised

Carrie Underwood's latest single, "Blown Away," is in the Top 20 and climbing, and the tune's accompanying video is also making its mark -- even on the singer herself. The heart-wrenching tune tells the story of a girl and her alcoholic father in the path of a potentially deadly tornado, and Carrie knew exactly how she wanted the video to be filmed when she first heard the song.

"I really wanted it to be a dark, 'Wizard of Oz' in 2012 kind of thing," the superstar tells CMT. "The girl in the story has been struggling with this for a very long time. She just wants a fresh start. She is at her wits end, and she gets what she wants."

While Carrie, who appeared on the big screen in "Soul Surfer" last year, has relied on her acting chops for several of her other songs, including her No. 1 hit, "Good Girl" (which earned her a CMT Video of the Year award), she admits one of the video's opening scenes, which includes a powerful -- and physical -- interaction between the two main characters, was unscripted.

"We weren't originally planning to do that, but obviously in getting in there and making the video, it would make sense that father and daughter actually interact at some point," she explains. "He was such a great actor, the guy that played my dad. I felt uncomfortable, to be honest. He was that good because he was so intense and so angry."

Some of the scenes were challenging for the singer, both physically and emotionally. "We went in and acted out the scene the way we thought it might happen," she recalls. "I actually left with bruises on my arm from when he would grab me and I would pull away. I had finger marks on my arm when I left at the end of the day. So I was like, 'Wow.' ... It was intense. I wasn't just imagining it, it was really intense."

One part that was easy for the Oklahoma native was the raging tornado scene, which didn't involve much acting at all on her part. "I do feel like that kind of adds to my cred in making this music video. This is something that I did grow up with," she explains. "There were many, many nights where we would have to go wait it out in the cellar. It's something that I'm pretty used to."

The North American trek of Carrie's Blown Away tour will kick off on September 14 in Manchester, N.H. Keep track of her tour schedule here.