Conan Gray's 'This Song' Lyrics Are an Open Letter Fueled by Yearning
Along with heartfelt lyrics that openly yearn for romance, the track is married with whimsical string-heavy production reminiscent of the Goo Goo Dolls' 'Iris'... we can hear those TikTok mashups already. The song brings Conan back to his vulnerable bedroom pop songwriting roots, which is fitting since he wrote most of his fourth studio album, Wishbone, from that very place.
Wishbone is set to be released on August 29, and Conan revealed that he had 'secretly' stumbled upon the writing process almost two years ago.
'Over the past two years, I've been secretly writing songs. After shows in the basements of the venues, in the sheets of my hotel beds, in narrow gaps between tours— I'd come back home and write all the things I felt nobody wanted to hear. Maybe even the things I didn't want people to hear,' Conan wrote on Instagram. 'It felt like the music was reminding me who I am, at an experimental time in my twenties where 'who I am' had no definition at all.'
He continued, 'I played the songs to the very first person I'd ever made music with, Dan Nigro, and I quietly began to record. I didn't know why I was recording, I just was. I didn't know what story I was telling, I was just living in it. Slowly I started to see myself in full picture. The slivers of myself I'd always been, but never faced. The songs I'd always been writing, but never singing. Before I knew it I was surrounded by an album.'
That being said! Now seems like a good time to learn the lyrics of 'This Song' as Conan is hitting a few music festivals later this year.
Lyrics by Conan Gray
[Verse 1]
Yeah, I know that I love you
And I have a feeling that you love me back
I'm sat in my bedroom
And I hear your heart like a train on the tracks
Your eyes are like heaven
Your voice is like rain
Eleven elevens, they all hear your name
Too shy to tell you the words on my mind
I hope you can see if you read through these linesGet in, it's time to yearn (aka... a likely thing to do during a Conan song). In the first verse, he confesses his love for his subject with pure poetry. When he feels those emotions could potentially be reciprocated, he seemingly calls back to Train's 'Drops of Jupiter': 'She acts like summer / and walks like rain.'
Conan shares that he wishes for this person every time the clock turns 11:11 — it's also a nod to another Wishbone track of the same name.[Chorus]
That I wrote this song about you
A song that I wish you knew
A song that I tried to sing
But now I'll say it straight
I wrote this song about youIn case the subject needed clarity on whether this song was about them... now they know.
[Verse 2]
I drive through the suburbs
And you're playing all of your favorite songs
You joke about your mother
She can't help but cry when she hears Elton John
You're singing obnoxious
I'm laughing like spring
Your brown racer jacket
My hands through the sleeves
The smell of your perfume
Is all over me
I can't wash it off so it's easy to see
The second verse is truly what love is all about... it's the little things. Singing along to Elton John songs, wearing each other's clothes, and embracing the lingering scent of each other's fragrances.
Also, there could be a cute lil Easter egg that potentially ties back to Conan's bestie, Olivia Rodrigo, here with 'You're singing obnoxious' and her 'Deja Vu' lyrics: 'Watching re-runs of Glee / Being annoying.'
[Chorus][Bridge]
You know that I love you
Is it dumb believing you might love me too?
Yeah
[Outro]
(I wrote this song about you)
(I wrote this song about you)
You know that I love you
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