Gracie Abrams is a 24-year-old female artist who released her third album in Feb. 2023. Now almost a year later, Gracie has made a name for herself and has even toured with Taylor Swift as her opener. Her newest album Good Riddance has become a worldwide favourite to many of her fans.
The song “I know it won’t work,” has become a personal favourite. This song starts off on the slower side, but the minute the chorus hits, there is some sort of exhilaration and sadness in her words.
When she sings “part of me wants to walk away till you really listen, I hate to look at your face and know that we’re feeling different.” I immediately get goosebumps and then she jumps into the rest of the chorus. “Why won’t you try moving on for once that might make it easy, I know we cut all the ties but you’re never really leaving. And part of me wants you back but, I know it won’t work like that, huh?”
You can hear the emotion in her voice, she is desperately speaking to this person asking them to make it easy and move on. She is really being desperate with herself to believe that the relationship will not work. In the end, it’s clear this song is about wanting to be with someone again but knowing in the end it’s just not possible and not right despite wanting it.
Track five is titled “I should hate you.” I find this song is very relatable on many levels. The idea is that someone can wrong you or hurt you, but it can still feel like you love them.
The betrayal is shown in the lyrics “pulled the knife out my back ,it was right where you left it, but your aims kinda perfect, I’ll give you the credit.” Her voice is extremely strained during the chorus, like she’s very lowly screaming the words, “I know that I should hate you.”
She decided to drag the words out and slow down the song, which was a bold and unexpected choice, however, in the bridge it picks up. “I should hate you I feel stupid like I almost crashed my car, driving home to talk about you at my table in the dark. All I ever think about is where the hell you even are, and I swear to God, I’d kill you if I loved you less hard.”
Right after the bridge, it slows back down. I think it is super important that the bridge picks up, it shows the despair she is in from this person. It’s easy to tell she is rushed and just wants to get everything out. The bridge was really the icing on the cake for this song.
The single “Difficult” came out before the entire album and was very popular for a while. This relates back to Abrams on a more personal level which was a courageous choice that I admire.
The instruments in this track carry the whole song, you almost wouldn’t realize how sad it is if you didn’t listen to the lyrics. This song is filled with angst, and with the help of Aaron Dessner they really created an interesting environment for the song to bloom.
Abrams expressed in an interview with Bandwagon in 2020 that she hopes to make other people feel less alone through her music by being vulnerable. In the chorus, she sings, “Oh, I know spiralling is miserable I should probably go back home, why does that feel difficult?” These feelings and thoughts she describes throughout the song are relatable for many who may struggle to say them out loud, hence her choice to put them in the song.
In this song in particular she was able to pull out her vulnerability for the benefit of her listeners which takes a great deal of bravery under such an immense spotlight.
Some other songs I would recommend listening to from this album include “Amelie,” “Where do we go now?” and “Full machine.” Abrams has become an inspiration for many young artists and young girls. I look forward to any new music she makes and hope she continues to bring out her vulnerable side in her art.