Featured photo by Lizzy McAlpine
Story by Kaleigh Young
Lizzy McAlpine, recently known for her song “Ceilings,” just released her newest album called “Older.” She is known for invoking gut-wrenching heartbreak and sadness in her fans, and this new release is no different.
The first track of the album, “The Elevator,” is about falling for another person. She sings, “It wasn’t slow, it happened fast / And suddenly the only thing I saw was you.” The person she is referring to caught McAlpine’s attention. The artist goes on to sing, “Can we stay like this forever? / Can we be in this room ’til we die?” Being stuck in an elevator is terrifying, but she knows if they die in this elevator, they’ll be together.
Her second track on the album, “Come Down Soon,” is about her fear of the inevitable. She has found herself in situations where people are too good to be true and ultimately let her down. In this song, a gentleman is getting to know her, she sings, “He leans out the window / Of the car as it rolls away / He says, “Do you come here often?” I have to laugh, ’cause that’s so cliché.” He is being very nice to her, but McAlpine is waiting for the other foot to drop, she woefully sings, “Oh, it’ll come down soon / Nothing this good ever lasts this long for me / Oh, it’ll come down soon, you’ll see.”
In “Like It Tends To Do, McAlpine is feeling uncertainty in a relationship. She wants to come to terms with the breakup but is unsure if it is ending as well. “I don’t know where we stand anymore / We have cordial conversations / Don’t know why I feel I’m faking something / I don’t know what to do with my hands anymore,” she sings. McAlpine wants to hold them, to hear about their day, but in a way she feels as if she can’t anymore. In the chorus, she sings, “If we were standing in the same room / Would we be in separate corners? / Would I actively avoid you?” She wants to be in this person’s life, but not if it hurts her more than it should.
Track number five, “All Falls Down,” talks about her experience as a performer and not always having time to breathe. She sings, “Hollowed out / Tell me how to be / More like you today / More than a shell of me / Couldn’t say / Who I am right now / Tell me how to keep the time from / Sticking around.” She feels abnormal, as if performing takes a big toll on her as she enters adulthood.
In the sixth track, “Staying,” McAlpine tries to understand why her significant other is blind to her plans to leave the relationship. She sings, “Now I’m laying in bed with you / And you’re falling asleep / How can you look so peaceful / When you know I’m gonna leave?” She wants a sign that her partner is aware so she can leave more easily instead of staying out of obligation.
The eighth single on the album, “Drunk Running,” expresses the artist’s feelings of regret and remorse towards her partner’s addiction. McAlpine blames herself for not being more responsible and not trying to help the situation, she sings, “No one stops you / Nobody takes it from your hand / Even when you / Break your leg drunk, running.” She knows that other people like herself could’ve tried to get her partner help but chose not to. Adding, “What if it was all my fault? / What if I drove you to it?.” She is taking the hurt they’ve caused her and reflecting it on herself. Their substance abuse isn’t her fault, but she hasn’t learned that yet.
“You Forced Me To” illustrates the never-ending cycle of love and then pain. McAlpine and her partner have both been throwing stones and now she is blaming them for her actions. She sings, “I am guilty, aren’t you? / No one gets to win / So we will both lose.” She wants to make things work, but she ultimately feels like her partner is forcing her hand. In the second verse, she sings, “I want you to hate me / I deserve it for my crimes … I am not the same as when you met me / I have changed because you forced me to.” McAlpine wants closure on her pain instead of just going through the motions because she knows she cares deeply for this person.
This album shows the listener what someone goes through when they are in love. McAlpine’s understanding and lyricism towards uncertain relationship dynamics paint a picture of what it’s like to fall for someone and how easy it is to fall out of love as well.
Kaleigh Young is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines.
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