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Someone You Loved

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Release Date

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Reviewer

Kristin Smith

Album Review

Chances are you’ve not yet met Lewis Capaldi. Allow me to introduce him.

Twenty-three-year-old Lewis Capaldi is a singer-songwriter from Glasgow, Scotland. He started dabbling in music when he was just a wee lad, and by age 17 he was discovered through an uploaded song to his SoundCloud account.

And from there, his career has only accelerated.

Capaldi has joined several established artists on tour, such as Sam Smith, Niall Horan and Bastille. That exposure no doubt helped propel his debut effort, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, to the top of the British album chart.

That said, Capaldi is breaking into the stateside market with an older song (which originally appeared on his 2018 EP, Breach) called “Someone You Loved.” This sad, piano-driven ballad tells the tale of a man who lays his heart on the table after a bad break up. The song peers honestly into the soul of a man who processes what life is like now that he and his girlfriend are no more.

Wishing You Were Here

Capaldi stays up through the night (“Now the day bleeds/Into nightfall”) wishing that he and his girlfriend, the one who helped him get through tough times and “numbed all the pain,” were back together (“I need somebody to heal/Somebody to know/Somebody to have/Somebody to hold”).

But they’re not (“And you’re not here/To get me through it all”). In fact, it seems they’ll never be again as she’s unexpectedly and officially ended things (“I let my guard down/And then you pulled the rug/I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved”).

Even if he wanted to repair what’s now broken, Capaldi’s only left with his memories and wishful thinking to help him through his struggles: “And I tend to close my eyes when it hurts sometimes/I fall into your arms/I’ll be safe in your sound ‘til I come back around.”

When I Used to Know You

Breaking up is never easy, and Capaldi vulnerably tackles this subject both in his song and video.

The video features the singer trying to go back to his girlfriend, who is slowly walking away from him. Yet, each time he tries to go back to what once was, his friends stop him and encourage him to continue walking forward. In that, the video offers some solid messages, emphasizing how much we need others in times of trouble and reminding us that healing depends on walking forward.

Still, the video’s positive themes aren’t really apparent in the track’s lyrics. And there’s another issue here, too. Namely, the allusion that Capaldi and his girlfriend were sleeping together: “This all or nothing way of loving got me sleeping without you.” (Also worth noting: A second, equally poignant video focuses on a doctor who finds hope in the fact that he’s solved one young mom’s heart problems but can’t seem to do so with the woman he loves, who’s apparently suffering similarly.)

Listening to “Someone You Loved,” I couldn’t help but feel for the wounded, heartbroken man at the center of this sad story. On the other hand, the song also perhaps unintentionally illustrates the emotional trials of physical intimacy outside the protective covenant of marriage.

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Kristin Smith

Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).