After years of listening to, adoring, being inspired by, and screaming along to Tate McRae’s music, she’s finally gifted us with her incredible debut album, i used to think i could fly! We really think this is some of Tate’s best work to date, and it’s partly thanks to her jaw-dropping lyrics and unapologetic honesty. To celebrate the album’s release and how much Tate has grown as an artist, we thought we’d dive into some of our favorite lyrics from the record! Get your tissues and waterproof mascara ready, because this is about to be an experience.
“If I’m not enough for you, honestly, I hope you don’t come back…”
No one deserves to feel like they aren’t enough for the one they love, and ‘don’t come back’ tackles this feeling in such a classy, confident way! The song sees Tate calling out the wrongs that someone she cared about did to her while reclaiming her own life and refusing to accept anything less than she deserves. Part of us wishes we could go back in time and play this on loop for our younger selves so we could get out of those similar situations that really hurt us.
“I’ll go out and kiss your friends like, ‘Oh my God, get over it,’ yeah, go get drunk so you forget I’m gone…”
We’ve been obsessed with ‘what would you do?’ since Tate first started teasing it on TikTok, and this line is one of those zingers that only Tate could pull off. On this track, Tate insists that someone who’s mistreating her would hate her if she did the same thing to them, and some people just really need to hear that. This song is perfect for those moments in your room past midnight when you’re thinking about the ultimate comebacks for an argument that’s long gone, and it’ll definitely make you feel less alone in your hurt!
“I have this paralyzing fear that I’ll maybe go nowhere, but God forbid me ever admitting I could be scared / And I can’t stand my friends right now, we got nothing in common, but being lonely’s worse than just having friends that don’t care…”
Okay, we were gonna stick to one lyric per song max, but we’d simply be wrong if we didn’t include the entire first verse of ‘chaotic.’ All of these lines feel like a punch to the gut calling us out for how we treat ourselves, and it showcases exactly why we love Tate’s music so much. It feels like she really understands what we’re going through and turns the pain she feels into something beautiful that can help fans all over the world!
“After I just put you right through hell, you couldn’t hate me more than I hate myself…”
We all make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes wind up hurting someone we really care about. That’s one of the main ideas on ‘hate myself,’ which sees Tate owning up to her wrongs in a relationship after a heart-shattering breakup. She was crying while recording this song and we really wish we could give her a big hug after hearing it! What really matters is admitting to your mistakes and moving forward to become a better person and learn from the situation.
“You made me hate myself just so that I would love you more…”
Following right after ‘hate myself,’ this lyric from ‘what’s your problem?’ flips the situation as Tate starts to see just how this person impacted her life. And the connection is intentional – Tate explained to Apple Music that she wrote ‘what’s your problem?’ after she was reflecting on the relationship from ‘hate myself’ and realized how much her ex messed with her head. We love the growth this connection highlights!
“Next time you move on, like I know you’ll do, tell me you won’t treat her like you did with me and you…”
One of the worst feelings after a breakup is the fear that your ex will treat someone else as poorly as they treated you, and a lot of the time, it brings up a lot of unnecessary guilt that you shouldn’t have to carry. All we can do is hope they don’t treat someone else so badly and focus on our own well-being. This line from ‘boy x’ captures that feeling so well, and it’s no surprise that Tate co-wrote it with one of our other favorite lemme-punch-you-right-in-the-feels artists, Alexander 23!
“Stupid me, was so naive to think you’d ever come back…”
So many tracks on i used to think i could fly tie into each other, and part of us wants to set up a giant bulletin board with different colored sticky notes to write down the lyrics that connect. But until we can find some way to order cheap Post-Its in bulk, we’ll type up our feelings. This line from ‘you’re so cool’ flips the earlier song ‘don’t come back’ on its head to show that Tate isn’t as angrily over it as she suggested. We’ve all been there and it sucks, but at least now we have this song to help us through it!
“Maybe I’ll get used to it, but right now I just feel like sh*t…”
When you’re a hopeful person who gets their heart broken, you probably go through a phase just like the one Tate describes in this line from ‘feel like sh*t.’ Things get easier and you get stronger over time, but in the moment, it just hurts. It’s okay to let the sadness linger for a bit, but never be afraid to stand back up and keep pushing for the life you want to live!
“Was driving and I thought that I saw you and I almost crashed / The sad part is if the roles were reversed, you would’ve drove right past…”
This couplet. Ouch. These lyrics from ‘go away’ are like a Gen Z version of the “I see you around in all these empty faces” lyric from Taylor Swift and ZAYN’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,’ if it was crossed with the road motif and angst from Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘drivers license.’ Everyone has probably had that weird encounter when you think you see an ex or an old friend and accidentally wind up staring at a stranger, so when you add the danger of distracted driving, it gives a painful vision of how much Tate was really hurting.
“You stopped saying goodnight, that was the first sign that you were letting go…”
Everyone loves getting a sweet goodnight message from someone they care about, but it can feel like a whirlwind when those texts stop out of nowhere. ‘i still say goodnight’ shows off that confusion and pain with stunning production and a co-writing credit from none other than FINNEAS. Should we really be surprised that this song makes us so emotional when it brings together two of our favorite tear-evoking artists?
What’s your favorite track on i used to think i could fly? Which lyric best describes your mindset right now? Let us know in the comments below or fly on over to our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! And for more Tate McRae content, click here.
Now, please excuse us as we call everyone in our contacts list to tell them to listen to this album…
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