I had the honor of hearing Lizzy McAlpine’s song “I Guess” on her last tour, The End of the Movie, before she released it, and I knew her other fans would fall in love with it as I did. The song begins stripped back, just McAlpine’s stunning vocals and a guitar. She details her internal monologue about the uncertainty of bringing someone home after a night out and craving intimacy that isn’t often reciprocated in hookup culture. She repeats the phrase, “I guess,” throughout the chorus while adding a simple piano melody to introduce and juxtapose a complicated topic, especially when you’re a girl who cares about others a little too much.
“I’ll tell a lie, but it’s understood.” This line, specifically, was a knife to the chest, because within this culture, it’s known that whatever is said behind closed doors will never be repeated, and the moments that belong to the individuals involved are fleeting. This makes me reflect on the people I’ve been fortunate to know on a deeper level, and whether they think our interactions were “lies” that were “understood.” McAlpine’s lyrics make listeners reminisce about nights that weren’t only theirs and whether those nights meant anything. She takes “situationships” and makes them feel like heart-wrenching poetry.
Then she goes on to push the knife even deeper with the line, “I guess it’s all about the things you have but didn’t want.” Having someone just to have them is a phenomenon that I’m sure many can relate to. It feels better to keep someone around because they fulfill an immediate need than it is to let them go and have nothing at all. McAlpine grapples with listening to her head or listening to her heart in this single and displays the many different emotions that come with being around someone who will never truly know you.
McAlpine finishes the song the same way she started—with a guitar—but surprises listeners by swelling into the melody with fans from her Toronto show. This conveys how overwhelming the sentiments can be for situations that should not mean as much as they do. It sounds like McAlpine—and her fans—are calling out for relationships that are meaningful and won’t make them feel as if they’re stupid for wanting true human connection.This is Lizzy McAlpine’s second single from her third album, Older, and I think it’s safe to say that this one will wreck a lot of fans emotionally in the best way possible (myself included). She has worked with new producers and spoke with Zach Sang about finding her sound. While I will miss the five seconds flat era, I know that where she is headed is her most authentic self with the most gut-wrenching lyrics and beautiful stories to tell.