Julia Michaels: I remember, we were just talking. You were in a pretty emotional state. You
were telling me everything that had gone down, and how you were feeling. There was a moment
where you looked at me, dead in the eye, and you were like, "I'm gonna be okay, right?"
And I was like, punched in the chest with all of the emotion, and I was like, "We need
to make that a song. We need to do it."
LANY: We actually wrote this song during ... The period that I was writing the songs for Malibu
Nights, and I just had two days with Jules. I never met you and we just walked into the
room, and I think at this point I'd maybe written three or four for the record, but
I still had a lot to get off my chest, and a lot to talk about. She's a great listener,
and I learned during that period that the more you talk before you start writing the
song, the better it normally is.
Julia: To go into a room with someone you've never met and write a song that's very emotional
and very personal and to have him want me to be a part of something that personal is
really special.
Lany: But it's not a sad song. You know?
Julia: Not it's not.
LANY: It's actually the way we've built it out it's become-
Julia: Really fun.
LANY: ...pretty fun, I mean and happy. It was a really terrible time when we were writing
it, but it's cool how that-
Julia: I like the juxtaposition.
LANY: Yeah.
Julia: It's really nice.
LANY: We had two days together, and one thing, I feel like, we decided during those two days,
is we were going to tell it exactly how it was.
Julia: Yeah.
LANY: And we were going to pull out some really colorful details. And I was like, "I bought
this pillow, on the couch."
Julia: Everything he said, I was like, "Write that down."
LANY: Yeah.
Julia: Alright, perfect, write that down.
LANY: And, it's a dumb gift, a pillow, but it was a pretty cool pillow.
LANY: I remember, kind of, man this is crazy ...
Julia: This is rough.
LANY: I'm good now, but it's just interesting we gotta talk about it. I just remember, kind
of, packing my things, right. I think I left the key under the mat, or, I can't really
remember how that went down, but I just, kind of, walked through the hallways in the apartment,
and I was like, "This is my last time I'm gonna be in here, so ..."
Julia: 'Cause you're not just saying goodbye to the person, you're saying goodbye to all
the memories you've made, even in that house or that apartment. You have these memories
of you guys on the couch, or in the kitchen making something, in the bed being together,
and you turn, you make that last turn, and you're like, "Holy shit, I'm not gonna be
here anymore." That is really weird.
LANY: There's a couple things I've learned recently, but one of them is, I'm never moving
in with somebody ever again.
Julia: Since we're creative people, we tend to be very emotional, and tend to think with
our heart, and we're like. "Oh my God, I love you. Let's do this, let's go all the way really
fucking fast." And then it's like, okay, whoops, okay.
LANY: You gotta slow down a little bit.
LANY: Maybe because it ended so out of the blue, and without really, sort of, any explanation,
you kind of assume that maybe they are kind of sadistic. Here's the thing, with all of
this stuff, you gotta surround yourself with the right people. People you love and trust.
time does heal all wounds. And, it's what you do with that time. And, I think, if you
use it productively, in a healthy way, you're gonna feel a lot better about yourself
LANY: The things that we tell ourselves during moments of crisis or trauma. We try to be
strong, we try to stand in front of the mirror and pump yourself up and put yourself together
and then slap your face or something, but there's always immediately right after that
you start to doubt yourself already. But that is, really, a beautiful human quality to the
song is, is that little question at the end.
Julia: Wanting to be with that person and knowing that you can't and it driving you
a bit insane. And you just having something to project it on rather than blaming yourself
for something.
LANY: So I think there's like a process. For the first week or two, you're pretty hopeful.
Especially if you're not ready for it to be over. Probably wake up at three or four in
the morning every day and you're like, "Just checkin'." And then it kind of hurts to check
your phone. So then you stop. That line is again, me talking to Julia and being like,
"She's never gonna. It's been almost a month. It's over."
Julia: I think work makes it really easy for us to-
LANY: We're so lucky that we-
Julia: Distract ourselves.
LANY: Yeah. I mean, you can put yourself on tour or throw yourself into a studio. I wanted
to work on Saturdays and Sundays, but. If somebody's not also going through some shit,
they're not gonna meet you on a Saturday or Sunday. They're like, "Dog, it's my weekend."
LANY: My favorite drink in the world is a whiskey sour. But when shit's bad it doesn't
really matter.
Julia: I love tequila. Whiskey makes me think too much. Tequila makes me happy.
LANY: You're in the thick of it and then you'll have these thoughts like, "Dude, if this ends,
I'm gonna be in a bad, bad spot.
Julia: I've definitely been in love. Like really, really deep in love. And when we broke
up I was devastated. Like devastated. But I think that's just how life goes sometimes.
LANY: You gotta take a chance.
Julia: Yeah. Just like, it's unfortunate, but better to have -
LANY: Tried than.
Julia: Yeah. Than not at all.