“Jealous” is a non-album single by the British singer, songwriter and producer Labrinth. It is also one of the singer’s most soulful and personal songs yet. There is no doubt that almost everyone can relate to this song about heartbreak and loss.
“Jealous” was released on November 23, 2014, and has drawn inspiration from Labrinth’s personal life. The song reached #7 in the UK and sold close to a million copies worldwide.
In several interviews Labrinth talked about the inspiration behind this song;
“I grew up not really having a father figure and it didn’t bother me because he wasn’t there in the first place. But then he started other families and I was jealous. It was like he was happy without our family. I didn’t want it to be to self-indulgent so listeners couldn’t grab their own personal experience from it. But I think it is one of the strongest songs because it made me have to take a bit of myself out and put on a record and I’ve never really done that before.”
“A lot of people have been through that experience. It’s kind of written from the perspective of how my family felt at the time, but I wanted to write it so anyone could dig into the song and relate to it to their own situation,” said Labrinth with MTV.
Watch “Jealous” Video by Labrinth
“Jealous” Lyrics Meaning & Song Review
As Labrinth himself said, this song is relatable to different experiences for different people. Although Labrinth based it off of his father’s absence in his life, most of the lyrics are relatable to a broken romantic affair.
Verse 1
In these taunting lyrics, Labrinth explains how much he is jealous of everything that touches his ex-lover. The rain and the wind that rushes through her body are enough to prick the singer right in the heart. Because he has none of it now. Those inanimate objects are closer to her than he could ever be again.
Chorus
In these lyrics, we find a little more information about their breakup. It is clear that the girl broke up with him and walked out of his life. When she was leaving, he wished her all the best in the world and said: “there’s nothing to forgive.” This makes us believe that he hoped that she would come back. So he was not ready to accept an apology.
But it was not meant to be. She did not come back to him. He had imagined that she would only find “heartbreak and misery” away from him. But it was not meant to be. It looks like she did move on, and Labrinth is jealous of the way she found happiness without him.
Verse 2
Labrinth continues his saga of the things that he is jealous of. He explains why he is jealous of each passing night: because he doesn’t get to lie next to her. And his mind can’t grasp the idea that someone else might be sleeping next to her. Finally, he admits that he is envious of the love that he lost; a love that is being shared with someone else.
Bridge
The singer realizes that his ex-girlfriend’s love is slipping through his fingers as sand does. He cannot stop it but watch it fall on to someone else’s hands. He fakes a smile and faces every day, but is dying inside.
The final line sums it all up for Labrinth. He just cannot bear to see her happy without him in her life. It is a painful pill to swallow.
What experiences do you relate to this song? Drop a comment below.
This song usually reminds me of the loss and grieve of my dad that we were so close. To this day I cry when I remember him.When I heard this song the first time I thought of how jeolous I am without him to myself. I grieve this loss to this day
I wish she’s still the person that I loved. Sadly she just moved on and found someone else. So easy but it’s heartbreaking
this is incorrect, although the lyrics are relatable to an ex lover the whole song is about his dad who left when he was 4
Yes. But he did the lyrics that is relatable to anyone who experienced jealousy. And only for Family but to all relationships may it be friend or lover.
This song is so beautiful it reminds me of one my relationships it was the best thing that ever happened to me but I had to leave because my mental health wasn’t right one day he asked me if we were still together, because I stopped talking to him for while. I simply told him that I just needed some time to think, I also told him that if he wanted leave he could because you can’t expect someone to wait for so long just for you to get yourself together. So he left and when he did I cried for days and days. Man, I still cry today when I think about it. But, I hope he’s happy and living well because hes and amazing person.
This song is very touchy. The fact that anyone can relate.
I left my ex a little while ago. I didn’t leave because I didn’t love him. I left because I was scared of being so close to someone and getting hurt. We stopped talking after that even though we had been really good friends for a while. I realized that I still loved him and that I wanted to be with him, but he’s happy with someone else. This song makes me think of him.
hey same but I had a crush and I loved him.. he never noticed it, we were best friends .. then my friend had feelings for him and he had even said that he loves her.. so I thought of leaving everyone cause even if my best friend gets to know that I loved him he’ll get hurt…….. so I’m leaving our friendship I can’t hurt myself anymore ..I’m down
I trust my girl, but she go out with someone else. She did it over and over again.