“About You” is the tenth track on The 1975’s 2022 album ‘Being Funny in a Foreign Language.’ The chaotic song narrates a sweet love story, on the surface. So, let’s dig in deep.
The 1975 released their fifth studio album ‘Being Funny in a Foreign Language’ on October 14, 2022. This is the band’s follow-up project to their 2022 album ‘Notes on a Conditional Form.’ Band’s frontman, Matt Healy talked about the reinvented approach of the band on this new album; “It was the right time for this album to not just reaffirm, but almost celebrate who we are. It was a self-analysis and then a reinvention.”
About the song, Matt Healy went a little cryptic on Apple Music; “essentially—and he made it all weird and shoegazey. Even though it’s major key, he gave it this terror, which makes my performance in it a lot less romantic because everything is mushing together, and it’s violent. I think this has a similar vibe to ‘Inside Your Mind’ from the third album.”
Listen to “About You” by The 1975
The 1975 “About You” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
When an artist makes a song about an unidentified ‘you’ and professes their love toward this ‘you,’ the song can be interpreted in many ways.
The obvious interpretation of the song is that it is about a lover. And there are plenty of lyrics to support this argument.
Matt Healy sings about how he and this other person had the time of their lives when they were together. He was absolutely smitten by this person and confesses to having had a spark at some point. He recalls that there was something about this person that made him weak, but the exact reason evades his mind right now.
Matt also confesses that this person has not completely erased from his memory. This ‘you’ is almost a part of the singer himself.
This is where the song opens up for other possible interpretations.
The other major interpretation of “About You” lyrics is that the song is about drugs. The almost-psychedelic music also helps this cause.
In the first verse, Matt Healy sings that he was married to this lover in their heads. While love does evolve and erupt in your head (heart is metaphorical–everything we feel is thanks to our brain), so do all things related to drugs, too.
When someone takes a drug, it stimulates certain chemicals and synapses in their brain, which triggers all sorts of bizarre hallucinations, sensations, numbness, happiness, sadness, and everything else. This sensory overload or lack thereof is easy to fall in love with.
The song could also be about a parent mourning the death of a child.
What do you think this song is about? Let us know in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.