Bloodstains on her shirt and dark clouds over her head are what SZA is dealing with these days. Her relationship issues are drowning her self-esteem and have her stressing about her perfection. This is why her mood has turned killer and has bloodstains on her “Shirt” in this new song.
SZA finally released her highly demanded “Shirt” song after being teased as far back as 2020. The snippet gained traction on TikTok all throughout 2021 and finally, on October 28, 2022, the full song was released. The song became SZA’s biggest debut on Spotify with over 3.9 million streams.
Some eagle-eyed fans spotted possible hints in the “Shirt” music video of SZA’s upcoming second studio album which could be titled ‘NO CTRL’ or ‘No Control’ and could be releasing in December 2022.
Watch “Shirt” Music Video by SZA
SZA “Shirt” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
As seen in the music video above, SZA is on a bloody rampage. She has blood on her mind because she feels inadequate. Life feels dull and she is chasing a perfection that she can never achieve.
In the first verse, SZA laments about a love that seems to be fading away. Her partner seems distant and she gets anxious every time. This anxiety spawns different monsters inside her head.
SZA feels lost in a darkness that she cannot seem to control. However, she has excellent awareness of her mental state. She knows she has to get out of this situation.
An interesting line in the song is “comfort in my sins and all about me.” This line could be hinting at the fact that she is comfortable with her own flaws. However, unrequited love has all these barricades in her head crashing down.
In the hook of “Shirt,” SZA explains why she is stressing about her love life. There is a new girl in the picture and his man is weak. If you have to compete for love, is it even love? She had a man and how he is thirsting for another girl. What could this new girl possibly have that SZA didn’t? What could she not give him, that this new girl is giving him? She cannot help but feel inadequate.
In the second verse of the song, another gem is dropped. SZA says there is no point crying over things that she can’t change. She has excellent self-awareness to realize that the only thing you can change is your mind–how your mind perceives and reacts to negativity.
SZA realizes that she has to get herself out of this situation for the sake of her own sanity. You cannot force someone to be loyal or love you.
Had she not perfected this level of self-awareness and self-control, these are the situations where she could potentially stain her shirt with bloodstains.
Let us hear what you think about the song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.