The 17-year-old Canadian singer and songwriter Tate McRae created something special in her lead single “you broke me first” from her second EP. The moody song about her ex-boyfriend, who broke her heart, is the perfect track to relapse to.
Tate McRae released “you broke me first” in April 2020 from her second EP ‘too young to be sad,’ and it took almost a year for the song to gain momentum on airplay. Debuting at #95 on Billboard Hot 100, by March 2021, the song climbed to #17 on the chart courtesy of social media traction, especially on TikTok. In Canada, the song reached #8 on Canada Hot 100 chart. The song has also sold over a million units in the United States alone.
In an interview with outnowmagazine, Tate explained the idea behind the song; “‘You broke me first’ is a really special song to me. This song is about someone in a relationship who couldn’t care less for the other person and then 6 months later decides to crawl back. It’s the feeling of knowing how much they meant to you, but this time not letting them back in. I hope everyone can connect to this song like I do.”
Watch “you broke me first” Music Video by Tate McRae
Releasing the music video, Tate McRae explained how she recorded it; “GUYS IT’S HERE. you broke me first. hahaha. fun fact this was filmed on my phone, in quarantine, taped to the front of my mom’s car, on a random rooftop. crazy hey?”
“you broke me first” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
In the song, Tate McRae sings about how difficult it is to move on from a relationship after breaking up with someone who meant so much to them. The worst is when you still keep in touch with them and they try to cross the boundaries.
In the lyrics of the song, we find that Tate McRae is broken up with her boyfriend. There were some red flags in the relationship that warned her about what’s to come. He wasn’t talking about them which meant his thoughts were occupied by something/someone else. His phone was harder to reach. These things did worry Tate and eventually, lead to a severe fallout between them.
Maybe they are not fully broken up yet! Maybe, that’s why she was trying to contact him but keeps on failing. And when she finally gets a call back from him, he is drunk, and she can assume what he wants.
Now suddenly you’re asking for it back
Could you tell me, where’d you get the nerve?
He is drunk at a party and misses her all of a sudden. Tate McRae knows how this movie ends. She is both humiliated and ashamed of him. She knows it’s time to look the other way.
In the second verse of the song, Tate McRae does confirm that they are in fact broken up. She did imagine that he would realize his mistake and come running back to her. But not when he was drunk and feeling lonely. So, she has to make up her mind to give up on this one for good!
It feels like “you broke me first” tells a tale as old as time. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.