The secret is out: Gracie Abrams is Her.
“The Secret of Us,” released on June 21, written and published by Gracie Abrams and Aaron Dessner. This 2010s pop album features songs like “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” “us. (feat. Taylor Swift),” and her single “Close To You.” She has ten other tracks besides these three, but these are the ones that have hit fans the hardest through TikTok.
“I Love You, I’m Sorry,” is a sadder sound on the album compared to other tracks. The line where Abrams says, “Wistfully lean out my window and watch the sun set on the lake,” may represent her experience with fame and success. On social media, people use snippets of the song and accompany it with slideshows of sunsets, lakes, etc. to show how they perceive the lyrics.
Overall, the song is overplayed, but it has good reasons for it to be: to fans, it is an ode and allusion to her other song “I miss you, I’m sorry” from her single “minor” from 2020. Abrams speaks to fans through her heartbreaking lyricism and emotional vocals.
“us. (feat. Taylor Swift),” track 5, is an inside joke and niche for so-called “Swifties” because of Swift’s relevance to the song and to the number 5. Abrams alludes to a past relationship with tunes and obvious lyricism that nod to Swift. Abrams adds a metaphor in the bridge: “That night you were talking, false prophets and profits they make in the margins of poetry sonnets / you never read up on it, shame / could’ve learned something.” Fans were confused by this literary metaphor at first, but the breakdown of the idea online suggests that the speaker was talking nonsense to her significant other, and he never understood her. He never took the time to read, or to listen, to what she was telling him because there was zero effort from him, and so she leaves, like a prophet. She motions to missing “us,” because they were so iconic and magical together and she could not imagine life with anyone else. “I felt it, you held it,” may be a statement dedicated to the fact that her significant other felt the same way, or at least she hopes he did because he held her heart in his hands, and at the time, she felt safe and secure.
“Close To You,” is a song about a crush, and the last song on the album. While this final track is the most upbeat song of them all, it is unique because it represents moving on, as the speaker confesses feelings for someone: “I’d give up everything to be close to you,” a reference to the title, obviously, but also the ideology that she would cross every border and boundary just to be close to the person in mind. Even if they “don’t even know my name,” she would still do it all for them.
“Break my heart and start a fire” connects to the verse after that states that “I burn for you,” and the ability to tie these two metaphors together is the Aaron Dessner effect. He helps artists like Abrams and Swift tie their emotions to words that are lyrically accurate and relatable. Fans adore this song because of the catchiness and repetitiveness of the track. She ties everything back to fire, smoke, burning, chemistry, etc. to explain the relationship she has with someone, how it burns but in the best way, how it is hot and fiery, but would still risk getting smoke in her eyes just to be close to them.
As Abrams starts her tour surrounding this album, she has gained a myriad of new monthly listeners. She started out in small venues, like the House of Blues or the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, and is now opening for Taylor Swift at the Eras Tour. Now, Abrams has sold out shows all over the world because of her insane ability to explain an emotion or feeling and make it relatable; that is why fans love and adore her so much. Her voice is sad, but very dainty and flows perfectly throughout her genre of music.
Gracie Abrams and her soulful and sincere ability to relate to and deeply connect to her fans makes this album, and the artist, worth listening to. Join Abrams (and her 25.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify) to listen to “The Secret of Us.”
