You Already Know

Album: New Age Norms 2 (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "You Already Know" is about being lost and feeling behind where you're supposed to be in life. It starts with vocalist Nathan Willett singing about waking up in confusion and feeling like he's wasted his life. He wonders when things will get easier ("When will I get to cruise?").

    As the song progresses, he alternates between referring to himself and to someone else. It's not clear, though, if he's actually talking about a second person or if he's addressing his own past self.

    There seems to be a longing for the past, when he sings:

    It wasn't long ago we were digging in the dirt
    And we came out on the other side of the world


    Digging in the dirt brings childhood to mind, so the suggestion is that Willett finds himself isolated from childhood and unsure how to proceed as an adult, feeling like he's falling farther and farther behind as time goes.

    The real mystery in the song lies in what the person in the song already knows. We're never told that explicitly; we're just assured over and over again that "you already know."

    Willett has suggested that New Age Norms 2 album tells a continuous narrative (like the "concept albums" of yore), so its full meaning may best be illuminated by the other songs on the album.
  • The chorus harks to the Badfinger song "Come and Get it," which goes:

    If you want it, here it is, come and get it
    But you'd better hurry 'cause it's goin' fast
    You'd better hurry 'cause it's goin' fast


    "You Already Know" goes:

    If you want it
    You can have it
    Come and get it
    You already know
  • Released July 1, 2020, this was the second single from the group's eighth album, New Age Norms 2, following "Who's Gonna Love Me Now."
  • The video for this song is connected to the video for "Who's Gonna Love Me Now," with the same three characters starring in both. In "You Already Know," we see the three young people driving down a winding road, looking bored and smoking cigarettes. "Who's Gonna Love Me Now" starts with the car having broken down from the "You Already Know" drive.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Concert Disasters

Concert DisastersFact or Fiction

Ozzy biting a dove? Alice Cooper causing mayhem with a chicken? Creed so bad they were sued? See if you can spot the real concert mishaps.

Jimmy Webb

Jimmy WebbSongwriter Interviews

Webb talks about his classic songs "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman" and "MacArthur Park."

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star RidersSongwriter Interviews

Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.

Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.