Songfacts®:

• "The Girl That Never Was" tells a heart-wrenching story of a lost dream. James Blunt and his wife, Sofia Wellesley, longed for a child, but fate had other plans. The lyrics drip with sorrow, regret, and an unfulfilled yearning for the child they never had.
  
  "We had aspirations, simple aspirations," Blunt told the BBC. "Some of those we've achieved and some of those we haven't."
• Blunt and Sofia envisioned a beautiful future together. They'd already named their child, a choice they now rue:
  
  We never should have picked a name
  'Cause now she has a face
  And now no matter what we do
  No one will take her place
  
  "The balance of emotion is tough," after such a devastating loss, Blunt said. "It's women who go through the main trauma, and the rest of us have to work out how best to help. I don't always know the answer."
• The song isn't just about sadness; it's also a journey of acceptance and moving on. In the chorus, they acknowledge the pain and the need to find a path forward.
  
  Darling, we tried but now it's over
  We had it all and then we lost
  The girl that never was
• Blunt wrote the song with Red Triangle, a British songwriting and production duo comprising Rick Parkhouse and George Tizzard. Red Triangle also produced the track.
• Red Triangle produced six tracks on James Arthur's It'll All Make Sense in the End album. One of the songs, "Emily," has a similar sad story behind it. Arthur and Red Triangle penned "Emily" when his partner, Jessica Grist, was pregnant. Sadly, after they wrote the song, Jessica had a miscarriage and lost the baby.