Glimpse Of Us
by Joji

Album: Smithereens (2022)
Charted: 12 8
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, Joji sings about moving on with a new girlfriend after a breakup. He acknowledges she's helped ease his misery, but the singer still misses his former lover. When Joji looks into her eyes, he sees a "glimpse of" his ex. He hopes she feels the same way when she's with her new partner.
  • Joji wrote "Glimpse Of Us" with the brothers Connor and Riley McDonough of the American pop-rock band Before You Exit, along with Joel Castillo and Idarose. Connor and Riley McDonough's other credits include "Someone's Someone" by Monsta X and "Save Room For Us" by Tinashe.

    Connor McDonough also produced the track.
  • Joji released "Glimpse of Us" on June 10, 2022 as his first musical offering since his second studio album, Nectar.
  • "Glimpse of Us" became Joji's first Top 10 single on the Hot 100 thanks in large part to its popularity on TikTok. Creators used the song as a soundtrack to boyfriend/girlfriend-themed videos.
  • Dan Streit (Charli XCX's "Forever," Major Lazer's "Jump") directed the video. Shot on a Sony DCR-HC32 miniDV across multiple states and edited from approximately 15 hours of footage, it shows images of race cars, horses, police harassment, derelict living, and much more. "Joji had an idea for making a video that would be hand-held, shaky, where you're following a group of kids and there's lots of fast cutting and destruction," explained the director to Billboard. "He listed off some ideas, like maybe there'd be drifting and things on fire, it was pretty loose. We could do whatever we wanted as long as it fit that framework."

    Streit wanted all the images to feel totally real, not just a compilation of crazy scenes. "The emotion of the song and its lyrics deserved more of a narrative than just chaos and destruction set to the song," he said. "So I found a good, cheap camera that we could get a bunch of to send around to cool subjects. And so certain ones worked and others didn't, but the ideas evolved as we went along."
  • "Glimpse Of Us" topped the singles chart in several countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines and Singapore. When it reached #1 in Australia, Joji became the second Japanese artist to have a chart-topping single there, following Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki" in 1963.
  • Joji recorded this haunting ballad for Smithereens. The song opens the album, introducing its narrative of the singer wishing to reconcile with a past love.

Comments: 1

  • Cas from San Franciscofrom a dublin talk jogi did not write it 3 people wrote it for him
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Dwight Twilley

Dwight TwilleySongwriter Interviews

Since his debut single "I'm On Fire" in 1975, Dwight has been providing Spinal-Tap moments and misadventure.

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Best Band Logos

Best Band LogosSong Writing

Queen, Phish and The Stones are among our picks for the best band logos. Here are their histories and a design analysis from an expert.

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.

Charlie Benante of Anthrax

Charlie Benante of AnthraxSongwriter Interviews

The drummer for Anthrax is also a key songwriter. He explains how the group puts their songs together and tells the stories behind some of their classics.

Adam Young of Owl City

Adam Young of Owl CitySongwriter Interviews

Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.