Songfacts®:

• The song was written by frontman Lukas Forchhammer after the death of his father, Eugene, in 2012. The Lukas Graham frontman told ABC Radio the tune is one that everyone can relate, as he doesn't specifically refer to his dad in the lyrics.
  
  "I think sometimes when you mention your dead parents in a song, it locks the song to mean just that," Forchhammer said. "And that's what I like about 'You're Not There'... anybody can relate. If you lost somebody, you can relate."
  
  "If you've lost a pet... if you're a seven-year-old girl and you lose a cat, that's going to be a heartfelt loss," he continued. "That's going to be that girl's one-hundred percent. My hundred percent is losing my father."
  
  "Writing 'You're Not There' was like a crown jewel," Forchhammer concluded, "writing such an emotional song without even mentioning my father."