I Guess

Album: Laurel Hell (2022)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this quiet piano number, Mitski is contemplating the end of a long-term relationship that helped shape her identity. She sings:

    It's been you and me
    Since before I was me
    Without you
    I don't yet know
    Quite how to live


    "Sometimes you've been with an idea or a goal or a person so long that it's a deep part of you. And without them, it's like you have to figure out a whole new person to be," she told Pitchfork. "When someone or something has made you who you are, even if it's the end, there's a gratefulness for how you came at where you are together. You wouldn't be who you are without them. There's a real beauty and peace to that I think."
  • This is the oldest song from Laurel Hell, Mitski's sixth album. She wrote it down in her notebook so long ago that she doesn't even remember writing it - but she never forgot the melody. "I found that that melody kept coming back to me, and I realized that I should give that melody a home somewhere," she said.
  • Mitski wrote most of the album's songs in (or prior to) 2018, but she recorded it during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The first single, released in December 2019, was "Working For The Knife."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee JonesSongwriter Interviews

Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump.

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.

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)

Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper/Lou Reed)Songwriter Interviews

The co-writer/guitarist on many Alice Cooper hits, Dick was also Lou Reed's axeman on the Rock n' Roll Animal album.

Amanda Palmer

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse Pop

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse PopSong Writing

Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.