This Is How It Feels

Album: Hook Me Up (2007)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "This Is How It Feels" deals with an ex-boyfriend who is trying to make his way back into the life of his former girlfriend. He tries (and fails) to contact his ex-lover: "You keep calling my phone non-stop. Don't you know I won't pick it up?" The girl ignores his calls, in turn feeding her ex a taste of his own medicine, after all, he used to be the one that would ignore her calls: "This is how it feels. When you wait for a call that never comes." The girl has now moved on and wants nothing to do with the guy in question ("And now I've moved on by myself"), but he will not give up, prompting her to ask: "Do you only want me, 'cause you can't have me?"

    The Veronicas wrote the song with the German songwriter, Toby Gad, while he was staying at the sisters' home in Los Angeles. Jess Origliasso told us: "We were writing with a good friend of ours, Toby Gad, who's an incredible songwriter. He was camping out in our lounge room for two weeks and we wrote 'Untouched' with him, 'This Is How it Feels,' a bunch of our songs from our second record."
  • The Veronicas drop the "F" word in this track, a somewhat controversial move considering the band's young fan base. Lisa told the Herald Sun the curse was penned in a passionate moment: "We wrote that song in our living room in LA. It was a totally comfortable space. At no point did anyone say, 'Should you redo that line?' We'd pretty much forgotten it was in there." Jess added: "It's not out of place, the emotion in that song is very passionate. It describes a feeling. It's not put on. We don't condone young fans thinking it's cool to swear. We're not the most politically correct people on earth."
  • Lisa Origliasso particularly liked this track, so much so she told Digital Spy that she wanted it to be released as a single in the United Kingdom. Her desire never came to be, however, with "Everything I'm Not" chosen for release instead: "I would have liked 'This Is How It Feels', but I'm very happy for it to be 'Everything I'm Not'. It's an awesome song that otherwise would never have been released because it's from the first record."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's, Blues Brothers)

Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's, Blues Brothers)Songwriter Interviews

Steve Cropper on the making of "In the Midnight Hour," the chicken-wire scene in The Blues Brothers, and his 2021 album, Fire It Up.

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete BlondeSongwriter Interviews

The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney Princesses

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney PrincessesSong Writing

From "Some Day My Prince Will Come" to "Let It Go" - how Disney princess songs (and the women who sing them) have evolved.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Classic Metal

Classic MetalFact or Fiction

Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.

Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy B. SchmitSongwriter Interviews

The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.