Ruin My Life

Album: Poster Girl (2018)
Charted: 9 76
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Songfacts®:

  • In this song, Zara Larsson has walked out on a volatile relationship in which the guy kept pushing her close to the edge.

    You set fire to my world, couldn't handle the heat
    Now I'm sleeping alone and I'm starting to freed
    Baby, come bring me help
    Let it rain over me
    Baby, come back to me


    The Swedish songstress is missing her man and wants to rekindle the relationship so he can "ruin my life" again.
  • Larsson said of the dizzy pop number: "'Ruin My Life' is a song about that unhealthy relationship that everyone has at one point in their life. It's toxic, but it's passionate."
  • The song was produced by:

    The Monsters and The Strangerz, who are an American songwriting and production team. Their other credits include Zedd and Maren Morris' "The Middle" and Zara Larsson's own hit single "I Would Like."

    English producer Sermstyle, who first hit the big time when he co-produced Pitbull's international smash "Timber." He's gone on to collaborate with the likes of Sean Paul ("No Lie") and Jason DeRulo ("Colors").
  • Zara Larsson wrote the song about a guy she dated on and off between the ages of 14 and 19. "I was a bit obsessed with this guy who was so bad for me," she admitted to Cosmopolitan.

    One night Larsson was walking home feeling bad after meeting up with the guy following her birthday party. The young Swede recalled: "I just thought, Why did I do that? It was just something in that moment where I was like I can't do this anymore."

    Larsson wrote this song after her epiphany. She said: "We've all been there - at least my friends have and everyone I know - where you know you shouldn't go back to that person, whatever, I'm still going to text this person at 3 a.m. after three drinks."
  • The song was originally conceived as a duet, but when Larsson laid down her vocals she decided she wanted to keep it for herself. However, the Swedish singer decided the original lyrics about an abusive relationship didn't send a good message to her fans.

    "With that version, I didn't feel represented," Larsson explained to Billboard.

    So together with her co-writers, Larsson rewrote the lyrics for the verses making it "a bit more about the emotional rollercoaster." She explained that she didn't want to promote violence, "but I still want to be able to tell my story and tell something that I've been through without being labeled a bad feminist or a bad person."
  • The song's ultra-luxe music video shows Larsson in several settings, as she thinks about the lover she wants to "Ruin Her Life."

    "It was hard finding a concept for this video that wasn't, like, me laying in bed crying over this guy," she told Billboard. "I didn't want it to be that. I wanted it to be more glamorous."
  • The song was originally written by Delacey (Halsey's "Without Me") and Michael Pollock. It was birthed when a tearful Delacey found herself crying on the shoulder of her sister after exiting a toxic relationship. The songwriter recalled to Billboard that she said to her, "Isn't it crazy how someone can just totally ruin your life?"

    Delacey added that "'Ruin my life" is something she "says all the time because I'm a drama queen." Thinking it could be used in a song, she wrote the phrase in her notes.

    Later, during a session with songwriter Michael Pollack, she mentioned "ruin my life" as a potential title and he loved the idea. "It felt like there could be a good juxtaposition with the lyrics," Delacey said. "It's such a negative title, but it's this beautiful love song about someone you want to stay in your life because they make it better… even if it feels like a bombshell."

Comments: 1

  • Helen from WalesWho is the love interest in Zara Larsson's video Ruin my life?
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