‘Big, big singer songwriters as Christina and I are, have a reputation for singing very depressing songs which is kind of why a lot of you are probably here. Because at some point at 2 o’clock in the morning you’ve sat by your lap top with half a glass of empty wine listening to Spotify crying. It happens to the best of us.
– Ed Sheeren (introducing the song Be My Forever with Christina Perri)
The quote above is a fitting introduction to today’s featured song by the one and only Christina Perri – The Lonely. The photo of Perri above, with its distinctly Patti Smith-esque vibe, also feels like an apt choice given the subject matter. It’s one of those days again when music is my only friend.
Christina Perri’s The Lonely always transports me back to a very specific moment: midnight, August 7th, 2020. Allow me to explain. I’d been in a rough patch for a few days and then, as strange as it sounds, while playing Tetris (of all games) on my no-frills Nokia phone, something stirred. Out of nowhere, this stream of ideas, emotions, and half-formed thoughts came pouring in. It was like my sub conscious or other unspecified medium communicating to my damaged self. I felt compelled to write so I grabbed a scrap of paper and started scribbling. What came out, I titled The Last Words and transcribed them here. I immediately felt deep relief – like I had exhaled something heavy I didn’t know I was carrying.
Now onto Christina Perri’s song – The Lonely. The song draws inspiration from Perri’s life, written about a relationship she had with the emotion of being lonely. I couldn’t agree more with that stated in the Wikipedia article below – that while most critics positively reviewed The Lonely for its chilling tone and powerful lyrics it didn’t compare to Perri’s lead single, Jar of Hearts – one of my favourite post 2000 ballads.
More from Wikipedia:
Perri wrote The Lonely in August 2010 in her driveway at two o’clock in the morning after coming back from a dinner event. She says that when she pulled into her driveway, she realized how alone she was and “cried her eyes out” while writing the song. While revealing the track to Teen Vogue, Perri gave more insight into the song’s message, saying “It’s lonely personified. It’s my relationship with no one, and I’m very happy I kept it superdramatic and simple at the same time. It’s me, a piano, plus a nineteen-piece orchestra.“
Perri performed the song on her joint tour with James Blunt in Boston, MA at “The House of Blues“. To promote the song, Christina Perri released a lyric video, directed by Elliott Sellers as seen below.
[Verse 1]
2 a.m., where do I begin?
Crying off my face again
The silent sound of loneliness
Wants to follow me to bed
[Pre-Chorus]
I’m a ghost of a girl that I want to be most
I’m the shell of a girl that I used to know well
[Chorus]
Dancing slowly in an empty room
Can the lonely take the place of you?
I sing myself a quiet lullaby
Let you go and let the lonely in
To take my heart again
[Verse 2]
Too afraid to go inside
For the pain of one more loveless night
But the loneliness will stay with me
And hold me ’til I fall asleep
[Bridge]
Broken pieces of
A barely breathing story
Where there once was love
Now there’s only me
And the lonely
References:
1. The Lonely (Christina Perri song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
This is really pretty. I love her song, A Thousand Years. I never thought to seek out any of her other music. Thanks for sharing this song.
That’s wonderful Maddie. If you liked these, I’d point you to her legendary – ‘Jar of Hearts’, if you haven’t already heard it. Apart from the singing and melody, the lyrics are at the top of the apex as far as ballads are concerned.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Another impressive and heartfelt song by Christina Perri. She’s really good!
Yes, she’s not too shabby ;-P