Post-Hardcore outfit Not Tonight Josephine from Tampa, FL goes behind the scenes of their acoustic track “You’ve Still Got Us” off their late 2013 release, “A Holiday EP.” A record which is enjoyed even past the holidays.
Backstory
The idea for the song came about when we wanted to release a three song EP for Christmas last year and we knew we wanted to do an acoustic song to close it out but weren’t sure what. We were kicking around the idea of maybe doing Common Gold acoustic or something like that and then one night after rehearsal I just went home and picked up my guitar and wrote it pretty much on the fly. I knew from the first chord I played that it would be about a long term relationship that I was in that ended, and I wanted to write a break up song that everyone could relate to as we’ve all experienced that mess. I kept the chord progression simple in order to come up with a melody line and chorus hook that was catchy and lyrics that said what I wanted to say while at the same time setting the tone for the song. I really wanted to capture that feeling of going to bed and/or waking up without that person that you’ve spent so much time with and love not being next to you. There’s been a million break up songs written but I wanted this one to be very specific lyrically so that everyone could put themselves or their broken relationship into the song and feel that emotion with me. The ending “Hold on, you’ve still got us” line actually came from a different song that I had written that I changed the lyrics to a slight bit to fit the tone and meaning of this song. I really wanted it to be this big epic, gang vocal chant at the climax in order to really portray the message that it was my friends that got me through the break up. And again, that falls inline with wanting the song to be super relatable as anyone could look to their friends in situations like that.
Lyrics
Your holding my heart, I’ve let it go again
It’s beating faster and I admit
I’m waiting for your arms to open up again, the way they used to
I’m tired of sleeping in without you in this bed
And it’s been real rough waking up
I can wait for you, but I can’t wait for every time I wake up knowing I’m with you
I can’t fail asleep, I’ve tried counting everything but all I see’s your face
I’m trying to make sense of all of this
Why is it so hard to understand relationships?
It’s hard to stay focused on your life
When you feel alone no matter where you go at night
All I can do is pray that tomorrow is better than today
I can wait for you, but I can’t wait for every time I wake up knowing I’m with you
I can’t fail asleep, I’ve tried counting everything but all I see’s your face
I’m trying to be stronger
You know it’s hard but I am so ready for change
I’m gonna make it simple
I could wait for you, but I’m tired of wasting everyday of my life waiting up for you
And I don’t need to sleep, cause I’ve been so busy living my dream without your face
I hope your ok, I’m doing great, I’m doing fine without your face
What gets me through the day is that all my friends say
Hold on, you still got us
