Ally London

As an integral part of any song, lyrics act as a way for artists to divulge their thoughts with listeners, but with so many songs out there, how can you be sure to hear all of these messages?

To grasp these hidden meanings, we have asked Ally London to showcase some of their favourite, original lyrics and are pleased to feature them as part of our Waxing Lyrical series.

Today’s Waxing Lyrical With Ally London dives into the lyrics of their song ‘See You Around’.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Nashville, Ally has always had music in her blood. She grew up singing pop and jazz, but wasn’t about to stop there. Eventually, she moved to London to earn a Master’s degree in Opera, while writing and recording her own pop music. Her diversified music background and range of influences can be heard in both her voice and her writing.

Having been compared to artists like Lizzy McAlpine, Phoebe Bridgers, and Ethel Cain, Ally comes up with catchy melodies and grooves that get stuck in your head to communicate moving emotional honesty and authenticity.

Check out her debut album, In Plain Sight, on all streaming platforms!

06 Aug

See You Around

Ally London

“I wrote “See You Around” as the sort of final send-off to a failed situationship… it was a classic case of love-bombing, where everything he did, and everything we did together, made me feel like I was in a movie – but it was ultimately a lie. All the impossibly beautiful lines he said to me, all the romantic moments we got caught up in, created such a confusing cognitive dissonance between reality and fantasy, because they didn’t match up with his actions. So I wanted the song to mirror that cinematic quality in the music – in the atmospheric production and instrumentation, purity of the vocals, and beginning-middle-end narrative of the structure, which reaches a climactic, all-out bridge towards the end of the song, ultimately fading out into nothingness – just like our fleeting situationship did.”

Lyrics

It happened like I always dreamed

You showed up unannounced

We talked on my quiet street

For two perfect hours

The rain fell right on cue

The moon shifted into view

It painted the garden blue

I leaned in to kiss you

How could that be with you?

A moment so true

A feeling I never knew

All as fleeting as you

Cause then the scene faded,

The set you created,

You packed it up and broke it down

Now I guess I’ll just see you around

I smiled as I turned my key

Replaying in my mind

Every pretty thing you said to me

Like a well-crafted movie line

But part of me still knew

It was too good to be true

My hopeless romantic refused

To see the real you

How could that be with you?

A moment so true

A feeling I never knew

All as fleeting as you

Cause then the scene faded,

The set you created,

You packed it up and broke it down

Now I guess I’ll just see you around

And when I see you at the bar

Two months down the line

I’ll smile and play my part

Laugh and say, ‘It’s fine’

I’ll pretend you never lied

In my bed or in my heart

I’ll do my best to reconcile

The actor and his art

How could that be with you?

A moment so true

A feeling I never knew

All as fleeting as you

Was any word of it true?

The script we read through

Do you cry like I do?

Did it mean something to you?

Cause then the scene faded,

The set you created,

You packed it up and broke it down

I hate that I have to see you around