With three albums out now, the singer Conan Gray released Superache in late June of 2022, which hit number 9 on the US Billboard charts. It didn’t get as high as his second album, Kid Krow, which had placed number 5 on the charts. Superache still got a lot of love, though. As the album name suggests, most of the songs are about heartbreak, romantic or platonic relationships.
“Movies”: “Movies” is about being in love with someone but it may not be enough. The singer claims how he’s “Falling in love with a damn fantasy,” and knows that his dreams about this person won’t become reality. The romantic interest in the song is still involved with their ex, and seems to show apathy towards Gray, not caring much about him or his emotions. He notices this, and points it out in the song. Gray sings how “baby, this ain’t like the movies,” saying that romantic relationships can not be perfect like how they are in films, no matter how much we wish they were.
“People Watching”: “People Watching” is about craving romance, or a relationship with somebody else, but not wanting to go through with it. The singer expresses how he wants somebody to connect with, someone he loves who will love him back and share his feelings with. Since the singer can’t seem to find the connection he is looking for, he experiences it through other people’s lives, as said in the lines, “I’m only looking just to live through you vicariously/ I’ve never really been in love, not seriously.” There are also hints of self-sabotage, where Gray reveals that he is nervous to put himself out there and “cuts people out like tags on his clothing.”
“Disaster”: “Disaster” is about the fear of being rejected romantically, and overthinking about it. The singer lists various ways in which things could get entirely messed up and focuses on them. In general, this song has themes of anxiety and the singer tends to fear the worst is going to happen if he shares his feelings with the person he is interested in. He is torn between telling them—because things could go well—but at the same time he knows that it could go terribly wrong.
“Best Friend”: “Best Friend” is simply about friendship. The “best friend” that the singer is talking about is very important to them and someone in which they would do anything for. The singer lists multiple scenarios where he expresses this. His emotions are conveyed in a lot of the verses in the song, especially the line “Everybody knows I love you so, so, so, so much.” The friendship between the two people is so close that everyone knows how much they care for each other. They are proud to be best friends and to call each other such.
“Astronomy”: The song “Astronomy” is about a long distance relationship in which the two people in the relationship are drifting apart. The singer reflects on the nice aspects of it, but, in the end, he feels that he and the other person shouldn’t be together anymore. There is regret in moving away from each other, since that was the main reason why the two separated. Although the singer seems like splitting up is the right choice, the other person does not. The two disagree on the decision to separate. Gray sings, “Stop trying to keep us alive/You’re pointing at stars in the sky that have already died.”
“Yours”: The song “Yours” is about not being chosen first, or not being enough for somebody, specifically a romantic interest. The person the singer is addressing only interacts with him if he’s one of their last choices. The singer seems like he would do anything for the person he loves, but they brush it off, or don’t give him any attention. This is told in the lines, “Cause I could give you all you want, the stars and the sun/ But still, I’m not enough.” The singer feels insignificant to the person, and desperately wants their love and approval, but he knows that they’re not interested.
“Jigsaw”: “Jigsaw” is about changing yourself for somebody or the people in general. With lines like “You take every part of me, all of the things you need/ Then the rest, you discard”, “Pointing out my flaws doesn’t help”, and “Why don’t you love me?”, it shows the despair and frustration in the song in how the singer has to change himself for people to like him. He just wants to make people happy, but they don’t appreciate him for who he is. This song is one of the more emotional and open songs on this album, and Gray seems to pour his heart out in his vocals.
“Family Line”: “Family Line” is a more personal song of Gray’s. It is about his childhood and family life growing up, and how unstable it was. His parents divorced when he was three, and the song outlines the struggles he had as a child because of this. In the song he conveys his lack of forgiveness to his parents about the negative events he had throughout his childhood. His experiences have caused him to have specific flaws and anxiety over certain things. One of the singer’s fears is being abandoned, displayed in the line, “Cause now I’m scared that everyone I love will leave me.” This worry is most likely caused by his parents’ divorce.
“Summer Child”: In the song “Summer Child”, the singer is addressing the people who can relate to him or the things he is singing about. The person/people he is addressing wear(s) a mask of happiness to hide inner feelings like sorrow or loneliness. This is expressed in multiple lines such as, “But there’s darkness behind those eyes/ Even when you smile” and “You don’t have to act like all you feel is mild.” The person the singer is communicating to seems to have a calm and joyful personality, as displayed in the line “And you laugh and you dance in the wind”, but is weighed down by more damaging emotions. The adresse tends to help others before helping themselves.
“Footnote”: “Footnote” is about doing anything to make someone like you back. In this song, the singer had actually confessed to the person about his feelings for them, but the person rejected him. It seems they stayed friends, though. “So I’ll stop being pretentious and loathing our friendship.” This line expresses how the singer acts towards the person because of the rejection. He is hostile and hesitant towards just being friends with the person, but he can’t change their feelings towards him. This is conveyed in the lines, “You told me that patience won’t change how you felt/For me”.
“Memories”: “Memories” is about the singer not wanting to see his ex anymore and wanting to distance away from them. The singer is trying to get over them and their not-so-great relationship. His ex wants to get back together while he wants to keep them in his memories and nothing more than that. The singer seems to have a soft spot and feels bad for his ex, though, because when they come running to him, he lets them into his home. In the line “I can’t turn away a wet dog”, he is referring to his ex which shows that he pities them and feels bad that they’re having a hard time. He can’t resist helping them, like how he would feel if a wet dog showed up at his door.
“The Exit”: “The Exit” is about an ex of the singer’s, and how he feels that they broke up when things weren’t over for them, how they still may have had a connection. The singer displays his jealousy at “a girl who’s not him”, which is the current person dating the singer’s ex. He feels that his ex got over him so quickly, while he can’t let go of their relationship. In the song, the singer repeatedly says “I’m still standing at the exit.” This means that he is hesitating to accept that he and his ex are splitting up, and “The Exit” is referring to the end of their relationship. He is at the exit, not wanting to go through, not wanting to break up.
Superache is Gray’s newest album. Even though he only has three out, Gray’s fans think his music has potential. Fully coming to light in 2020, he is still somewhat of a new artist and has a long musical career ahead of him.
