Gracie Abrams' "Mean It" Is a Heartbreaking Debut
Photo: Clare Gillen
That moment when you hear someone you care about make a snide under their breath. They didn't want you to hear it, but you did. And now, nothing is the same. Gracie Abrams' debut heartbreaking single "Mean It" explores that moment and the feelings that seem to hang listlessly in the air after the fact.
Abrams, the 19-year-old singer-songwriter who used Instagram to firmly break into the music scene through a series of self-recorded song snippets, just released her very first song ever, but she didn't stop there. "Mean It" arrives hand-in-hand with a heartbreaking video to match. Abrams, who has regularly been showcasing her skills online, proves she's capable of more than breathtaking covers or posting mouth-watering photos of cakes and sunsets.
In her wistful piano-backed debut, Abrams tells the story of the sun setting on a fading relationship. Something that once was seems to be no longer, but its end is quickly hastened as Abrams uses her haunting vocals to coo out declarations of things she wanted her lover to know all along. And it's intense. In the chorus, her words float out,
"Maybe that thing you said under your breath
You mean it
Holding onto two thin lines until we walk between them
Getting so loud, I can’t pretend that I don’t hear them
Maybe that thing you said under your breath
You mean it
I know you mean it"
The video shows Abrams alone in her room. She's unpacking several boxes of her own items, placing them back in her room where they once originally belonged. Shot with a sense of somber intimacy, it perfectly matches the undercurrent of the song. It's pure, sentimental, and undeniably beautiful.
Feel it all and watch the video for "Mean It" below:
