An Overview
HAIM, a California-born band, has taken the modern rock to a whole other level. With their beautiful lyrics and electric sound, HAIM is setting the bar for new indie/rock music. Composed of three sisters, Este, Danielle, and Alana, their alluring voices blend together perfectly to create harmonies that leave you wanting more. Their newest album, “Something To Tell You” is a collection of experiences shared between the sisters, from heartbreak to pure and utter joy.
Want You Back
This song sets the whole tone for the rest of the album. It has a lively and poppy tone but talks about real heartbreak and longing for the people that used to be in their lives. The writer of the song talks about her relationship going in a steady direction, “We were on one endless road,” but that she wasn’t ready to commit, “but I had a wandering heart.” After time and different circumstances passed, she realized the beauty of what they had and that she was ready to devote herself to the relationship, “I’ll give you all the love I never gave before I left you.”
Nothing’s Wrong
This track opens up about the hardships about learning the truth you really don’t want to hear. You want nothing to be wrong, “Tell me nothing’s wrong,” but you don’t want that person to lie to you, “How could you tell me nothing’s wrong.” HAIM shines a light on the contradictory aspects of growing up and being in a relationship. Although you know something happened, you can’t bring yourself to ask, but then lying about it is even worse. Maybe you should have known, “I was so foolish, I was so blind. Why do we do this to each other, baby? Heartbreak by design,” but why tell yourself you could have prevented this heartbreak?
Little of Your Love
She fell for someone who had a “recovering heart” that couldn’t deliver the love she wanted, but that didn’t stop her. By saying “don’t think about love too much, my love is gonna be enough,” she took it upon herself to do all the work, which, of course, was a mistake. After realizing that taking on all the work in a relationship was a bad idea, “you’re so close now, and I know now,” she pleads for him to take on some of it, “you gotta give me just a little of your love, baby.”
Ready For You
Being lost after her ex took a toll on her life, and instead of trying to move on with a permanent guy, she “kept it moving to another one night stand.” After saying she’ll “treat you right,” she realizes her feelings lie in someone she’s known for three years, “I wasn’t ready for you, funny how this whole game played. Three years since I learned your name. The wrong time, the wrong place.” It’s funny how sometimes, the one person we’ve been searching for has been there the whole time. “Thinking you almost slipped through. There won’t be another day I let you get away.”
Something to Tell You
This song shares its title with the whole album, and the sound really gives us an idea of what the whole album sounds like and is about. In this song, their relationship is having many problems and the only option is to part ways. All the signs are pointing towards them growing apart, “we’re not seeing eye to eye,” but it’s difficult to have to tell him how she feels, “it’s so hard to let you know.” Knowing breaking up is what needs to happen, she’s scared to say anything but knows that if she doesn’t, “if I tell you that everything’s alright, oh, we could stay in this moment, I’d never say goodbye.”
You Never Knew
Even though the relationship “was a weight on my shoulders, a strain on my back,” she was willing to fight for it, but he wasn’t. Maybe she came on too strong and took too much of the loving on herself. “Go on and say it, was my love too much for you to take?” He let her do all the work in the relationship, and when it started going downhill, he was ready to call it quits but was too scared to say anything. “Don’t keep me waiting, to the words that you’re too scared to say. I guess you never knew what was good for you.”
Kept Me Crying
After he broke her heart, she still hangs on to what they had but knows he is no good for her. She has conflicting feelings about how to handle the situation, “If you want me, I’m waiting for you. If you call me, I’ll pick up,” but then says “No, I shouldn’t, but I can’t give up ’cause you kept me crying for so long, my tears have dried. When I hear your voice, those tears they come back to mind.” It’s a never ending cycle of heartbreak.
Found It In Silence
She thought she had found an honest and good man, but discovered in his silence that the good man in him was just a facade. “You always talk me down in the end, made me think you were right, all this time.” He wasn’t a good man, and when she realized that, she had to decide what was best for her, “But I found it in silence, I finally see. There’s no turning back, I know what’s good for me.”
Walking Away
If he really wanted the relationship to work, he would have tried to salvage what they had. “You don’t wanna talk, don’t wanna work it out. If you were gonna face it, you would’ve by now.” It seems that he might have cheated on her because she says “I know you did it so many times before, but I never thought I’d be the one you betrayed.” She knew what she had to do, and that involved “Walking Away.”
Right Now
This is another song about having a one-sided relationship. “Gave you my love, you gave me nothing.” She was putting in so much effort to keep it going, but he made it seem like she couldn’t care less, “Said what I gave wasn’t enough. You had me feeling I was foolish.” He never gave her what she needed, “You let me down at every turn, you had me hanging on a dream you never believed,” and when she finally left, she “could see for miles and I’ve forgotten every line.”
Night So Long
This last song tells a powerful story with just a few words. It seems like with all of the bad relationships she’s been in throughout the album, she has given up on love, “I say goodbye to love again.” She’s lonely, “In loneliness, my only friend” and scared, “In loneliness, my only fear” and it seems like there’s nothing to look forward to. This being the last song, maybe this is a preview of the next album, which we can expect in a few years.
People from any background and walk of life can relate to the feelings portrayed in this album, and that is why I encourage everyone to take a listen and to support this amazing group!
