Released: 2018
The song “Out Of Love” by Alessia Cara is a heart-wrenching ballad chronicling the emotional aftermath of a breakup. Cara grapples with the painful question that lingers after the love of her life seems to have lost feelings for her. The tragically beautiful song explores the themes of love, loss and the quest for closure.
As we delve into the first two verses, Cara expresses a heartbreaking self-awareness. She says, “I won’t tell you I’m lonely / ‘Cause it may be selfish / I won’t ask you to hold me / ‘Cause that won’t mend what’s helpless.” Right off the bat, she’s conscious of her unshakeable solitude, yet she refuses to express or act on this loneliness, believing it may come off as needy or selfish. She acknowledges that this love is beyond repair and no amount of desperate pleading will mend the brokenness of the relationship.
In her chorus, Cara refuses to beg for her ex-lover to return, but is desperate for answers, repeatedly asking the gut-wrenching question, “When did you fall out of love, out of love? / Oh, when did you fall out of love with me?” This loaded query serves as a form of catharsis for her, a desperate plea for understanding to help her process her grief.
In the third verse, she uses the metaphor of an ocean to express her feelings of desolation and despondency, saying, “I can’t float in an ocean / That’s already been drained.” She acknowledges that there’s no point crying over something that is already devoid of life, of emotional substance – a drained ocean.
As the song concludes with Cara ruminating, “Oh, when did you run out of love for me / Out of love (out of love) / Out of love (out of love) / Out of love with me,” she drives home the sharp pain of unrequited love and the agonizing need for closure. In a shift of language from ‘fall out’ to ‘run out,’ she suggests an emptiness, a depletion of love, encapsulating the devastating essence of the love lost.
“Out Of Love” by Alessia Cara, in its lyrical density and emotional honesty, is a haunting portrayal of the human heart coping with the unfathomable depths of love’s demise.
