by Lizzy McAlpine · 2024
The song ‘Older’ by Lizzy McAlpine is about struggling with the passage of time, regret, and longing for a simpler past while grappling with emotional pain and uncertainty about the future.
This song has been Shazamed over 37,114 times. As of this writing, Older is ranked 192
Older’ by Lizzy McAlpine is a song about getting older, feeling lost, and wanting things to be easier or go back to how they were. We’re going to talk about the feelings and ideas inside this song so we can understand it better together. ⬇️
The song opens with a gentle, almost haunting atmosphere—imagine being on a carousel that never stops spinning, surrounded by memories and longing. There’s a dreamy sadness woven through every line, as if the world is moving too fast and the singer can’t quite keep up.
When we reach the chorus, the emotional weight comes crashing in: “Wish I was stronger, somehow / Wish it was easy.” These lines ache with vulnerability, as if McAlpine is confessing her deepest insecurities to a close friend. We sense the exhaustion, the quiet hope for clarity, and the aching desire for resolution, all tangled up together in the rawness of her voice.
The verses swirl with nostalgia and regret—a mother growing older, a wish to rewind time, the sting of realizing you can’t undo past mistakes (“And I have been good to you / Instead of making it worse”). We ride the loop with her, feeling the sickness in our stomachs as reality sets in and the curtain falls on childhood’s safety net. Sometimes, she seems stuck between wanting to move forward and desperately clinging to what’s slipping away.
At its core, ‘Older’ captures that universal, gut-punch moment when we realize life is unpredictable and full of unfinished chapters, and sometimes, we’re just not ready for the next page—even if we pretend to be.
✨ The song’s true revelation is this: growing up is messy, bittersweet, and utterly human, and it’s okay to admit we’re scared of what comes next.
Writer(s) of Older:
