Peak
36
Weeks
2
Score
267
Chart Year
2024
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Taylor Swift joins Gracie Abrams for this mournful indie-pop postmortem on a love affair gone south. Both singers are like lovelorn detectives piecing together the fragments of their union. They grapple with a potent mix of regret and longing, questioning if their exes miss their relationship like they do. Abrams throws in a juicy detail on the bridge. Robert Bly on my nightstand, gifts from you, how ironic The curse or a miracle, hearse or an oracle Apparently, the former boyfriend was a bit of a Bly devotee. For those unfamiliar with the poet Robert Bly's work, he is best known for his 1990 tome Iron John: A Book About Men, which championed a recovery of a pre-industrial conception of masculinity through camaraderie with other men in male-only gatherings. Was Abrams' ex struggling to connect with his inner caveman? From April to August 2023, Abrams served as the opening act for select dates on the North American leg of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. The seeds of "Us" were sown during this period. One night after a show, both Abrams and Swift decided to swap creative currency. They previewed songs from their upcoming albums: Abrams' The Secret of Us and Swift's The Tortured Poets Department. Then they started listening to instrumental tracks created by their mutual friend and collaborator, Aaron Dessner. "Something caught our ear at the same time very hard and fast," Abrams recalled to Billboard. "So we ran to the piano and started writing this song... I used to fantasize about that kind of a thing as a kid." "Us" became the linchpin for The Secret Of Us. It tied together the musical threads she'd been weaving with Dessner at his Long Pond Studios, all while processing the summer spent opening for Swift. Later, the two artists headed upstate to record the duet with Dessner, who recalled: "It was just really fun to watch the chemistry of Gracie and Taylor bouncing off each other, Gracie in total wonder and awe watching how Taylor records and produces her vocal performances and builds the world." "Taylor's brilliant at synthesizing a whole story," Dessner continued. "[That song] just brought everything [about Gracie's album] into focus in a beautiful way."
I know you know It felt just like a joke I show, you don't And now we're talking I know your ghost I see her through the smoke She'll play her show And you'll be watching And if history's clear, someone always ends up in ruins And what seemed like fate becomes "What the hell was I doing?" Babylon lovers hanging lifetimes on a vine Do you miss mine? Do you miss us, us? I felt it, you held it Do you miss us, us? Wonder if you regret the secret Of us, us, us Us, us, us Us, us, us I know you know It felt like something old It felt like something holy, like souls bleeding so It felt like what I've known You're twenty-nine years old So how can you be cold when I open my home? And if history's clear, the flames always end up in ashes And what seemed like fate, give it ten months, and you'll be past it Babylon lovers hanging missed calls on the line I gave you mine Did you mind? Us, us I felt it, you held it Do you miss us, us? Wonder if you regret the secret Of us, us Us, us, us Us, us That night, you were talking false prophets And profits they make in the margins of poetry sonnets You never read up on it Shame, could've learned something Robert Bly on my nightstand Gifts from you, how ironic A curse or a miracle, hearse or an oracle You're incomparable, fuck, it was chemical You plus me was You plus me was Us, us Us I felt it, you held it Do you miss us, us? Wonder if you regret the secret Of us, us Mistaken for strangers The way it was, was The pain of, the reign of, the flame of Us, us The outline, well sometimes Do you miss us, us? The best kind, well sometimes Do you miss us?
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 6, 2024 | 36 | 90 |
| 2 | Jul 13, 2024 | 74 | 52 |