Yungblud Embraces His Lowest Point on ‘LowLife’: ‘I Wanted to Be Nothing’

Yungblud‘s greatest battles are both internal and external on his latest single “Lowlife.” Internally, both literally and figuratively, he can’t get out of the bed, out of the house, or out of his own head. Externally, he can’t get his name out of everyone else’s mouth. Finding himself lower than rock bottom, the British musician settles in there instead of crying to claw his way out.

“I wrote ‘Lowlife’ because I just didn’t want to leave my house. I was sick of people, of games, of myself, my friends, anytime I did anything some idiot had an opinion about it. What I should do or be,” Yungblud wrote in a statement. “The truth is I didn’t want to be anything at all sometimes, I wanted to be nothing. So I just didn’t leave bed. I was dissatisfied and craving some sort of boredom. The type of boredom where you sit in your house, in the same sheets and watch fucking mind-numbing TV, so I wrote a song about it.”

Much of Yungblud’s discography explores acceptance and mental health. His lyrics make room for listeners to come to him as they are and leave reassured that that’s enough. The singer explained that he didn’t set out to create his version of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” or The Cure’s “Close to Me,” or even his own “Life on Mars.”

“We’d start with a blank canvas each time, bring up a beat and see what the fuck happens,” he added. If anything, “Lowlife” is Yungblud’s “Anti-Hero.” He’s in his Midnights era.

“I don’t fulfill my potential ’cause everyone/Around me is so self-referential/Hypocritical, maybe, a petulant baby,” he sings. “Shut up, you’re driving me crazy/Call me a lowlife, that shit don’t faze me/I’m all right on my own, I don’t need you to save me.” In the song’s outro, he cancels on dinner with his mom, but offers a simple explanation: “I think I’ve had too much to drink.”