Songfacts®:

• "Twenties" is an introspective track where Giveon tells a story of a romance that spanned a significant part of his third decade. He reflects on how the years spent during this time were not quite as fulfilling as he had once hoped.
• What makes this track particularly intriguing is the mystery surrounding Giveon's partner - an anonymity that keeps us guessing about the identity of the person who so profoundly impacted his life.
  
  From the lyrics, we can piece together some of the finer details. For example, the relationship began when Giveon was around 22, which he references in the line:
  
  Is anything black and white
  When you're barely 22?
  
  Giveon was in his mid-20s when he released his two Eps, When It's All Said And Done and Take Time, as well as his album Give Or Take. Given the themes of his discography - regret, longing, the occasional emotional catastrophe - it's reasonable to suspect that the relationship might've been tumultuous long before it ended.
  
  We also learn that their first kiss took place in a rental car. Giveon now realizes it would've been better as a one-night stand, but back then he was "young and dumb."
  
  It all ended unexpectedly. Giveon was left standing there, as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on him, leaving him bewildered and full of remorse.
• The sentiment of "wasted time" is one that cuts through the song's lyrics, with Giveon lamenting how the years he poured into the relationship seem now to have evaporated. Time, as he puts it, "gone down the drain."
• Two Canadians, Sevn Thomas and Maneesh, produced the track.
  
  It was Sevn Thomas who discovered Giveon after finding him on a random SoundCloud playlist. He later signed him to his record label.
  
  Maneesh has left his mark on several of Drake's songs, including "Sandra's Rose," "What's Next," "7AM On Bridle Path" and "Champagne Poetry."
  
  Sevn Thomas and Maneesh also co-produced Giveon's breakthrough single "Heartbreak Anniversary."
• Giveon first teased "Twenties" in December 2024, creating a wave of anticipation among fans. After a couple of months of hints and sneak peeks, the song finally dropped on February 7, 2025, just two weeks before his 30th birthday. The release date symbolizes the bittersweet feeling of closing one chapter and stepping into another.
• The music video directed by Loris Russier (Ella Mai, Future), shows a sharply dressed Giveon performing with a live band. The video cuts between these live shots and tender vignettes of memories, playing to the track's introspective nature.
• Giveon wanted to keep "Twenties" vague so we could leave it up to our own interpretation and apply it to whatever it specifically means in our lives. "But I will say it's just trying to capture that feeling of wasting time on something," he told Billboard. "It could be a person, it could be a place, it could be an idea or a career. For me, it was a specific person in a relationship. But, yeah, I was just trying to capture the emotion of feeling like you spent time on something or somewhere that you can't get back."