Songfacts®:

• "Hurts Like You" is about the masochistic logic of craving someone you know will destroy you. A midtempo ballad with a brooding, almost grungy vibe, it finds Koe Wetzel pining for an ex-flame who has burned him before. Images of being cut "right in two" and "bombing Marlboro Lights" in a dive bar give the song its characteristic dark Wetzel edge.
  
  "That tune is just about going to something that is going to hurt you in the end, but you're so addicted to it," Wetzel told Apple Music. "I think toxic relationships are like country music's bread and butter, because everybody goes through them, and they're so relatable."
• Wetzel wrote the song with his producer, Gabe Simon, along with Carrie K, Ashley Gorley, and Steph Jones. "Me and Gabe put together a really cool team of co-writers that love to talk about toxic relationships too," Wetzel told Apple Music. "Whenever we don't have anything else to write about, we always know we can write about a toxic relationship and get something half-assed out of it."
  
  Carrie K (Carrie Karpinen) is a Nashville-based drummer, percussionist, and co-writer who has become a core part of Gabe Simon's production circle. As Simon's frequent studio collaborator, she has worked alongside him on records for both Noah Kahan and Jessie Murph, as well as across Koe Wetzel's catalog, including 9 Lives and The Night Champion, where she also served as assistant producer.
  
  Ashley Gorley is one of Nashville's most decorated songwriters. His resumé includes multiple #1 hits, including Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" and Post Malone's "I Had Some Help."
  
  Steph Jones is a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter and collaborator whose writing credits span country, pop, and rock. Her credits include Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso," Kacey Musgraves "Mexico Honey" and Olivia Rodrigo's "My Way."
• Wetzel previously explored toxic relationships on his Jessie Murph duet "High Road," a charged two-hander where Wetzel and Jessie Murph trade barbs mid-argument. "Hurts Like You" is the quieter, darker flipside: a solo midnight reckoning with helpless longing. Both songs share Gabe Simon's brooding country-rock production, with Carrie K contributing to the writing of each.