Forget Me

Album: Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent (2022)
Charted: 1 58
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Forget Me" is a post-breakup song where Lewis Capaldi cannot forget the memory of his ex. Two years after their acrimonious split, the Scottish singer hasn't moved on. She wanted him dead at the time, but Capaldi still hopes she hasn't forgotten him.

    "It's about a breakup I went through where, after a year, the only real contact I had with my ex was seeing her 'post-me' life play out on her Instagram," Capaldi said. "I was at a point where I was feeling pretty miserable and she seemed like she was moving on and having the best time, thriving and I hated it."

    "It seemed unfair to me that she appeared happy while I was hurting," he added, "and I was fearful she might have forgotten about me completely, so I wrote a song about it."
  • Capaldi has form for breakup songs, both "Someone You Loved" and "Bruises" find him reflecting on lost lovers. He jovially admits to covering similar ground in this song. "I meet lady, lady leaves me, I whine about it in a pop song. Textbook."
  • Capaldi wrote the lyrics quickly because he was keen to go drinking before a football match. "I actually had tickets to go and see Scotland vs Croatia at the Euros. I thought, you know, let's hurry up and write this song so I can go to the pub. Maybe I should do that more often in the future as I wasn't overthinking anything! It only took two hours or so."
  • When Capaldi started writing tunes for his second album he turned to his "Someone You Loved" and "Before You Go" collaborators TMS to help him. Another of his "Before You Go" co-writers, Phil Plested and Michael Pollack (Maroon 5 Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran), also came on board for "Forget Me."
  • Capaldi and TMS produced the track along with engineer Chris Bishop. Although "Forget Me" still deals with a breakup, it has a quicker tempo than the "Someone You Loved" hitmaker's past efforts. "It's a wee bit more upbeat than my previous numbers, mostly because after touring the world, I noticed that my lesser-known slower tracks were making some of the crowds look like they were about to fall asleep out of sheer boredom," joked Capaldi. "However, this new one is sad AND fast, much like my love making."
  • Ben Kohn of TMS played the synthesizer and Michael Pollack the piano. The other musicians are:

    Guitar: Vern Asbury
    Bass: John Garrison
    Drums: Freddy Sheed
  • "Forget Me" debuted atop the UK singles chart becoming Capaldi's third #1 following "Someone You Loved" (2019) and "Before You Go" (2020).
  • Filmed at Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, the video duplicates Wham!'s "Club Tropicana" visual shot by shot. "It's one of those things like, 'Me in Speedos, that's hilarious,'" Capaldi told the BBC. "And then to actually have to do it... Oh my God, it was horrible."

    Louis Bhose, who previously shot Capaldi's "Grace," directed the video. He commented: "The performance is classic Capaldi: 'yeah, no bother, just singing this song with a cocktail in my hand. I'm fine, not thinking about my ex, here at Club Tropicana.'"
  • Capaldi released the music video on September 9, 2022, hours after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. "Imagine planning that release for months and then the biggest thing that could ever happen, happened?" said Capaldi. "It pulled the rug out from under us - but you can't begrudge people for mourning."

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