Memories
by Yungblud (featuring Willow Smith)

Album: Yungblud (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Born Dominic Harrison in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, to guitar shop owner Justin Harrison and his wife Samantha, Yungblud had a tough upbringing. His father abused his mother and the family twice went bankrupt.

    "I grew up in a war zone my whole life - that's what my therapist says," Yungblud told Spin. "I think it's the way I can handle this career, because when I ain't in a battle, I'm frightened. When I'm not fighting, I'm scared. When I'm at peace, I'm frightened to death. Because I know my parents are smashing up the kitchen downstairs. I know my dad nearly going to f---ing prison. That's all I know."

    The memories are still stuck in Yungblud's brain

    Every time I fall asleep, I know
    I'll wake up alone, I'll wake up alone
    Dreams of you, wrapped around my throat
    I think I'm gonna choke, I think I'm gonna choke


    "It sounds like it's about love, it's not," Yungblud told Spin, adding that to escape his home life, he spent a lot of his time in his imagination while growing up. He was still playing with toy soldiers when he was 15.
  • Throughout the song, Yungblud talks about letting go of past traumas and voicing them to the world. "There's something freeing about turning painful memories from your past into lessons for your future - I want people to scream this song out and it be cathartic," he said. "It's about coming together and shedding pain, turning it into positive energy and sharing the burden with each other."
  • Yungblud spent two years working on "Memories." It started as "this trap bounce thing" before becoming a heavy electro-rock personal meditation. While it draws on the singer's personal experiences growing up around domestic abuse, Yungblud also intended the song for anyone trying to process dark times.

    I wish I could just let go
    Of all the memories I know
    Of all the memories I know
    But they're still stuck in my brain


    He told Apple Music: "This can talk about a relationship, this can talk about a divorce, this can talk about abuse, this can talk about racism."
  • Willow joins Yungblud on the cathartic track. This is their first collaboration on disc, but the American singer previously guested on The YUNGBLUD Podcast in 2021 while promoting her Lately I Feel Everything album. Yungblud said Willow totally understands the song's thesis because her childhood growing up in the spotlight wasn't easy for her.
  • Yungblud and Willow co-wrote "Memories" with:

    Yungblud's go-to collaborators Chris Greatti and Zakk Cervini. They co-produced every track on his Weird album.

    Glam-pop singer-songwriter Brasko, who also co-wrote Yungblud's previous single, "The Funeral."

    Omer Fedi (24kGoldn's "Mood," The Kid Laroi's "Without You" and "Stay," and Lil Nas X's "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)"). He contributed to three tracks on Weird.

    American singer-songwriter and producer Dylan Brady (Juice WRLD's "Real S--t," Night Lovell's "Still Cold / Pathway Private" and 100 Gecs' "Money Machine").

    Yungblud co-produced the track with Chris Greatti and Dylan Brady.

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