Orla Gartland wrote a song inspired by friend jealousy – ‘More Like You’
Orla Gartland returned today with a new song ‘More Like You’ inspired by jealousy felt for the relationship a best friend had with another.
Gartland addresses feelings of inadequacy and insecurity in a friend relationship, wishing to swap places with the other person who seemed perfect in every way. The idealised version of the person lead to the song’s beginnings.
. “I heard it from a woman on the internet, she told me to eat well and try to love myself then maybe I won’t wish that I was someone else,” Orla sings on a song co-written with Tommy King (musical director and collaborator to HAIM, Vampire Weekend)
“When you don’t have much access to someone it’s easy to put them on a pedestal and forget that they have their own layered & complex life, you only see perfection. I became obsessed. I wanted to sing like her, I wanted to dress like her, I wanted to swap bodies with her Freaky-Friday style. So ‘More Like You’ is another song about identity, about yearning to switch lives with someone who makes it all look easy.”
“Everyone compares themselves to other people right? If you don’t tell me your secret. ‘More Like You’ was born from a petty friend jealousy I have for my best friend’s other best friend. She’s someone who I only ever heard good things about, someone I wanted to hate until I met her and – of course – I didn’t. I loved her.”
Orla
‘More Like You’ is from Gartland’s forthcoming debut album due for release this year.
Lyrics:
I love the way you sing
oh I’ve been trying copy every word you say
I love the way you think,
you have this way of knowing it’ll be ok
where’d you get that confidence from? ‘cause you wear it like a coat
all this feeling second best, it’s got me by the throat
I know
that I’ve been obsessing in the worst way
I heard it from a woman on the internet
she told me to eat well and try to love myself
then maybe I won’t wish that I was someone else
(tell me how)
to be more like you
look I don’t wanna fight
no I just wanna swap our bodies for a day
imagine I could drive with the top down
back and forth across LA
every time she mentions your name
oh she says it like a prayer
getting caught up on the syllables
I wish I didn’t care, but no
oh maybe I’m the one she had to outgrow
I heard it from a woman on the internet
she told me to eat well and try to love myself
then maybe I won’t wish that I was someone else
and I know that I’ve been flirting with the enemy
but please don’t be so perfect right in front of me
I think of all the things that I will never be
(tell me how)
to be more like you
and look
it’s true, it’s true, it’s true, it’s true
I got these insecurities
they’re all mine
there’s nothing I can do
and look
it’s true, true, true, true
the other day I caught myself just looking at pictures of you
oh I heard it from a woman on the internet
she told me to live a life of no regret
so maybe I won’t take you on as such a threat
tell me how, tell me how
and I know that I’ve been flirting with the enemy
but please don’t be so perfect right in front of me
I think of all the things that I will never be
(tell me how)
to be more like you
