Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwrit… Read Full Bio ↴Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. They rose to prominence in October 2012 after being featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. Smith was subsequently featured on Naughty Boy's "La La La", which became a number one single in May 2013. In December 2013, they were nominated for the 2014 Brit Critics' Choice Award and the BBC's Sound of 2014 poll, winning both.

Smith's debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour, was released in May 2014 on Capitol Records UK. The album's lead single, "Lay Me Down", was released prior to "La La La". The album's second single, "Money on My Mind", became Smith's second number one single in the UK. The third single, "Stay with Me", was an international success, reaching number one in the UK and number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, while their singles "I'm Not the Only One" and "Like I Can" reached the top ten in the UK. The album won four awards, at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Pop Vocal Album, Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.

For Smith's and Jimmy Napes's song "Writing's on the Wall", the theme for the James Bond film Spectre (2015), Smith won the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Smith's second studio album, The Thrill of It All, was released in November 2017 and debuted atop the UK and US album charts. The lead single, "Too Good at Goodbyes", reached number one in the UK and Australia and number four in the US. They released the single "Promises" with Calvin Harris, which peaked at number one in the UK. Smith released "Dancing with a Stranger" with Normani in 2019, which reached the top ten in the UK and the US and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards, and followed it by releasing a string of commercially successful singles "How Do You Sleep?", "To Die For" and "I'm Ready" with Demi Lovato; all of which feature on Smith's third album, Love Goes.

Smith has won four Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, and an American Music Award, as well as a Golden Globe and an Academy Award through their career. Smith has been publicly gay since 2014, genderqueer since 2017, and has used they/them pronouns since 2019.

Not in That Way
Sam Smith Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

And I hate to say I love you
When it's so hard for me
And I hate to say I want you
When you make it so clear
You don't want me

I'd never ask you cause deep down
I'm certain I know what you'd say

You'd say I'm sorry believe me
I love you but not in that way

And I hate to say I need you
I'm so reliant
I'm so dependent
I'm such a fool

When you're not there
I find myself singing the blues
Can't bear
Can't face the truth

You will never know that feeling
You will never see through these eyes

I'd never ask you
Cause deep down I'm certain I know what you'd say
You'd say I'm sorry
Believe me
I love you
But not in that way

You'd say I'm sorry
Believe me

I love you
But not in that way

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Sam Smith's "Not in That Way" are about unrequited love and the pain that comes with it. The singer is in love with someone who doesn't feel the same way, and it's difficult for them to express their feelings without getting hurt. They hate to say "I love you" or "I want you" because the other person has made it clear that they don't want the same thing. The singer is certain that if they were to ask the other person how they feel, they would say that they love them, but not in that way.

The second verse delves further into the singer's dependency on this person they love. When the other person isn't around, the singer finds themselves "singing the blues" and unable to face the truth. They are so reliant on this person that they feel like a fool. The final line is a poignant declaration that the other person will never know the depth of feeling that the singer has for them.

Overall, the lyrics of "Not in That Way" paint a picture of a painful, one-sided love. It's a song about the agony of being in love with someone who doesn't feel the same way.

Line by Line Meaning

And I hate to say I love you
Expressing love is hard for me

When it's so hard for me
Showing affection is difficult for me

And I hate to say I want you
Admitting desire is not easy for me

When you make it so clear
Your lack of interest is apparent to me

You don't want me
Your feelings for me are not reciprocated

I'd never ask you cause deep down
I already know the answer

I'm certain I know what you'd say
I am convinced of your response

You'd say I'm sorry believe me
Your rejection would come with regret

I love you but not in that way
You care for me, but not romantically

And I hate to say I need you
Being dependent on you is uncomfortable for me

I'm so reliant
I am heavily dependent on you