Stella Rose Bennett was born and raised in the suburb of Grey Lynn in Auckland. She grew up in a "really musical" family with parents who would expose her to the catalogs of Radiohead, Björk, and Groove Armada. From the age of eight, BENEE began taking guitar lessons in primary school before starting saxophone lessons in high school. Eventually, BENEE dropped all music in order to prioritize water polo. She claims it "was [her] life" and that she at one point hoped to represent New Zealand competitively. BENEE later became interested in writing and recording music at the age of 17, after deciding that she did not want to pursue a career in water polo. BENEE attended an all-girls Catholic school, St. Mary's College, where music was compulsory for four years.
BENEE began her music career by posting covers to SoundCloud and began making her own music in her final year of high school. After dropping out of a communications degree at the Auckland University of Technology after two weeks, during what she called "a quarter-life crisis", she decided to enter the music business professionally. Her music caught the attention of Josh Fountain, a producer and member of the band Leisure, with whom she produced two singles: "Tough Guy", released in 2017, and "Soaked", released in 2018. she earned her first career entry on the Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2018 with "Soaked" at #58.
In both 2019 and 2020, she consecutively won Single of the Year, Best Solo Artist and Best Pop Artist at the New Zealand Music Awards. BENEE initially gained local prominence with her singles "Glitter" and "Soaked", before her 2019 single "Supalonely" saw international popularity following its success on the video-sharing platform TikTok and YouTube. BENEE subsequently released her debut album, Hey U X, in November 2020.
Under the moniker of Bene, she made her solo debut with the 2017 single "Tough Guy", before later gaining prominence with her 2018 single "Soaked", which has been certified double-platinum in New Zealand. She released her debut EP, Fire on Marzz, with help from producer Josh Fountain in June 2019. Her second EP, Stella & Steve, was released in November 2019 and charted in the US, Canada, and France as a result of the international success of the EP's final single, "Supalonely". Since 2018, BENEE has earned five entries on the Triple J Hottest 100, three of which were in the 2019 list. She also released her third EP, Lychee, in March 2022 which charted at number 13 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart.
In an interview for The New Zealand Herald, Benee revealed that she has dyslexia. She also described her childhood experiences with songwriting:
"throughout school I struggled with writing....I liked creative writing, that was what I loved, but I was always making mistakes, and I was confined to this way that I should write....Songwriting for me was this place where I don't have to be grammatically correct. Learning the craft with [Josh Fountain], when he was sharing all his knowledge – something clicked, and I was just like, I love this. It's a great emotional outlet for me; I just love splashing what I feel on to a track."
If I Get To Meet You
BENEE Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm still thinkin' about it
A message from you in the morning
I'm surprised you even called me
I really can't predict what you'll do
I'm scared I might start to annoy you
Can't seem to figure you out
You're listening, how could I not want you now?
If I get to meet you
Will you tell all your friends about it?
I still can't figure you out, no
All these words spill out from my mouth
Your eyes are a pale blue
But still, I can't see through you
So why can't I see through you?
I find it hard to talk to all the other boys that do reach out to me
Only want to talk to you
Can't seem to figure you out
Still, my words spill out of my mouth
You're listening, how could I not want you now?
Can't seem to figure you out
Still, my words spill out of my mouth
You're listening, how could I not want you now?
If I get to meet you
Will you tell all your friends about it?
I still can't figure you out, no
All these words spill out from my mouth
If I get to meet you
Will you tell all your friends about it?
I still can't figure you out, no
All these words spill out from my mouth
The song "If I Get To Meet You" by Benee is a track about the struggles of understanding and communicating feelings to someone you are interested in. The song starts with Benee reflecting on a conversation she had with the person, and how she is still thinking about it. She then admits her fear of annoying the person and her inability to predict their behavior. Despite her confusion, she is drawn to the person and wants to meet them. She is fascinated by the person's pale blue eyes, but still can't understand what they are thinking or feeling. She finds it hard to talk to other boys who show interest and only wants to talk to this person.
The song conveys the emotions one feels when they are trying to impress someone they are interested in but cannot seem to understand. The lyrics show the struggle of trying to communicate and express oneself to someone they admire from afar. The longing to meet and know the person better is evident throughout the song, and the fear of not being understood and possibly rejected is also apparent.
One interesting fact about the song is that it was written by Benee when she was only sixteen years old. The song was produced by fellow New Zealander Josh Fountain, who has also worked with Lorde. The track was released in 2019 and became popular on TikTok, which helped it reach a wider audience. The song has over 20 million streams on Spotify and was featured on several popular playlists. Benee has explained that the song is one of her favorites to perform live, and she loves seeing her fans sing along to the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
It was nice talkin' to you
I enjoyed our conversation
I'm still thinkin' about it
I can't stop thinking about our conversation
A message from you in the morning
I was surprised to receive a message from you in the morning
I'm surprised you even called me
I didn't expect you to call me
I really can't predict what you'll do
I don't know how you'll react or what you'll do
I'm scared I might start to annoy you
I'm afraid I might bother or irritate you
Can't seem to figure you out
I can't understand or decipher your behavior or intentions
Still, my words spill out of my mouth
Even though I'm confused, I can't help but speak my mind
You're listening, how could I not want you now?
Your attentiveness and interest in me makes me like you even more
Your eyes are a pale blue
I notice that your eyes are a light shade of blue
But still, I can't see through you
I still can't understand your true feelings or motives
So why can't I see through you?
I am frustrated with my inability to understand you
I find it hard to talk to all the other boys that do reach out to me
I am not interested in talking to other boys who try to talk to me
Only want to talk to you
I only want to talk to you because I am interested in you
If I get to meet you
If I have the chance to meet you in person
Will you tell all your friends about it?
Will you tell your friends that we met?
All these words spill out from my mouth
I have a lot to say to you
I still can't figure you out, no
I am still unable to understand you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Joshua Marc Fountain, Stella Bennett
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Zeiven Music ♪
►Lyrics:
It was nice talking to you
I’m still thinking about it
A message from you in the morning
I’m surprised you even called me
I really can’t predict what you’ll do I’m scared I might start to annoy you
Can’t seem to figure you out
Still my words spill out of my mouth
You’re listening how could I not want you now
If I get to meet you will you tell all your friends about it
I still can’t figure you out no all these words spill out from my mouth
Your eyes are a pale blue but still I can’t see through you
So why can’t I see through you
I find it hard to talk to all the other boys start to reach out to me only want to talk to you
Can’t seem to figure you out
Still my words spill out of my mouth
You’re listening how could I not want you now
Can’t seem to figure you out
Still my words spill out of my mouth
You’re listening how could I not want you now
If I get to meet you will you tell all your friends about it
I still can’t figure you out no all these words spill out from my mouth
(byw i'm a singer/songwriter inspired by Lauv/Jeremy Zucker.It'd mean a lot if you check out my music and subscribe,promise you won't regret<3stay safe:)
A.K.M
Lyrics
It was nice talkin' to you
I'm still thinkin' about it
A message from you in the morning
I'm surprised you even called me
I really can't predict what you'll do
I'm scared I might start to annoy you
Can't seem to figure you out
Still my words spill out of my mouth
You're listening, how could I not want you now?
If I get to meet you
Will you tell all your friends about it?
I still can't figure you out, no
All these words spill out from my mouth
Your eyes are a pale blue
But still, I can't see through you
So why can't I see through you?
I find it hard to talk to all
The other boys start to reach out to me
Only want to talk to you
Can't seem to figure you out
Still my words spill out of my mouth
You're listening, how could I not want you now?
Can't seem to figure you out
Still my words spill out of my mouth
You're listening, how could I not want you now?
If I get to meet you
Will you tell all your friends about it?
I still can't figure you out, no
All these words spill out from my mouth
If I gеt to meet you
Will you tell all your friends about it?
I still can't figure you out, no
All thеse words spill out from my mouth
Hideki
muito bommmm <3
scr☆tchie
I love this song, I can't stop replaying!
Bloxxie
Same lol
valu oviedo
I LOVE THIS GIRL SO MUCH ✨
Sofia Alarcon
Omg same
Emmanuel
🌟 BENEE I 😔 Love You ✨
Thông Điệp Vũ Trụ
Me too lol
Isaac
She’s honestly on a different playing field when it comes to making music! Like she’s doing it because she loves it, not to gain anything from doing so! Something special! That’s why it’s so good!
Keeley Moyle
and also the fact that the beats are awesome 😎 😂
CumCat
First we have Lorde. Now we have Benee.
NZ really blessed us with some real talents.