Lorely's stage name was inspired by a tarot card reading she did with a friend: “The first card he pulled out was an Empress card and I was like, 'It's me, I am Empress.' [...] the Empress card is connected to fertility and mothering and strength. It's kind of nice to have those feelings.”
On April 2, 2013, her bilingual 4-track EP, "Systems" was released via Double Denim/Terrible Records in the UK & North America respectively. Since the release of her EP, she's showcased at SXSW, Iceland Airwaves and Pitchfork's Summer Music Festival and toured as a support act with the likes of Jamie Liddell, Jungle, Kimbra and Florence and The Machine.
"Water Water", the first single off her debut full-length Me was released on April 14, 2015. She has also released a Spanish-language version of the track, 'Agua Agua' "so that her mother listens to her music. Rodriguez's debut album Me, which she self-produced and recorded in Mexico was released on September 11, 2015 via XL Recordings/Terrible.
During 2017, Rodriguez released a standalone single, Go to Hell on July 12. 2017 via Terrible. She also featured on two singles for LA producers, DJDS with the billboard-charting "Why Don't You Come On" additionally featuring El Paso R&B singer, Khalid and a cover of Lana Del Rey's Lust for Life single, Love released August 29, 2017 and December 1, 2017 respectively through Loma Vista for their third studio album "Big Wave More Fire". On April 11, 2018, double single "Trust Me Baby / In Dreams" premiered on Zane Lowe's Apple Music "Beats 1" radio show and released via Terrible. The former was co-produced by Cole M.G.N.
Rodriguez's sophomore album, "Us" was officially released on October 19, 2018.
To Get By
Empress Of Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To get by
Without you
Got to get high
To get by
Without you
Falling in love
With the same old trap
Drifting into
Got to get high
To get by
Without you
Got to say
Say to myself
Self wake up
Got to say
Say to myself
Self wake up
Falling apart
With a broken heart
I'm drifiting away
Drifitng into
Got to get high
To get by
Without you
Got to get high
To get by
Without you
Got to get high
To get by
Without you
Got to get high
To get by
Without you
Got to get high
To get by
Without you
Got to get high
To get by
Without you
The lyrics of Empress Of's song "To Get By" offer a vivid portrait of addiction as a coping mechanism for heartbreak. The refrain "Got to get high, to get by, without you" is a poignant expression of dependency and the desperate need to escape the pain of loss. The lyrics speak to the way addiction can take hold, the cycle of feeling trapped and falling into the same patterns, unable to break free. The line "Falling in love with the same old trap" captures this sense of inevitability, of being drawn unwittingly back into familiar and destructive behavior.
The verses offer a more detailed picture of the singer's situation. She is "drifting away" and "falling apart" in the aftermath of a broken heart. The plea to "self wake up" suggests a desire to break free from the trap of addiction, but this is easier said than done. The chorus repeats the refrain, underscoring the sense of urgency and necessity behind the need to get high. Ultimately, the song captures the way addiction can exacerbate the pain of heartbreak, creating a vicious cycle that can be hard to escape.
Line by Line Meaning
Got to get high
I need to use drugs to cope with the pain of being without you
To get by
I can only manage to survive in this state of mind by numbing my emotions with drugs
Without you
You were such an important part of my life that now that you're gone, I can barely function
Falling in love
I keep finding myself in toxic relationships, making the same mistakes over and over again
With the same old trap
Despite knowing better, I keep falling into the same patterns of being with people who hurt me
I'm drifting away
I feel like I'm losing track of who I am, and drugs are the only thing that brings me back to reality
Drifting into
I'm slowly losing myself and becoming someone I don't recognize
Got to say
I need to convince myself to snap out of this cycle
Say to myself
I need to have an internal dialogue and try to reason with myself
Self wake up
I need to take control of my life and try to move on from this addiction
Falling apart
My life is unraveling and I don't know how to put the pieces back together
With a broken heart
My heart is shattered and I can't seem to heal from this heartbreak
Got to get high
Drugs are the only way I can keep going through life without you
To get by
Drugs are the only thing that seems to help me survive this pain
Without you
I don't know how to exist without you and the comfort you brought me
Writer(s): Lorely Rodriguez
Contributed by Connor S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Ruxandra Gheorghe
thank the lawdt for this upload!