Co-produced with Aaron Dessner, the song centers around a fast-paced acoustic guitar where Marie reminisces about a previous romance. In an interview with Pitchfork, girl in red said of the song:
"“October Passed Me By” is where I’m at today, emotionally and musically. Grateful for what has been, and full of love for a very special person that made a huge impact on me as a person."
First announced via an artwork depicting fall leaves posted on social media, girl in red shared the message — “the story continues…” — as well as a joyful picture of herself and Aaron Dessner at the Long Pond studio in upstate New York.
Additionally, “October Passed Me By” was released along with a short film directed by Gustav Johansson, starring Lisa Loven Kongsli and Ruth Vega Fernandez as older versions of the characters from the “we fell in love in october” music video.
"“October Passed Me By” has been living in the back of my head since June 2021. Every fall since I put out “we fell in love in october” in 2018, I was encouraged to do things on social media to talk about the song again. Making TikToks, Instagram posts, and other things about a song I made years ago never felt honest. I’m not in the same place as I was when I wrote the song, emotionally or artistically, so pretending to be so felt boring and uninteresting. So, I never did any of that; but last year something happened in my personal love life that brought up a lot of feelings that I had to confront internally.
I met Aaron Dessner in the fall of 2021. I told him I had this song that I had written and wanted to make but I hadn’t started recording it yet. I had never worked with him, so for me, it felt like an interesting and also lowkey thing to try out. I finished writing the song in Oslo and LA, working remotely with Aaron and with my great friend Matias Tellez on mix."
— girl in red via Pitchfork (October 2022)
October Passed Me By
Girl In Red Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mm
I keep the letters that you wrote in a secret place
Every now and then, I go down memory lane
October passed me by just like any month
But I still think of the times you took the breath out of my
You don't have to run, mm
Yeah, I got bitter when you got cold
And could you really blame me though?
'Cause I'm still tied up when you go
You know this song is about you
Who else could it be?
You were the first to make me
Feel like I was me
Just a memory
It wasn't all good, yeah, it wasn't all pretty
Lost our grip while tryna go steady
Holding on to you like, maybe, one day we'll meet
I met you at the wrong time, didn't wanna see
I was busy with the stars, you were looking at me
For better or for worse, I don't know, but for what it's worth
I made you my whole world
I made you my whole world
Screaming at the top of my lungs, I love you, my girl
Always in the back of my mind, you'll be my girl
In "October Passed Me By," Girl In Red sings about holding onto memories of a past relationship. She reveals that she keeps letters that her partner wrote her in a secret place and occasionally looks back on them as a way to revisit the past. Despite October being just like any other month, the singer still thinks about the times when her partner took her breath away. She admits to feeling bitter when her partner became cold towards her, but also acknowledges that it wasn't all good and pretty between them. The chorus repeats the sentiment that the song is about her partner, the first person who made her feel like herself, and that she still thinks of her as special.
The song reflects on the complexity of relationships and the range of emotions that come with them. The singer is honest about the good and bad moments as she remembers her past with her former partner. She mentions that they lost their grip while trying to be in a committed relationship and that she made her partner her whole world, screaming at the top of her lungs that she loved her. The lyrics illustrate the intensity of young love and the all-consuming feelings that come with it. The song is a nostalgic and bittersweet reflection on a past relationship that has left a significant impact on the singer.
Line by Line Meaning
I keep the letters that you wrote in a secret place
I have kept every letter that you have written to me in a safe place, hidden from the world
Every now and then, I go down memory lane
Occasionally, I take a trip down memory lane and remember the times we spent together
October passed me by just like any month
The month of October came and went, just like any other month, but it reminds me of you
But I still think of the times you took the breath out of my lungs
Although time passed, I still remember the moments when I was breathless and captivated by you
You don't have to run, mm
You don't have to leave, you don't have to escape from me
Yeah, I got bitter when you got cold
I became bitter when you started distancing yourself from me
And could you really blame me though?
Can you really fault me for my reaction?
'Cause I'm still tied up when you go
I'm still emotionally connected to you even when you leave
You know this song is about you
You should know that this song is dedicated to you
Who else could it be?
It's obvious that you're the only one who could have inspired this song
You were the first to make me feel like I was me
You were the first person who made me feel like myself and truly understood me
Just a memory
You're just a memory now, but one that I can't forget
It wasn't all good, yeah, it wasn't all pretty
Our relationship wasn't perfect, there were bad times and ugly moments
Lost our grip while tryna go steady
We lost our strong connection while trying to make things official between us
Holding on to you like, maybe, one day we'll meet
I'm still holding on to the hope that we'll cross paths again someday
I met you at the wrong time, didn't wanna see
I met you when I was not ready for a relationship and didn't realize the potential of our connection
I was busy with the stars, you were looking at me
I was focused on my own personal goals and ambitions, while you were paying attention to me
For better or for worse, I don't know, but for what it's worth
I'm not sure if our relationship was good or bad, but either way, it meant something to me
I made you my whole world
You were my everything, my entire world revolved around you
Screaming at the top of my lungs, I love you, my girl
I shouted at the top of my lungs that I loved you, my love
Always in the back of my mind, you'll be my girl
You'll always be in my thoughts and memories, my beloved
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Marie Ulven Ringheim, Aaron Brooking Dessner
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@givenachance28
Lyrics:
i keep the letters that you wrote
in a secret place
everynow and then i go
down memory lane
october passed me by
just like any month
but i still think of the times
you took the breath out of my lungs
you don't have to run
yeah, i got bitter when you got cold
could you really blame me though
cause i’m still tied up when you go
you know this song is about you
who else could it be
you were the first to make me
feel like i was me
just a memory
it wasn’t all good
yeah, it wasn’t all pretty
lost our grip
while tryna go steady
holding on to you like maybe
one day we’ll meet
i met you at the wrong time
didn’t wanna see
i was busy with the stars
you were looking at me
for better or for worse
i don’t know
but for what its worth
i made you my whole world
i made you my whole world
screaming at the top of my lungs, i love you my girl!
always in the back in the mind
you’ll be my girl
@micke_mango
@Trinity M
Nice comparison. I think Marie told us earlier this year that Taylor reached out to her with some kind of present, and told her how much she appreciated her music.
About Taylor Swift multi-song stories, there is a cardigan in Cardigan from the 2020 album Folklore. This is a teenage love triangle story described in three parts - Cardigan (Betty's perspective), August (unnamed girl's perspective) and Betty (James's perspective).
Apart from that there's also a red scarf in All Too Well (about the relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal) from the 2012 Red album, worn by Sadie Sink in the 2021 short film version of the re-recorded (Taylor's version) song.
About girl in red, Marie have told us that the reason for "girl in red" is that a girl she had a crush on in 2017 on a music festival, had a red sweater.
Interesting enough, the story in We fell in love in October (written in October 2016, released November 2018) is about her girlfriend at the time she came out.
However that girl is visualized in a red sweater in the music video, although it's clearly not the girl that coined the name of the moniker.
@melancholicvoid640
This song honestly reminds me of my first, and only relationship.
Coincidentally, we fell in love in October too so I would always think that it was our theme song. It was exhilarating at first, the high of a first love reciprocated is incomparable.
In the end, things didn't turn out as well as we had hoped. I thought going steady would have been easy since we were both still studying, but the pandemic made things difficult for me. I'm not the kind of person to express all my love virtually, or verbally, and the stress from my academics was taking up most of my free time.
I know they felt like they were inadequate and they were also insecure about themselves. We both knew things weren't going well, but we were too desperate to make it work, even if it didn't. We eventually split before going to different schools.
We're still friends, but sometimes I feel a bit... bitter? That they now manage to make good friends and score a few romantic interests despite me shouldering some of the burden that came with their insecurities in the past.
In the end, I don't regret breaking up with them since I feel so much better now, but sometimes this song reminds me that I did love them.
@Dog-Girl-Defect
Lyrics:
Mm
Mm
I keep the letters that you wrote in a secret place
Every now and then, I go down memory lane
October passed me by just like any month
But I still think of the times you took the breath out of my Lungs
You don't have to run
mm
Yeah, I got bitter when you got cold
And could you really blame me though?
'Cause I'm still tied up when you go
You know this song is about you
Who else could it be?
You were the first to make me
Feel like I was me
Just a memory
It wasn't all good, yeah, it wasn't all pretty
Lost our grip while tryna go steady
Holding on to you like, maybe, one day we'll meet
I met you at the wrong time, didn't wanna see
I was busy with the stars, you were looking at me
For better or for worse, I don't know, but for what it's worth
I made you my whole world
I made you my whole world
Screaming at the top of my lungs, I love you, my girl
Always in the back of my mind, you'll be my girl
@dadcamebackwiththemilk5463
This girl can't make a single bad song.
@dadcamebackwiththemilk5463
Every song she makes is underrated
@elisalatomate3955
For real
@Charlee.K
@@dadcamebackwiththemilk5463 that is so true :( she needs to be heard way more
@duckysguidetoshipping8930
Neverr
@dadcamebackwiththemilk5463
@@Charlee.K ye
@givenachance28
Lyrics:
i keep the letters that you wrote
in a secret place
everynow and then i go
down memory lane
october passed me by
just like any month
but i still think of the times
you took the breath out of my lungs
you don't have to run
yeah, i got bitter when you got cold
could you really blame me though
cause i’m still tied up when you go
you know this song is about you
who else could it be
you were the first to make me
feel like i was me
just a memory
it wasn’t all good
yeah, it wasn’t all pretty
lost our grip
while tryna go steady
holding on to you like maybe
one day we’ll meet
i met you at the wrong time
didn’t wanna see
i was busy with the stars
you were looking at me
for better or for worse
i don’t know
but for what its worth
i made you my whole world
i made you my whole world
screaming at the top of my lungs, i love you my girl!
always in the back in the mind
you’ll be my girl
@maelenia
This is weird questions, but what did you search up to get your profile picture? Louis and Harry look so cute in it.
@Crlstlan.
@@maelenia I'd probably use pinterest
@maelenia
@@Crlstlan. thanks!