Interested in music from a young age, the San Francisco-born Leff took piano and viola lessons as a child before picking up the guitar around age 11. During high school, he played in several bands and studied jazz before discovering electronic music production. However, it was while attending N.Y.U. as a music tech major in 2014 that a bad breakup found Leff on his own and digging deep into his writing and recording process. Out of this period came the song "The Other," co-written with songwriter/instrumentalist Michael Matosic. Released under Leff's stage name Lauv (inspired by the Latvian "lauva" or lion), the song went viral after gaining blog attention and peaked at number three on blog aggregator Hype Machine. In 2015 he returned with his debut EP, Lost in the Light, which featured "The Other."
More tracks followed, including 2015's "Reforget" and 2016's "Question," featuring Travis Mills. In 2017 Lauv headed his own Late Nights, Deep Talks tour and premiered the official video for "The Other," along with a series of remixes. Released in May of that year, Lauv's single "I Like Me Better" became a breakout international hit and was later featured on his self-titled second EP that October. The single was also included on his full-length debut, 2018's I Met You When I Was 18, which also featured the singles "Paranoid" and "Bracelet." Hit collaborations with Julia Michaels ("There's No Way") and Troye Sivan ("I'm So Tired...") carried him into 2019. Lauv's debut album "~how i'm feeling~" is set to be released in March 2020.
Lauv The Other
Lauv Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ran it extra cold to shake the words from my mouth
Though I know that no one's listening
I nervously rehearse for when you're around
And I keep waiting like you might change my mind
Who wrote the book on goodbye?
When there's nothing quite wrong but it don't feel right
Either your head or your heart, you set the other on fire
We fell from the peak
And the stars, they broke their code
I'm trying to forget
How I landed on this road
I'm caught in between
What I wish and what I know
When they say that you just know
Back and forth now I'm feelin' guilty
Cause I just can't stop this pendulum in my head
Though I know that our time is ending
I'd rather lay forever right in this bed
And I keep waiting like, you might change my mind
Who wrote the book on goodbye?
There's never been a way to make this easy
When there's nothing quite wrong but it don't feel right
Either your head or your heart, you set the other on fire
We fell from the peak
And the stars, they broke their code
I'm trying to forget
How I landed on this road
I'm caught in between
What I wish and what I know
When they say that you just know
The lyrics to Lauv's song "The Other" speak to the struggle of being caught between two conflicting emotions. The singer is haunted by the possibility that they might be able to change their mind about a relationship that they know is ending. They rehearse what they want to say in their head, but when it comes down to it, they can't bring themselves to speak up. The question "who wrote the book on goodbye?" is rhetorical; there's never an easy way to end a relationship or say goodbye to someone you've been close to. The singer is grappling with the fact that there's nothing definitively wrong with the relationship, but it doesn't feel right either. It's like they're caught in between their head and their heart, and either way, they feel like they're setting the other on fire.
The lines "we fell from the peak and the stars, they broke their code" suggest that the relationship has been in decline for some time, and it's reached its nadir. The singer is trying to forget how they ended up on this road, but the memory is still fresh in their mind. They're struggling to reconcile what they wish for with what they know to be true. The idea of "knowing" is tricky; it's subjective, and it's hard to pin down what we truly know about ourselves or others. The singer is trying to both trust their intuition and escape from it at the same time.
Line by Line Meaning
Like a spotlight the water hits me
The water feels like a bright spotlight aimed at me, and it washes over me intensely.
Ran it extra cold to shake the words from my mouth
I turned the water extra cold so maybe the shock will help me shake the words I want to say to you from my mouth.
Though I know that no one's listening
I don't really expect anyone to listen to me, but I still nervously rehearse my words for when you're around.
And I keep waiting like you might change my mind
I have a lingering hope that you might change my mind, so I keep waiting for that to happen.
Who wrote the book on goodbye?
Goodbye is never easy or clear-cut, so who came up with a standard way to say it?
There's never been a way to make this easy
We can never find a way to make this ending or separation easy or painless.
When there's nothing quite wrong but it don't feel right
There isn't really anything objectively wrong, but something still feels off or uncomfortable.
Either your head or your heart, you set the other on fire
Your logical thinking and emotional feelings are conflicting, and one of them is causing pain for the other.
We fell from the peak
We were once at the top of our relationship, but now we've fallen from that high point.
And the stars, they broke their code
The once-constant and predictable stars now appear to be behaving in a new, unexpected way, adding to the chaos and confusion.
I'm trying to forget
I'm consciously trying to erase the painful memories and move on from this situation.
How I landed on this road
I'm wondering how I even ended up on this path that leads to our eventual separation.
I'm caught in between
I'm stuck in the middle of the opposing forces of what I want and what I know is right.
What I wish and what I know
I want things to be different, but I know deep down that they cannot be.
When they say that you just know
They say that you can just feel when something is right or wrong, but it's not that simple.
Back and forth now I'm feelin' guilty
I'm going back and forth in my mind, causing me to feel guilty about my conflicting thoughts and feelings.
Cause I just can't stop this pendulum in my head
I can't seem to stop this mental back-and-forth, like a swinging pendulum inside my head, even though I know it's not productive.
Though I know that our time is ending
I'm aware that our time together is coming to an end, but it's still hard to accept.
I'd rather lay forever right in this bed
I wish we could stay in this moment forever, and not move forward to the inevitable separation.
Contributed by David H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@kloe9441
my deciphering of the lyrics:
so it starts out with him taking a cold shower and him rehearsing lines to say to someone. that person is obviously important to him, like a close friend or lover, because he says the words nervously even when no one is here to hear. the words are words he thought he would ever need to tell this person and that's why he's stalling the moment he says them, trying to let them change his mind of them.
it shows he is saying goodbye to someone and that this kind of goodbye isn't easy and something you can't find in a book because it wouldn't be good enough. then he says that it's not really wrong but it's not as good as it should feel, hence why he is going to say goodbye. his head says there's nothing wrong with what's happening but to his heart its not 100% right. if he goes with his head or his heart, he sets the other on fire.
then he says there's a pendulum of guilt in his head. whenever he things he should end whatever he has with this person he believes its the right thing. but when that person unknowingly gives him another reason to stay, he feels guilty about all the time he thought of leaving. he knows its gotta end soon but he doesn't want to deal with that and would rather just lay in bed. so he keeps delaying his goodbye.
(repeat paragraph 2)
then he believes that no one can possibly know what his situation feels like because no one really talks about that kind of thing
@vitoriamoraes8701
Lyrics
Like a spotlight the water hits me
Ran it extra cold to shake the words from my mouth
Though I know that no one's listening
I nervously rehearsed for when you're around
And I keep waiting like you might change my mind
Who wrote the book on goodbye?
There's never been a way to make this easy
When there's nothing quite wrong but it don't feel right
Either your head or your heart, you set the other on fire
Back and forth now I'm feelin' guilty
Cause I just can't stop this pendulum in my head
Though I know that our time is ending
I'd rather lay forever right in this bed
And I keep waiting like, you might change my mind
Give me one more night
Who wrote the book on goodbye?
There's never been a way to make this easy
When there's nothing quite wrong but it don't feel right
Either your head or your heart, you set the other on fire
No one knows, knows, knows
No one knows, knows, knows
We fell from the peak
And the stars, they broke their code
I'm trying to forget
How I landed on this road
I'm caught in between
What I wish and what I know
When they say that you just know
Who wrote the book on goodbye?
There's never been a way to make this easy
When there's nothing quite wrong but it don't feel right
Either your head or your heart, you set the other on fire
No one knows ,knows, knows
No one knows, knows, knows
You set the other on fire
You set the other on fire
@AirwaveMusicTV
My favorite from LAUV 💙
@harshit6431
Wait , mine too😀
@rhiagasic2076
SAME ❤️❤️❤️
@erikaventer3592
"when there's nothing quite wrong, but it don't feel right"
I feel that...
@avyaajain9143
me too
@saintzfan504ify
I feel that..
@Loraszno
Am I the only one who feels like this should have been his breakthrough hit? I like 'I Like Me Better' too, but I honestly think this is better.
@whytihp1386
iLovemusic i agree
@Vap82
This song better than 'i like me better'
@thatsjustchrisc
Agreeedd