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.
The Thrill Of It All
Sam Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That you were with me
And I regret how I showed the world
That you were pretty
I never thought I'd learn so much
So much from being lonely
But I guess I didn't learn enough
'Cause now you won't hold me
I guess I got lost in the moment
I guess I got lost in the fall
I guess I got lost in your heartbeat
In the thrill of it all
And I guess you were goddamn perfect
'Cause every single time you call
I remind myself of what I lost that night
My love
In the thrill of it all
In the thrill of it all
Even though we weren't in love
It was far from lust
Yeah, you were beautiful
But in you I could trust
Others they warned my heart
They said I would lose fast
They say that you were stopping ground
And soon to be my past
I guess I got lost in the moment
I guess I got lost in the fall
I guess I got lost in your heartbeat
In the thrill of it all
And I guess you were goddamn perfect
'Cause every single time you call
I remind myself of what I lost that night
My love
In the thrill of it all
In the thrill of it all
And I guess you were goddamn perfect
'Cause every single time you call
I remind myself of what I lost that night
My love
I remind myself of what I lost that night
My love
I remind myself of what I lost that night
My love
In the thrill of it all
The lyrics of Sam Smith's The Thrill Of It All reveals deep regret and pain of a past relationship. The singer acknowledges his mistake in revealing and presenting his former partner to the world, and the newfound knowledge he had gained from being lonely. It appears that despite acknowledging that their relationship was not based on love, but rather trust and admiration, the singer fell deeply for this person, resulting in him getting lost in the moment and their experiences together.
The line "And I guess you were goddamn perfect, 'cause every single time you call I remind myself of what I lost that night" demonstrates the intensity of the singer's emotions, as this person has become his benchmark of perfection, while the memory of losing them continually haunts him. The thrill of it all that the singer talks about was not just the excitement of their relationship, but rather the overwhelming emotional rush and intensity experienced when being with this person.
The song is a reflection of how the singer has lost himself through diving deep into a relationship without thinking of the consequences, experiencing both the thrill of intimacy and the heartache of separation.
Line by Line Meaning
I regret that I told the world
I feel ashamed that I revealed to everyone that we were together
That you were with me
That we were in a relationship
And I regret how I showed the world
I feel guilty about displaying to everyone how physically attractive you are
That you were pretty
How physically attractive you are
I never thought I'd learn so much
I never thought I would gain so much knowledge
So much from being lonely
By being alone, I have gained insight into life and myself
But I guess I didn't learn enough
But now I realize that I still have more to learn
'Cause now you won't hold me
Because you no longer want to be with me
Even though we weren't in love
Even though we didn't have a strong emotional attachment
It was far from lust
Our relationship was more than just physical attraction
Yeah, you were beautiful
You were physically attractive
But in you I could trust
I felt comfortable and safe with you
Others they warned my heart
Other people cautioned me about getting emotionally involved
They said I would lose fast
They warned me that I would end up getting hurt quickly
They say that you were stopping ground
They said that you were someone who people dated temporarily until they found someone better
And soon to be my past
They thought you would be a brief part of my life that I would quickly move on from
I guess I got lost in the moment
I became so caught up in the experience that I lost sight of reality
I guess I got lost in the fall
I became so caught up in the feelings of love and attraction
I guess I got lost in your heartbeat
I became so caught up in our physical intimacy
In the thrill of it all
In the excitement and intensity of our connection
And I guess you were goddamn perfect
And I believed that you were absolutely flawless
'Cause every single time you call
Because I still have feelings for you and can't resist your attempts to contact me
I remind myself of what I lost that night
I remember the emotional bond that we shared and the happiness that I felt with you
My love
The affection and attachment that I had towards you
In the thrill of it all
In the intense emotions and excitement of our connection
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Brendan Grieve, Reuben James, Sam Smith
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ta'Tierra Martin
Sam Smith really poured his heart into this album and it shows ❤️
Perfect finish by Moe
Sam Smith songs always touch me
manal al-ha
@AMANDA Rodriguez ٠
Marie Cyprien-Taylor
Honestly
AMANDA Rodriguez
Woah ...lol jp
Marie Cyprien-Taylor
The lyrics and the piano, you just feel the song ❤️
Theresa
1 year ago, still loving this song.
Camilo Reyes
Forever his best album
MrRight
Agreed
Tavish Williams
Absolutely heartbreaking song! I love it!!!