Letting out jazzy runs, hypnotic hooks, and an unfiltered operatic scream from the gut, Whitney Woerz sparks a physical reaction with every performance in the studio and on stage. With over 135 million YouTube views, 20 million streams, and acclaim from Billboard, Vanyaland, and more, she traces her 2020 10:22pm/Island Records debut back to one such moment and a life-changing realization…
“I fell to the floor,” she recalls. “I discovered my voice, my sound, and my genre in one take. I realized I didn’t have to play by any rules. I could just sing what came naturally. Rather than just touching on it, I’m bringing out what’s underneath the feelings and the sadness. If you analyze my lyrics, they’re real. It’s music that might help you learn something about yourself.”
Whitney discovered herself through music. Singing before she could talk, she enrolled in vocal lessons as early as kindergarten before participating in her first musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a year later. Falling in love with performance, she continued to hone her voice through rigorous traditional training. Studying opera, lyrical, classical, and jazz, her range encompassed an expansive swath of styles.
Facing turmoil in school, she retreated into her art.
“In my hometown, everybody was skinny with straight blonde hair and played sports,” she says. “If you weren’t playing at a high level, you weren’t cool. I got bullied because I did performing arts. Can you believe that? At the time, I was bigger than everyone else and had curly hair. It could be really tough.”
She siphoned that struggle into songs. Retreating to Nashville with GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Glenn Rosenstein [Madonna, U2, Talking Heads], she recorded her independent Behind The Smile EP in 2016. Written after a friend admitted to suicidal intent during an online chat, the single “Ghost Story” took off as an anthem of encouragement and empowerment. Citing the song as “one of the most significant moments of my life, because my friend said it saved her,” the accompanying video went viral with 10 million-plus views. Bring Change 2 Mind—the organization founded by Academy® Award nominee Glenn Close—sought her out as an ambassador. Maintaining this momentum, “Love Me Not” racked up over 60 million YouTube views and 4.5 million Spotify streams in 2018. Along the way, she shared the stage with everyone from Jason Mraz and Jesse McCartney to Nina Nesbitt in addition to performing on The Today Show as Elvis Duran’s “Artist of the Month.” During 2019, she fully realized her sonic identity. Striking a balance between jazz phrasing, lo-fi production, and pop power, Whitney introduces a singular style on Sad Love.
“It’s pop fused with jazz influences and urban elements,” she explains. “It’s left-of-center, and it nods to everything I love. I grew up practicing opera. The theatricality is in there. I love standards by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Billie Holiday, so it has some of those elements. It’s quirky like me. I feel like what I’m doing now really represents who I am.”
The lead single and title track “Sad Love” tiptoes between airy keys and a glitchy beat as her soothing vocals give way to a sassy bridge. Meanwhile, her voice ascends to towering heights with an impassioned refrain, “Baby, that’s sad love,” backed by a revival-style call-and-response.
“I was with the only boyfriend I’ve ever had for my junior year of high school,” she remarks. “I was way too in love with him. He became my life. I didn’t even matter anymore. One day, he came over and he told me he didn’t love me anymore. Then, a few months later when I wrote ‘Sad Love,’ I wasn’t healed all the way. But, then I realized I wouldn’t be anywhere if he didn’t break my heart. I became so powerful in my mind that I took all of me back. I finally became myself again. It’s an oxymoron, but the sadness brought me to self-love. You have to break before you can grow.”
Elsewhere on the EP as her journey carried on, lithe guitar wraps entwine with swells of strings as her angelic delivery emanates through “Philophobia.” Once again, she makes a stark confession, “Philophobia means ‘fear of falling in love.’ I’m admitting that I’m scared of meeting my match, getting attached, and giving my heart without getting it back’.” The droning production of “Weirdos” gives way to a schizophrenic performance as her voice flutters between hushed verses and fits of triumphant as she declares, “The odd are getting even.”
“If you’re weird, embrace it,” she continues. “That’s the message of the song. Weird is the new cool. It’s our turn. Back in the day, I was bullied for theater and singing. I’m taking an awful time in my life and adding light again.”
In the end, Whitney might just move you emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
“I want you to take away positive energy, encouragement, and unconditional love,” she leaves off. “That’s the most important thing to me. I want to be a light in the world by being real.”
Loss and Love
Whitney Woerz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
didnt breathe loss and love
but now now its taken my mind
oh momma tell me why god gives love with the price of loss in
two seperate worlds my body splits in half
my heart flies as my bones shatter
but your alive in my heart
what can i say you know my last goodbyeits even when loss and love
but now now its taken my mind
oh momma tell me why god gives love with the price of loss
in two seperate worlds my body splits in half
my heart flies as my bones shatter
but your alive in my heart
oh momma tell me why god gives love with the price of loss
in two seperate worlds my body splits in half
my heart flies as my bones shatter
but your alive in my heart
your alive in my heart
your alive in my heart
your alive in my heart
your alive in my heart
In Whitney Woerz's emotional song "Loss and Love," the singer expresses her feelings about the bittersweet experience of loving and losing someone, ultimately questioning why God has to inflict loss upon those who love deeply. The song starts with the singer desperately trying to convince herself that she is okay, even though she is haunted by the memories of loss and love that she has experienced. She then questions the unfairness of the world and asks her mother why love must come with the price of loss, as she herself feels torn between two worlds.
As the song progresses, the singer describes the physical and emotional toll that loss has taken on her. She feels as though her body is splitting in half and her heart is flying while her bones shatter. However, despite the pain, she recognizes that the person she has lost will always live on in her heart.
Whitney Woerz's powerful song captures the raw emotions of heartbreak, loss, and grief, and the difficulty of coping with the pain that comes with these experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
im okay i lie my eyes open wide
I may appear fine on the outside, but I am pretending to keep my eyes open and hide my true emotions.
didnt breathe loss and love
I did not expect to experience the pain of losing someone I love.
but now now its taken my mind
The grief has consumed my thoughts and emotions, and it is affecting me deeply.
oh momma tell me why god gives love with the price of loss in
I am questioning why love often comes with the inevitable price of losing that love.
two seperate worlds my body splits in half
My physical and emotional selves feel torn apart by the pain of this loss.
my heart flies as my bones shatter
My heart is soaring with the love I feel for the person I lost, but my physical body feels broken and shattered without them.
but your alive in my heart
I will always keep the memory of the person I lost alive within me.
what can i say you know my last goodbye
I struggle to find the words to express my final farewell to the person I loved.
its even when loss and love
The pain of losing someone I love makes it even harder to accept the love that exists in my life.
but now now its taken my mind
The grief I am feeling is consuming my thoughts and emotions, making it difficult to process anything else.
oh momma tell me why god gives love with the price of loss
Once again, I am questioning why love often comes with the inevitable cost of losing it.
your alive in my heart
I will always keep the memory of the person I lost alive within me, and they will never truly be gone as long as I remember them.
your alive in my heart
I will always keep the memory of the person I lost alive within me, and they will never truly be gone as long as I remember them.
your alive in my heart
I will always keep the memory of the person I lost alive within me, and they will never truly be gone as long as I remember them.
your alive in my heart
I will always keep the memory of the person I lost alive within me, and they will never truly be gone as long as I remember them.
Contributed by Katherine H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.