5 Seconds of Summer – Old Me
On 5SOS’ “Old Me”, the vocalist is giving a shoutout to the “old” him. For instance, imagine a scenario sort of like an individual being able to go back in time and interact with a younger version of himself. That is what’s going down on this tune, in the sense that the singer is actually addressing his younger self. And the sentiment he is expressing first and foremost is thanking himself for never compromising. In other words, he acknowledges, in a roundabout way, that back in the day other people were trying to stifle his development.
However, he now appreciates the fact that he was not the type to let others control him or to live his life by other individuals’ philosophies. He also understands that he made mistakes along the way, but those same ‘f ups’ also contributed to him becoming the person he is today. And in terms of his present life, which the verses themselves are centered on, the idea he seems to be putting forth is that even to this day he is living with no regrets. Or let’s say that all lyrics considered, the narrator still comes off as the type of individual who does not let others dictate the way he conducts himself. And he perceives this characteristic as being one of his strongest attributes.
So in an indirect way we can say this track is an ode to self. But more specifically the singer is idealizing his personal tendency not to compromise his lifestyle to the standards of others.
Release Date and Album
This is the fourth single from 5 Seconds of Summer’s (5SOS) 2020 album entitled “C A L M” (also written as “Calm”). The track was released by Interscope Records on 27 March 2020.
“Old Me” was preceded by the following singles from “CALM”:
“Old Me” was written by two members of 5SOS (Hemmings and Ashton) along with the track’s three producers (Louis Bell, Dre Moon and Watt) and additional co-writers Brian Lee, Ali Tamposi and Billy Walsh.
5SOS teased the release this song by actually sharing images of their “old” selves (i.e. baby pics) on Instagram about a week before it came out. These same pictures made it onto the song’s official lyric video on YouTube.
This sure does feels a lot an ode to self and its one of my favorite songs from their CALM album!
Thank you for sharing your pov with this song! <3