Shadowboxing

Inspired by Tom Grennan's personal battles with mental health, "Shadowboxing" details the exhausting, daily struggle of fighting one's own demons. Grennan describes it as "my fight with a side of me I have a lot of trouble with."

In boxing, shadowboxing is a training exercise where you throw punches at an invisible opponent, which sounds rather dramatic until you realize it's also an apt metaphor for Grennan's internal battles. He's not squaring up against another fighter; he's going toe-to-toe with himself. And, as Grennan points out, it's still a daily fight, though he now considers himself "mentally and physically prepared" and even claims to be "in athlete mode." He's not the first to use the metaphor. Fiona Apple's 1996 debut album has a song called "Shadowboxer" that finds her fighting against an enemy that's not really there.

The chorus makes it clear this is an ongoing struggle: Every day, I'm working, working, working on me Constantly, I'm holding, holding, holding the beast down Thought it would be easy, easy, easy to leave But, oh, hell, I'm shadowboxing myself That last line pretty much sums up the song's whole concept - no external opponent, just Grennan versus Grennan in a battle for control.