You Already Know

"You Already Know" is about being lost and feeling behind where you're supposed to be in life. It starts with vocalist Nathan Willett singing about waking up in confusion and feeling like he's wasted his life. He wonders when things will get easier ("When will I get to cruise?"). As the song progresses, he alternates between referring to himself and to someone else. It's not clear, though, if he's actually talking about a second person or if he's addressing his own past self. There seems to be a longing for the past, when he sings: It wasn't long ago we were digging in the dirt And we came out on the other side of the world Digging in the dirt brings childhood to mind, so the suggestion is that Willett finds himself isolated from childhood and unsure how to proceed as an adult, feeling like he's falling farther and farther behind as time goes. The real mystery in the song lies in what the person in the song already knows. We're never told that explicitly; we're just assured over and over again that "you already know." Willett has suggested that New Age Norms 2 album tells a continuous narrative (like the "concept albums" of yore), so its full meaning may best be illuminated by the other songs on the album.

The chorus harks to the Badfinger song "Come and Get it," which goes: If you want it, here it is, come and get it But you'd better hurry 'cause it's goin' fast You'd better hurry 'cause it's goin' fast "You Already Know" goes: If you want it You can have it Come and get it You already know

Released July 1, 2020, this was the second single from the group's eighth album, New Age Norms 2, following "Who's Gonna Love Me Now."