Connection

This standalone single is a very personal song for OneRepublic frontman and songwriter Ryan Tedder. It finds him reflecting on his own journey to connect properly with his loved ones face to face in an era when most communication is done through social media. These days my waves get lost in the oceans Seven billion swimmers, man I'm going through the motions Sent up a flare, I need love and devotion Traded for some faces that I never know, notion

Tedder told Billboard his lyrics are based on being a successful music artist when "everyone's world revolves around you, they operate on your timetable," He started thinking about how everyone including himself seems "so distracted all the time" yet he still yearns "to connect with somebody in a real sense." The OneRepublic frontman added that one of his favorite lines is, "If there's so many people here, then why am I so lonely?" He explained: "That's really, for me, the human condition and human experience, and that's everything I'm writing about. The whole album is steering towards connection. It's about wanting real human connection in a meaningful way, because that's really all that matters at the end of the day."

Tedder's search for authentic companionship acts as the flip side of One Republic's 2016 Oh My My track "A.I." where he's searching for an artificial, automatic kind of love.