Bruises

Lewis Capaldi wrote this piano ballad on October 7, 2016, the day of his 20th birthday. He had just broken up with his girlfriend after going out with her for year and a half. He told Genius that it was "an amicable split" as he was working hard on his music and she was busy doing her own thing as well.

The song is not sung from the perspective of heartbreak; instead Capaldi is singing of how he can't stop holding onto the memories of their relationship, no matter how much its hurting him. I've been told, I've been told to get you off my mind But I hope I never lose the bruises that you left behind Oh my lord, oh my lord, I need you by my side Capaldi explained: "At times your memory of an old relationship will be clouded and you'll only seem to remember the best parts of being with someone. Completely ignoring the reasons why things came to an end makes the idea of holding on to it or wanting to go back to it seem more enticing than it actually is."

Capaldi sings about "bruises" rather than "scars" as he doesn't harbor any bad feelings about the relationship. "Bruises," he explained, "seems like an altogether more repairable thing" than scars.