Passion 2: “It’s Not the Same Anymore”

I originally heard the song “It’s Not the Same Anymore” by Rex Orange County in a tik tok about someone’s ex-relationship, and listened to it A LOT over quarantine. It’s a song about growing up and things changing, which really resonated with me over the past few months. Due to everything shutting down because of COVID-19, I often felt like my entire childhood ended one random day in March. I spent a lot of time looking at pictures from the previous four years, which is how this song starts out. As the title suggests, most of the song talks about looking back on previous years of his life. The phrase “it’s not the same anymore”, repeated many times throughout the song, usually implies that there was something about the past that is missed. Not only does he talk about missing the past, he talks about feeling unhappy in his current situation. This is exactly how I felt looking back on my life, and sometimes even still how I feel now. COVID-19 has taken away a lot of the things that I loved and was comfortable with, and it can be pretty easy to feel unsatisfied with the way my life looks currently.

While most of this song feels pretty depressing, it picks up at the end for an upbeat finish to the song and album. The last verse of the song switches into talking about how he has learned a lot from his past and that there is no use in being upset. Then, the final chorus changes into “it’s not the same anymore, it got better,”. This line is also something that resonated with me a lot as I transitioned into college and a new phase of my life. While life isn’t anywhere close to being the same as it was pre-COVID, the new part of my life has brought in a lot of new experiences and people that have lightened my outlook, especially compared to last spring.

I especially like this song because of how it differs from a lot of his other work. When I think of Rex Orange County I think of chill, happy love songs. This song, and the album that contains it, show a new dimension of him to his listeners. Artists often face a lot of criticism for producing music that is different from their usual, so I like how he took a chance releasing an album with new topics. It also incorporates new instruments and sounds to his usual piano and guitar, adds depth to him as an artist. 

Overall, this song does a great job of combining musical elements and lyrics into a piece that really captures the feeling of growing up and being nostalgic. This new style is refreshing for Rex Orange County and definitely has a spot as one of my all-time favorites of his work.