“Astronomy” by Conan Gray

Conan Cray’s “Astronomy” can be interpreted as one of heartbreak, of course operating along an astronomical motif, though there appears to be more to it than that. The addressee is a romantic interest whom, all lyrics considered, we can presume is the vocalist’s ex.  And concerning the motif, he uses astronomical references in both a positive and negative sort of way in order to get his perspective across.

For instance Conan asserts that he and this lady have “ridden the stars” and “seen everything from Saturn to Mars”. Those metaphors actually point to the first verse, where it is revealed that the two of them spent a lot of time on the road, bonding. Indeed they both have something in common in that they come from broken homes. 

But more importantly than anything is the fact that they fell in love – “young love” as the vocalist calls it. And unfortunately in this case his understanding of these romances proved true, in that his relationship with the addressee didn’t last.

“Astronomy”

So that brings us to the negative application of the “astronomy” title, in that now the pair are “two worlds apart”. That analogy basically means that they can no longer relate. And by the looks of things, this reality has something to do with the vocalist perhaps dumping the addressee. 

But as a premise, as detailed in the second verse, this reads like one of those situations where they amicably parted ways for some time, not actually breaking up per se but under the good ol’ ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ philosophy. Well in this case, such obviously didn’t prove true. 

So now the singer is basically missing the old days when they were together. And whereas that explanation may sound a bit confusing, so is, to a degree, the storyline that we’re dealing with.

For instance, in the bridge, he implies that the addressee may still be ‘trying to keep the relationship alive’. But under his estimation it has “already died”, never to be revived, despite it being ascertainable that, at least to some degree, he misses her.

Conclusion

Honestly, this isn’t a simple song to dissect. But in trying to put together a comprehensive timeline of what transpired, this is what we’ve come up with. 

At a time, this was the perfect youth romance. However, the participants did not really value what they had. So they separated and did their own thing. And now, at least as far as the narrator is concerned, ‘mistakes’ were made where getting back together is no longer an option, even though the addressee apparently desires such. 

Or let’s say that from his perspective, they don’t have as much in common as they did before. So it may not be so much that he’s heartbroken as it is him coming to the realization that a special romance he once shared with someone is now gone forever.

Release Date of “Astronomy”

Conan Gray first teased this song, via Twitter, on 4 May 2021. It was released a few days later on 7 May, which also happens to be the date an astronomy-related holiday called National Space Day falls on in 2021.

At the time of this track’s release, whereas this information is not set in stone, it appears that this may be the first single from “Worlds Apart”, Kid Krow’s upcoming second album. Either this may be the lead single or “Overdrive“, a track he released earlier in 2021.

Conan Gray

Conan’s debut album, “Kid Krow”, came out in early 2020. It proved to be successful in that it peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified gold by Music Canada. It also produced two hit singles, “Maniac” (2019) and “Heather” (2020), which are really Conan’s only two hits to date. But they have both been certified platinum in the US and Australia nonetheless.

Conan Gray is a signer from Texas (though born in California) who is 22 years old as of the release of this track. Like many other musicians from his generation, he traces his professional origins back to social media and self-released content such as his first single, “Idle Town” (2017). Shortly thereafter he got a deal with Republic Records, which is the same label that issued “Astronomy”.

Did Conan Gray write “Astronomy”?

Yes. Conan co-wrote this song alongside the track’s producer, one of the regular collaborators of his young career, Dan Nigro.