“Copy of a Copy of a Copy” by Louis Tomlinson
Louis Tomlinson’s “Copy of a Copy of a Copy” offers a unique perspective on the well-worn musical subject of heartbreak. For instance, it is not addressed to or even about a lady per se. Rather the addressee is a “young man” whom the older and wiser Tomlinson is comforting. This individual is a fresh victim of having his heart broken, being totally and completely in his feelings. And basically, what the singer is telling him is that this emotion he is experiencing, as painful as it is, is nothing new, nor is it rare. In fact there are countless people going through the same. And such is the concept upon which the titular metaphor is based, i.e. the addressee not being alone in his sorrow but rather a “copy of a copy of a copy”.
This is a song which Tomlinson debuted during a livestream event on 12 December 2020. At the time there is no official date set for its release. However, being a song that he ‘really likes’, Tomlinson intends to keep performing it live nonetheless.
I think the song is about the age old concept of Queer closeting in the music industry and hollywood . “Dreamers diving head first” refers to how young , ambitious artists are ready to sacrifice everything in order to have a chance at making it big in the industry . “Broken beaks and dead birds can’t get through the glass” refers to being in a glass closet , where a lot of people know of their queer identity but it is not openly acknowledged due to various reasons that could include queerphobia in their record label/management . “There’s no use crying over spilt blood , carin’ only kills love , a kiss won’t bring it back ” means that the past cannot be changed and the only way to move forward is to keep fighting for freedom . ” I know the first blow hits you cold ” refers to how difficult it is to supress a natural part of your being and how you get used to it after a while . ” Young man hush your crying , dry your tears away ” I think when he says “Young man” he is referring to his younger self and every other young male who has and is going through the same thing . He is telling them to stay strong . ” Nothing is original ,there’s nothing left to say . You won’t be the the first or be the last to bleed , every broken heart as far as your heart can see is a copy of a copy of a copy ” This refers to how closeting has been a part of the industry for as long as it has existed .Colton Haynes and Cara Delevinge are examples of people who spoke up about their experience with closeting in Hollywood. It means that there have been numerous people that came before him that have experienced the same thing and there will be many people in the future who will experience similar things .” I can hear you , holwling till your lungs hurt ” As a queer, closeted person I know how much it hurts to be told that you can’t exist a certain way and this line almost made me cry the first time I heard it . ” So let this be your comfort , you’re not the only one , in a strange way , all in this together . Been this forever , you’re not the only one ” This refers to how closeting has existed for ages and to find comfort in the stories of those that came before you . It also gives hope that things do get better. This is how I interpreted this song . With the lyrics and the melody this song is a fucking masterpiece . It is definitely my fave Louis Tomlinson song .I hope he releases it soon , but , with all the queer coding he does I can’t help but wonder if he’s actually not allowed to officially release it .
larry is real
Wow
Ret–ds like u belong to the bin, not everything is about Larry. Neither his relationship nor sexuality is your business. Stop giving Louis bad rep
Love Love Love you for that. I am the girl who wrote that long paragraph about of COACOAC is not about Larry. (Girl Almighty) I am just checkin to see any updates on this. JSYK
Ok listen. Yes I am a Larry. But this song, is not about that. Same with a lot of other songs by the two boys. I don’t think that people completely understand that Harry and Louis were in other relationships other than with each other. (They probably never loved anyone else like they loved each other but they were still with other people) So not everything is about Larry. And honestly people who believe that this song is about that, I find for 1 annoying and for 2 disrespectful. Louis is pouring his heart out in this song about how his entire life is viewed by the general public, however, his true self is trapped beneath and can’t escape. He begins the song with “It’s an old curse, dreamers diving headfirst”. This could clearly point to how many people who dream of being famous are willing to give up anything– no matter the consequences. Immediately following are the lines “Broken beaks and dead birds, can’t get through the glass”. This could possibly allude to birds being a sign of freedom. However, he describes the birds as being trapped behind glass and unable to escape, damaging themselves in the process. In the chorus he directly calls out who the song is directed towards, “Young man, hush your crying, dry your tears away…You won’t be the first or be the last to bleed”. Louis possibly tells his younger self that feeling trapped is, unfortunately, the price he had to pay to become famous. He comforts himself as well by saying that he isn’t the only one in the industry that feels the same way, but that there isn’t anything he can do about it so there’s no need to cry. Louis more than likely wrote this song as a message to his younger SELF. The whole situation is obviously hurting him and he is trying to get people to understand that. But for everyone saying that this is a Larry song, How? Are you really Louis stans? Honestly because it’s obvious that you don’t care about how he feels.
I’m not reading all of that but so true or sorry ur stupid. idk
This is the most accurate opinion I’ve seen, honestly it looks like I’ve wrote this paragraph because I couldn’t said it better.
i LOVE this, thank you so much
that’s one beautiful and accurate way to explain coacoa
About Larry or not, it’s about closeting of people in the messed up music industry
Louis’s writing skills means more than that…. don’t easily assume things
Yes Ma’am!!!
Mick and Bowie 😊
Louis more than likely wrote this song as a message to his younger self. He begins the song with “It’s an old curse, dreamers diving headfirst”. This could clearly point to how many people who dream of being famous are willing to give up anything– no matter the consequences.
Immediately following are the lines “Broken beaks and dead birds, can’t get through the glass”. This could possibly allude to birds being a sign of freedom. However, he describes the birds as being trapped behind glass and unable to escape, damaging themselves in the process. Sharing how his entire life is viewed by the general public, however, his true self is trapped beneath and can’t escape. Similar to his lyrics in “Just Like You” where he shares that even though he is on news tabloids and the media, he’s still a normal person.Lastly, in the chorus he directly calls out who the song is directed towards, “Young man, hush your crying, dry your tears away…You won’t be the first or be the last to bleed”. Louis possibly tells his younger self that feeling trapped is, unfortunately, the price he had to pay to become famous. He comforts him as well by saying that he isn’t the only one in the industry that feels the same way, but that there isn’t anything he can do about it so there’s no need to cry.
This is perfectly the same that I think ✌
While I am a HUGE Larry, this isn’t about Larry. This seems like Louis wrote it to his younger self, telling himself he’s not the only one who feels trapped, but there’s nothing he can do about it.
I feel like this song is either about closeting or a message to his younger self, but the lyric “you won’t be the first or be the last to bleed” screams closeting, bc it will never end and will forever be in the music industry, OK bye bye now <3 🙂
If you want to associate with Harry, then tell a decent and correct story. Louis fell for Harry. Harry did not return those feeling so he got his heart broken. Now, that Harry is going through his own little heartbreak according to his lyrics, Louis is saying “what you are going through is what I went through and I survived you and you will survive this”
“I can hear you, howlin’ ’til your lungs hurt”
This is Harry “Crying out because I don’t wan to be lonely”. Just like Louis said in “Habit”, the person was crying out for someone else. NOT HIM.