“Tell Her You Don’t Love Her” by Brandy Clark (ft. Lucius)
“Tell Her You Don’t Love Her” features Lucius, a band from Brooklyn fronted by two vocalists, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe. This act has been around since the late aughts and appeared on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Songs chart on a few occasions, including topping the list as a feature on The War on Drugs’ 2021 outing “I Don’t Live Here Anymore”.
More recently, Lucius nearly broke the top 30 of the AAA chart by headlining 2022’s “Dance Around It”, featuring songstresses Sheryl Crow and Brandi Carlile. The latter is the executive producer of “Brandy Clark”, the album that was released through Warner Records on 19 May 2023.
The main artist behind that project is Washingtonian Brandy Clark herself, and “Tell Her You Don’t Love Her”, which is featured on the LP, marks her first collaboration with Lucius.
Lyrics of “Tell Her You Don’t Love Her”
The lyrics of this song find the vocalist addressing the significant other of a female friend. And what they are telling him is that he needs to conclusively break said friend’s heart. Or as the title puts it, he should tell her that his love isn’t real, even if it may be.
The reason the addressee is being advised so, most simply put, is because he’s a toxic partner. That is to say that the vocalist’s friend is all bent out of shape due to the way he treats her, while Brandy and co. have grown weary of and concerned about her being in this state. And as implied they tried their best to break her out of it, but said attempts proved unsuccessful.
So they want the addressee to dump her, based on the logic that his maturity issues which are plaguing the romance are incurable. Or put otherwise, they believe the only way their friend will be able to get on with her life is if she’s put under the impression that the man she loves doesn’t feel the same.
“Tell her you don’t love her, even if it’s a lie
Make it sound true
Break that spell she’s under, even if it feels mean
Do what you gotta do
Don’t leave a doubt, don’t break her fall
Don’t see her out, don’t tell her you’ll call
Tell her you don’t love her
If you ever loved her at all”
A Personal Opinion
“Tell Her You Don’t Love Her,” has provided me with some valuable insights. It has taught me the importance of recognizing the emotional impact that a toxic relationship can have on both ourselves and those we care about. The song beautifully depicts the distress experienced by individuals connected to such relationships, shedding light on the toll it takes on their overall well-being.
The line, “tell her you don’t love her, even if it’s a lie, make it sound true,” emphasizes the significance of going the extra mile to leave such relationships, no matter how tough the challenge can be. It encourages us to break free from the spell of harmful relationships and allow ourselves and others to move forward towards healthier paths.
