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These Tate McRae ‘THINK LATER’ Lyrics Are Relatable AF

Look out everyone, Tate McRae has come to save pop music. Her sophomore album THINK LATER, which dropped on Dec. 8, is filled to the brim with bangers. More and more singers are bringing hip-hop choreography back to the stage and their music videos, and McRae is contributing with her strong background in competitive dance (she placed 3rd on the hit reality show So You Think You Can Dance).Ā 

However, along with the danceable anthems that McRae is becoming known for, sheā€™s keeping the raw, tearjerker songwriting that her OG fans fell in love with. The deep cuts of the album are filled with numerous lines that just hit too close to home. McRae has outdone herself ā€” sheā€™s truly made a no-skip album that manages to spill facts time and time again. Many listeners took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share their reactions to such lyrics upon their first listen of the album. Here are 15 lines from THINK LATER that I feel called out by.Ā 

ā€œJUST WANNA CUT MY HAIR, LOSE MYSELF, MAKE YOU SWEATā€ – FROM ā€œCUT MY HAIRā€

New hair transformation TikTok audio unlocked! The first line is already making me feel like the ultimate baddie.Ā 

ā€œMISSING A MOMENT WHEN YOUā€™RE STILL THERE, YOU GOTTA THING YOU CANā€™T FIND NOWHEREā€ – FROM ā€œRUN FOR THE HILLSā€

Chills all over. McRae wrote this one for the situationships!Ā 

ā€œTHE WAY YOU TOUCH ME, STRAIGHT TO THE HEART YEAH IT CUTS MEā€ – FROM ā€œRUN FOR THE HILLSā€Ā 

This song makes me ascend. It does things to me that I canā€™t even explain.

ā€œSHEā€™S GOT YOU MAKING UP SUCH PRETTY BOY EXCUSESā€ – FROM ā€œHURT MY FEELINGSā€Ā 

The second that McRae teased this one on TikTok, I knew I needed to hear more. To say that she served would be an understatement.Ā 

ā€œI HATE IT THAT YOU GOTTA BREAK SOMETHING TO REALIZE WEā€™RE AT ROCK BOTTOMā€ – FROM ā€œSTAY DONEā€Ā 

As a chronically delusional girlie whose standards are low, I felt this one.Ā 

ā€œTIME SHOULD HEAL BUT IT DOESNā€™T, OR MAYBE ā€˜CAUSE YOU STILL HAVENā€™T TOLD THE TRUTHā€ – FROM ā€œWEā€™RE NOT ALIKEā€Ā 

Where was this song when my ex-best friend and I fell out? It wouldā€™ve helped me put a lot of things in perspective.Ā 

ā€œSAID SHE HAD MY BACK BUT SHE HAD THE KNIFEā€ – FROM ā€œWEā€™RE NOT ALIKEā€

Ouch! Plus, now all the knife emojis in McRaeā€™s recent Instagram posts make sense.Ā 

ā€œI COULD NEVER DO IT ONCE, AND SHE DID IT TWICEā€ – FROM ā€œWEā€™RE NOT ALIKEā€

Ouch again. Toxic friendship/relationship survivors, how are we holding up? McRae has captured the feeling of being backstabbed so accurately, itā€™s scary.Ā 

ā€œI THOUGHT I HAD MY SHIT TOGETHERā€ – FROM ā€œCALGARYā€

Same, honestly. When McRae unveiled the track titles, I assumed that ā€œCalgaryā€ would be a sentimental, happy ode to her hometown. Turns out itā€™s a painfully relatable ballad about how difficult growing up is.Ā 

ā€œI THOUGHT THAT I WAS GETTING BETTER, NO I GOT BETTER AT PRETENDINGā€ – FROM ā€œCALGARYā€

I felt that. Not everything is as it seems on the surface.Ā Ā 

ā€œSAME BAR, SAME STREET, Iā€™M TWENTY BUT I STILL FEEL LIKE FIFTEENā€Ā – FROM “CALGARY”

Yep, this line hit too close to home.Ā 

ā€œI GAVE YOU EVERYTHING THAT I COULDN’T AFFORD TO LOSEā€ – FROM ā€œWANT THAT TOOā€

As a people pleaser, I feel called out.Ā 

ā€œTAKING ALL THE BETTER PARTS OF ME IS ALL YOU DOā€ – FROM ā€œWANT THAT TOOā€Ā 

Serious question: how did McRae get into my childhood diaries?Ā 

ā€œITā€™S NOT HOW IT USED TO BE, STARING AT PLASTIC PALM TREESā€ – FROM ā€œPLASTIC PALM TREESā€

Since I moved to LA for college two years ago and had a romanticized view of the city at first, I instantly related to this song. The reality of living here is far from how they portray it in the movies.Ā 

Safe to say that much of THINK LATER makes me feel seen. This album has blown my mind in every way possible, and I hope the world is ready for McRaeā€™s pop princess era.

Karly Ramnani is a junior at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, studying music industry, with a strong passion for art and journalism. They discovered this amazing community shortly after starting college, and are super stoked to a national writer for Her Campus this semester. Karly worked with Her Campus in Fall 2022 as well, as the Entertainment & Culture Editorial Intern. Other outlets they've written for include All Country News, The Honey Pop, Medium, Newsbreak, and their own startup music blog Playlists & Polaroids. They currently serve as a campus ambassador for Amazon Prime Student and Tinder. When they're not writing blogposts and music reviews, you can find them composing and performing music, putting their nose in a rom-com book, binge watching "The Summer I Turned Pretty," or crying over Taylor Swift.