Tyla splashed onto the music scene in 2023 with her TikTok-viral hit “Water.” Now, her debut album is here to prove that she’s more just than a one-drop wonder. TYLA dropped on March 22, and the singer’s buttery smooth vocals and Amapiano beats combine into the perfect chill vibe to welcome springtime. The vibes are so good that you might not realize the heartbreaking lyrics in the album’s penultimate track, “To Last.”
“To Last” isn’t a new song; it’s actually one of the first songs Tyla ever released! “To Last” originally came out as a single on Nov. 4, 2022. It’s clear that it’s one of the singer’s faves — she performed it live for VEVO DSCVR in September 2023 along with “Water.” On Nyla Symone’s podcast, We Need to Talk, Tyla revealed that the song is inspired by a situation she was helping her friend deal with. “I just wrote as if I was in her shoes,” she shared. The song’s lyrics hit even harder now.
“To Last” tells the story of “my first love turning into my first heartbreak.” Tyla starts the first verse by singing, “Never thought you’d be that way / Holding on to every small mistake / Can’t beg for love to stay / Never thought you’d be my first heartbreak.” First love is intense. It’s easy to build up your first love as perfect when they’re all you’ve ever known.
The first verse continues, “Don’t know what more to say / Family askin’ “Where on earth you’ve been?” / Can’t beg for love to stay / My first love is now my first heartbreak.” The repetition of the line “Can’t beg for love to stay” feels like Tyla’s trying to convince herself that breaking up was the right decision. It’s a reminder that even though the aftermath is painful, sometimes breakups are for the better.
Tyla repeats “You never gave us a chance / It’s like you never wanted to last” twice in the chorus, with “to last” being sung 12 times at the end (now you see where she got the title from). Here, she’s making it clear that her partner’s lack of effort was responsible for the breakup. Singing the phrase “to last” over and over represents how long their relationship could have been if her partner had done his part. If they wanted to, they would.
In the second verse, Tyla sings, “Ripped away a part of me / You left mе here to bleed / It’s the way you say “Baby, plеase hold on to me” / Don’t want you to be a memory.” Breakups are raw. There are a lot of conflicting emotions that go into letting go of someone you love, especially when it’s a first love like Tyla’s talking about in this song. But when she repeats the chorus right after this verse, you understand that you ultimately have to make the choice to step away for your own good.
“To Love” is one of the saddest tracks on Tyla’s debut album, but the rest of the tracklist makes me want to bask in the sunshine and get my body moving. BRB, going on a hot girl walk.