Honestly, if you haven’t sat in a kitchen at 2:00 AM listening to lyrics Alessia Cara wrote while she was probably feeling just as lonely as you, are you even a fan? There is something about the way she puts words together that feels less like a polished pop song and more like a text message you’re too scared to send.
She burst onto the scene in 2015 with "Here," basically becoming the patron saint of people who hate parties. It wasn't just a hit; it was a vibe. Fast forward to 2026, and she’s still doing it, though the "it" has changed from teenage angst to the messy, confusing reality of being a woman in her late twenties.
Her fourth studio album, Love & Hyperbole, which dropped on Valentine’s Day 2025, proved that she hasn't lost that "diary-entry" magic. She’s trading in the bedroom-pop walls for big jazz horns and Fleetwood Mac-inspired grooves, but the heart of it—those biting, hyper-specific lyrics—is still very much there.
The Evolution of the "Outsider" Anthem
Remember when "Scars to Your Beautiful" was everywhere? It was a massive anthem for self-love, but Alessia has always been vocal about the fact that she writes these songs for herself first. She’s not trying to be a motivational speaker. She’s just trying to survive her own head.
In her early stuff, the lyrics were all about observation. In "Here," she’s looking at the "guy who just puke on the stairs" and wondering why she bothered coming out. But in her 2025 track "Go Outside!", she flips the script. Instead of being the girl at the party who wants to leave, she’s the girl in the hotel room who can't leave. She sings about the rain symbolizing her dark days, asking, "How do I let in the light?" It’s heavy, but the beat is so boppy you almost miss the fact that she’s describing a mental health spiral.
That’s the Alessia Cara secret sauce: masking the "ouch" with a melody you can't stop humming.
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Why Love & Hyperbole Hits Different
By the time she started writing her latest record, Alessia was going through her Saturn return—that cosmic period of life where everything feels like it’s breaking so it can be rebuilt. She told ELLE Canada that she felt stuck and resentful. You can hear that tension in the track "Dead Man."
The "Dead Man" Shift
This song is a trip. It starts with this groovy, spy-movie energy, but the lyrics are brutal. She’s talking about unreciprocated effort in a relationship.
"Faith is not enough to float above a bad wave / we’re gonna drown, we’re going down."
It’s about the moment you realize a romance is essentially a ghost, and you’re just waiting for the funeral. She even threw in a big-band Gatsby-style horn section at the end. It’s loud, it’s chaotic, and it perfectly mirrors the feeling of a relationship falling apart in slow motion.
Falling in Love Without the "Fear"
One of the most surprising things about the newer lyrics Alessia Cara has released is the presence of actual, non-ironic joy. In the song "Fire," she calls it the first time she’s written a love song without an "angle of melancholy."
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She’s always been a "sad girl" writer—her words, not mine. She used to find it hard to write when she was happy because she didn't feel the need to vent. But "Fire" is different. It’s a literal love letter. It’s vulnerable in a way that isn't about pain, which, for a writer who built her career on being guarded, is a massive leap.
Breaking Down the Fan Favorites
If you're looking for the deep cuts that define her songwriting, you have to look at how she handles the "growing up" part of life.
- "Out of Love" (2018): This remains one of the most devastating breakup songs of the last decade. "When did you fall out of love?" is such a simple question, but the way she delivers it feels like a punch to the gut.
- "Left Alone" (2025): This is the anthem for anyone who finally figured out they're better off solo. The line "You pulled on my heartstrings, now you're just on my nerves" is peak Alessia—clever, relatable, and just a little bit petty.
- "Run Run": She takes the "don't mess with me" trope and turns it on its head. Instead of saying she's too good for you, she's basically saying, "I'm a mess, you should probably run for your life." It’s self-deprecating but incredibly catchy.
What Most People Get Wrong About Her Writing
A lot of people think Alessia Cara is just "the girl who sings about not fitting in." But if you actually sit with the lyrics from In The Meantime (2021) or Love & Hyperbole (2025), you see she’s a master of the "dichotomy." That's a word she uses a lot.
She’ll pair a lyric about absolute hopelessness with a drum beat that makes you want to drive with the windows down. She’s influenced by everyone from Erykah Badu to Coldplay, and you can hear that blend of soulful R&B and stadium-pop structure. She isn't just an "introvert artist" anymore; she's a storyteller who happens to be an introvert.
She even collaborated with John Mayer on "(Isn't It) Obvious." She was terrified to ask him, but he ended up laying down a solo in just a few takes. The lyrics in that one are all about that early phase of attraction where everything is uncertain and you're constantly second-guessing if the other person feels the same way.
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Actionable Insights for the Aspiring Songwriter
If you’re dissecting lyrics Alessia Cara has written to improve your own craft, here is the "Alessia Method" based on her various interviews:
- Write the Ouch First: She starts with a journal or a poem. Don't worry about the melody yet. Get the raw emotion out while it's still messy.
- Contrast is King: If the lyrics are sad, make the music move. If the lyrics are happy, maybe keep the production intimate. Use that tension to keep the listener engaged.
- Specific Over General: Don't just say "I'm sad." Say you're sitting in a hotel room in LA feeling like you can't go outside. The more specific the detail, the more "unintentionally relatable" it becomes.
- Embrace the Hyperbole: As the title of her 2025 album suggests, love and life are dramatic. It’s okay to use big metaphors—like "Dead Man" or "Fire"—to describe feelings that are otherwise hard to pin down.
Alessia is currently back on the road for the first time in six years, and seeing these songs live is a completely different experience. She’s admitted to being scared to return to the stage, but that's the thing about her—she does it anyway. She takes the fear, turns it into a lyric, and hands it to us so we don't feel quite so alone in our own heads.
To truly appreciate her work, go back and listen to the album Love & Hyperbole in chronological order. She designed it to tell the story of her last three years—starting from a place of being "closed off" and ending with the song "Clearly," which is all about finding a resolution and realizing that while some things don't work out, you're still standing.
Next Steps for Fans:
- Check out the "Dead Man" music video for the Gatsby-esque visuals she's obsessed with lately.
- Listen to her cover of "Enter Sandman" with The Warning if you want to hear her grittier side.
- Follow her "At Home With Alessia Cara" playlist on Apple Music to see the 70s rock and 90s R&B tracks that inspire her songwriting today.