Honestly, music in 2015 was a total vibe, but nothing quite cut through the noise like the moment Tori Kelly stepped onto the MTV VMA stage with just a guitar and that massive voice. If you were there, you remember. She performed Should've Been Us, and suddenly, everyone who hadn't been paying attention to the girl from YouTube was scrambling to find their phones. Shazam actually reported that she was the most-searched artist of the night. It wasn't just the vocal runs—though, let's be real, those were insane—it was the raw "what if" energy of the song itself.
It’s been over a decade, and yet Tori Kelly Should've Been Us remains the definitive anthem for anyone who’s ever looked at an ex’s Instagram and felt that weird, hollow pang of regret. You know the feeling. The relationship wasn't necessarily a toxic firestorm, but it just... ended. It left behind a mountain of "could have beens" that never actually happened.
The Story Behind the Song
When Tori Kelly was putting together her debut album, Unbreakable Smile, she was under a lot of pressure. She was managed by Scooter Braun—the same guy behind Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber—and the industry was trying to figure out if she was "pop" enough. People were literally calling her "boring" or "too safe."
She fired back with an album that felt surprisingly gritty for a debut. Should've Been Us was the second single, released in June 2015. It wasn't just a random track tossed onto the record; it was a collaborative effort with some of the biggest Swedish hitmakers, including Oscar Holter and Ludvig Söderberg.
The production has this mid-tempo, 90s R&B-influenced snap to it. It’s infectious. But the lyrics? They’re a total gut punch.
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"Back and forth like a tug of war / What's it all for, do I want it back?"
That line basically summarizes the entire experience of a breakup that didn't have a clean ending. It’s about the "perfect storm" that never actually rained.
Why It Peaked at Number 51 (And Why That Doesn't Matter)
If you look at the charts, the song peaked at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100. On paper, that might not look like a "smash hit" compared to some of the era's giants. But charts are kinda liars sometimes.
The cultural impact was way bigger than the number 51. The song went Platinum. It became a staple at karaoke nights for anyone brave enough to try those high notes. More importantly, it established Tori as a "vocalist's vocalist." She wasn't just a pop star; she was a musician.
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Critics at the time, like those from AllMusic, called it "universally relatable." It wasn't overproduced. It felt like something she could sing in a garage or at a stadium and it would hit exactly the same.
The Music Video: A "Selfie-Age" Time Capsule
The music video for Should've Been Us, directed by Rory Kramer, feels so specific to that mid-2010s aesthetic. It’s not some big-budget cinematic movie with a plot. Instead, it’s shaky, handheld footage of Tori on tour.
- You see her in underpasses.
- She’s hanging out in abandoned-looking warehouses.
- There’s graffiti.
- The camera follows her like a friend would.
It looks like an Instagram feed came to life. It was meant to show her "authenticity," which was the big buzzword back then. By showing her "behind the scenes," the video made the song feel even more personal, like she was venting to us in the back of a tour bus.
The Max Martin Connection
A lot of people forget that Max Martin—the guy basically responsible for every hit song since 1995—was the executive producer of the Unbreakable Smile album.
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While he didn't write Should've Been Us himself, his fingerprints are all over the project’s polished-yet-soulful sound. He helped Tori find a balance between her acoustic roots and the high-energy pop that radio demanded.
The "X-Factor" Debate
There’s always been this conversation on Reddit and among music nerds about why Tori didn't become "Ariana-level" famous. Some fans think she was too talented for the "cookie-cutter" pop world. Others say she lacked the "diva" persona that sells tabloids.
But honestly? Should've Been Us is proof that she didn't need to be a tabloid fixture. The song has longevity because it’s based on a real, human emotion that doesn't go out of style. It’s not tied to a specific trend or a TikTok dance. It’s just a great song about a sucky situation.
How to Apply the "Should've Been Us" Energy Today
If you find yourself stuck in a loop of "what ifs" or wondering why a certain relationship didn't reach its "perfect storm" potential, here is how to move forward without losing your mind:
- Acknowledge the "Flame": Like Tori sings, "I still got a little flame for ya." It’s okay to admit you still care. Suppressing it just makes the tug-of-war harder.
- Look at the "Why": The song asks, "What's it all for?" Sometimes, things don't work out not because of a lack of love, but because of a lack of timing. Accepting that it "could've been different" doesn't mean it should have been different.
- Find Your "Unbreakable Smile": Use the regret as fuel. Tori took the "boring" labels and the heartbreak and turned them into a Platinum-certified career.
If you're feeling nostalgic, go back and watch that 2015 VMA performance. It's a masterclass in raw talent. It reminds us that even when things don't end the way we planned, we can still make something pretty incredible out of the remains.
To dive deeper into Tori’s evolution, check out her more recent self-titled projects where she leans even harder into the R&B sounds she first teased back in 2015. You'll see that the "perfect storm" she was singing about then was really just the beginning of her finding her own lane.