Hayley Williams, Leave It Alone | Somber Sunday 💎

Hayley Williams helps Somber Sunday live up to its name with her grief-filled record, “Leave It Alone,” hailing from Petals for Armor.  

Somber Sunday perfectly captures the end of the weekend with its sadness, disappointment, and look towards yet another mad Monday. On this fourth edition of Somber Sunday, April 26, 2020, Hayley Williams, the front woman of Paramore, brings full-on somberness with “Leave It Alone”, which hails from her 2020 solo album, Petals for Armor. 

“If you know love / You best prepare to grieve.” The thoughtfully penned “Leave it Alone,” produced by Taylor York, finds Williams totally consumed with grief.  The record has an extremely somber tone from the onset, instrumentally and lyrically. On the first verse, she sings, “‘Cause now that I want to live / Well everybody around me is dying / Now that I finally wanna live / The ones I love are dyin’.” Thinking about family members dying – people you care about leaving you – is totally depressing and overwhelming.  On the second verse, she’s further ‘triggered,’ providing a specific example of loss:

“You don’t remember my name somedays
Or that we’re related
It triggers my worry
Who else am I gonna lose before I am ready?
And who’s gonna lose me?”

The centerpiece of the record is the chorus, where “The truth’s a killer / But I can’t leave it alone…”  “Leave it Alone” has previously appeared on the playlists 11 Solitary Songs That Are Totally Alone, 15 L Songs Selected with No Rhyme or Reason, and 15 Songs That Possess a Negative Connotation.  Just to reiterate, “Leave it Alone” is the perfect fit for SOMBER SUNDAY.

Hayley Williams • Petals for Armor • Atlantic • 2020

Somber Sunday No. 4: Hayley Williams, “Leave It Alone” [Photo Credits: Andre Beukes, Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype, Pixabay, Stock Snap]