Chloe George: Behind the Words

Although she may be a young, fresh artist, Chloe’s maturity shines through her detailed lyricism. Her talent radiates through her ability to put words to the achingly poignant emotions and situations that we have all experienced throughout the tumultuous journey of life.

For office’s interview with Chloe George, we wanted to peek behind the curtain of her mind, breaking down the lyrics of her new single “The Door.” Read on for an exclusive look into Chloe’s world.

First of all, how are you doing?

I'm good. I'm just floating — trying to wind down. I'm excited about the new year.

And more specifically, how are you feeling about the new single release?

I feel good. I wasn't going to put anything out for the rest of the year and then about three weeks before the song came out, I was like, 'I actually wanna put this out,' which I feel bad for my label about, but it just felt right. The song felt like it fit this time of year, but I wrote it in June. And so far, it's been really good. I feel like I've been connecting with newer people with it too, which feels great because that's why I'm doing this.

That's always what you want as an artist, right? To be able to reach new people. I think all of your lyricism is so visceral and, to me, the thing that makes it so resonant is that it's all feelings that people have felt. I know I've felt the feelings that you're singing about. How did you get into songwriting and this path that you're on now?

I always sang growing up, but songwriting actually gave me so much anxiety for some reason. I would write dumb poems as a kid, and then I would sing, but I never put them together. I don't know why — it was always this thing where I felt, 'I want to write songs, but I don't know how.' Later on, I went to school in New York and that honestly started everything. I got there and I knew I wanted to sing and do my own music, but I didn't really have any of my own music yet. So I realized that I could write music for other artists. And for me, it was great because I could figure out how I liked saying things, through helping others say those things. So I fell into it in a backward way. I moved out to LA to write for other people. And then everything kind of just clicked when I moved out here. I finally knew what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. It all came full circle.

And how did you initially fall into writing for other people?

I had a lot of demos in college, either through class projects and or there were a lot of studios I could use whenever I wanted, and I would write every day. I sent out a lot of demos to people, and in that moment you're so desperate for anybody to hear them. I later met my managers, at the time, from school, and showed them all my stuff and they helped me start to get into rooms in New York. It kind of snowballed after that. I went from writing a pitch to then being in the room with the artist. It was weird but great.

So I picked out a few lyrics from "The Door." I'll say them, and then I'd love for you to explain them a little bit more in-depth; I want to go step by step and get in your head because I want to know where your intentions were when writing it. The song starts off with the lyrics —

There's a street that smells like New York by my apartment

It's where I go walkin'

When you lived in New York, what was going on in your life at the time?

My time in New York was so transformative for me because I got there at 18 and I left at 23. So it really was that chunk of whatever the fuck that is in everyone's life. That time is like another adolescence. I think it's where I realized what I wanted to do exactly and how I wanted to do that. It was the beginning of all of my starting points. Specifically, in this song, I'm describing a serious relationship I had in New York while I lived there. It kind of ended when I moved out to LA and one day I had this whiff of something and it just took me to that time. Smells are so weird; you know when you smell something and it makes you think, 'Oh, that smells like when I was five.' Like what is that? It just unlocks something. And I think it's cool because music does that too. Like if you're in a gas station and hear some song that makes you feel like you're fourteen again. So that totally put me in that space of my last two years there, when that was going on, and all the feelings that came along with that.

In another part of Verse 1, you sing —

I think of twenty-three, humidity, and somebody I loved

I know you said this song is about a past relationship, but I wanted to know a bit more. What does thinking back on 23 make you feel emotionally and what advice would you give someone who is 23 right now?

There was a lot of change during my time in school in New York. But then I had kind of this year after college where it was just very in-between — knowing what I wanted to do, but not doing it. I was nannying every day and songwriting around that and I was just really uncomfortable. It's like, you know where you're going and you know you're close, but you're not there yet. It felt like the bridge between two different points in my life. It was one of the most transitional years of my life because there was so much change down the road that I knew was to come. There were a lot of shifts, but also valuable lessons that I brought with me to LA, just in terms of confidence and aspects within songwriting and knowing that I was supposed to be doing what I was doing. There were a lot of mental things for me to grapple with that year. And it was at the same time as a very serious relationship. But I feel younger at 25 than I did at 23 for some weird reason. Just that year I felt like I was running out of time.

So is that something that you would maybe advise other people to do — trusting in yourself and in your capabilities?

I would say just be trusting that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing. Also, I started therapy at 24, but I definitely could have started at 23. But yeah, I think literally all of your confidence comes from you. At 23, there's no external measurement, like a school model or something like that, where you can be certain that you're 'doing well.' You have to just know that you are what you think you are. I feel like remembering that was hard for me at that time.

Another lyric that I wanted to talk about because it was one that really stuck with me is —

Maybe I'm too narcissistic to be in love or be alone

It stuck with me because I think it's quite profound, and obviously, I can assign my own meaning to it, but I want to know what was going through your mind when writing it.

I felt a lot of guilt for the way this specific relationship ended because my life shifted and I felt that the catalyst of it ending stemmed from me in a way. I think in relationships, when you need things from somebody you can feel like, 'Ugh, I'm just making this mine or I'm just making this relationship cater to me now.' In the past, I didn't want to feel like I was imposing on somebody when really that is what a relationship is. But then also when I'm alone I crave and miss that connection I have with this person. So is it fucking selfish that I just want that?

And I think the reason why it called out to me is because it explains something that I think I have felt as well, but I wouldn't have known how to put it into words. I'm generally a very sensitive person.

Me too. So I feel like sometimes in relationships, that leads people even to question their own motives — when you know your motives and you know that you're a genuinely good person.

In the chorus, you sing —

Open up the door in my mind

To see you inside, hear that song one more time

The idea behind "The Door" is that certain things, like smells, can bring you back, but I wanted to talk about conflating certain songs with certain emotions or points of your life as well. If you had to think of one song that brings you back to that point in your life that you wrote about, what would it be?

Oh my God. There's a lot — the whole 6LACK album that came out, East Atlanta Love Letter, that shit sends me back because it was all I listened to for a while. Also, "Ornament" by Kiah Victoria. I used to listen to that on loop and just go on walks at that time. Shea Butter Baby by Ari Lennox. There were a handful of songs, especially being in New York and you're on the train and you're walking a lot. But the biggest one was "If Love Was Green" by Halima. She's one of my friends I went to school with and she put that song out in the fall of me being 23. It's so tied to that time in my life.

What do you want “The Door” to make others feel when they listen to it?

I mean, I think it's the same with all of my songs — if anyone sees their own life in it, then I think that's what it's for. Because once you write the song and work on it more and more, it slowly becomes less of yours and more for other people in a way, which I think is really beautiful. Especially when you actually put it out — I've listened to this song a bunch since June and had my moments with it and now I get to give it to the world. That means so much to me. That's all I really ever want.