Conan Gray isn’t holding back in this new era. On his new song, “Winner,” the Gen-Z pop star is letting go of someone who hurt him.
Over a melancholy piano, Gray expresses that he is finished trying to prove his worth to someone who has caused him a great deal of pain, and he declares this person the “winner” of a game he no longer wishes to play.
“The only thing you’ve proven / Is that there’s no one who ever has done better / At making me feel worse / Now you really are the winner,” sings Gray on the song’s chorus.
The song comes as a collaboration with Grammy-winning producer Greg Kurstin, though Gray wrote the lyrics entirely by himself.
“I wrote this song at 2am,” said Gray in a statement. “Everything at the piano just spilled out all at once. It was a moment where I finally felt like, ‘Fine. great job. You did it. You hurt me more than anybody ever could hurt me,’ and it oddly felt nice. I see now that there is a certain freedom that comes from recognizing that you’ve been hurt. in no longer running, and just facing the fact that ‘you win. You hurt me.’ I hope this song helps people find a little piece of that freedom.”
You can listen to “Winner” above.
