"Someone You Loved" is played in the
tempo of 110 BPM and key signature of
D♭ major. In an interview with the French magazine Brut, Capaldi revealed he wrote the song about his grandmother who had died.[3]
In an interview with the British website NME, Capaldi said that it took him six months to write the song. He said, "A lot of people say that 'the best songs fall into your lap' and that they're the easiest ones to write and take the shortest amount of time: I wholeheartedly disagree with that. I think my best songs come from me sitting at a
piano, bashing my head against a brick wall for hours and hours on end to get one good melody."[4]
Critical reception
Reviewer Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave the song four stars out of a maximum of five, calling it and its heartbreak theme "raw and real."[5]
The music video, featuring the singer was released on 29 August 2019.[6] Here, Capaldi wanders the streets, following his lost love as his friends and strangers try to stop him from chasing after her. His brother, Aidan, also made an appearance at the beginning of the video where he pulls Lewis from the bench. The director of the music video, Ozzie Pullin, said that "The first person Lewis encounters is his brother, who pulls him up from the bench. This was an almost perfect metaphor because family members are usually the first people to push you forward."[7][8] Capaldi said: "For me the video is about the people we surround ourselves with that have the strength when we don't and help us continue to make the right decisions in moments of fear or hardship. In the moment we often choose to ignore friends and family, thinking our judgement is better, but of course in hindsight when you're in that headspace it's almost impossible to make the right decisions."[9]
Another music video for the song featured Capaldi's distant relative, actor
Peter Capaldi as a bereaved husband who finds some joy when he visits the family of the woman his wife donated her heart to, and is able to listen to her heartbeat one last time.[10]
Chart performance
"Someone You Loved" reached No. 1 on the
UK Singles Chart[11] and stayed there for seven consecutive weeks.[12] It is also Capaldi's first entry on the US
Billboard Hot 100, debuting at No. 85 on the issue dated 25 May 2019 and becoming the singer's first number-one single in the country on the issue dated 2 November 2019. It reached No. 1 after 24 weeks on the chart, becoming one of the longest climbs to the top position in Billboard history. After three non-consecutive weeks on top it was replaced by
Post Malone's "
Circles".[13]
In
Ireland, the single cumulated 26.8 million streams in 2019 and was the biggest-selling song in the country that year.[14]
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201921 into search. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201923 into search. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201932 into search. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201934 into search. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
"Someone You Loved" is played in the
tempo of 110 BPM and key signature of
D♭ major. In an interview with the French magazine Brut, Capaldi revealed he wrote the song about his grandmother who had died.[3]
In an interview with the British website NME, Capaldi said that it took him six months to write the song. He said, "A lot of people say that 'the best songs fall into your lap' and that they're the easiest ones to write and take the shortest amount of time: I wholeheartedly disagree with that. I think my best songs come from me sitting at a
piano, bashing my head against a brick wall for hours and hours on end to get one good melody."[4]
Critical reception
Reviewer Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave the song four stars out of a maximum of five, calling it and its heartbreak theme "raw and real."[5]
The music video, featuring the singer was released on 29 August 2019.[6] Here, Capaldi wanders the streets, following his lost love as his friends and strangers try to stop him from chasing after her. His brother, Aidan, also made an appearance at the beginning of the video where he pulls Lewis from the bench. The director of the music video, Ozzie Pullin, said that "The first person Lewis encounters is his brother, who pulls him up from the bench. This was an almost perfect metaphor because family members are usually the first people to push you forward."[7][8] Capaldi said: "For me the video is about the people we surround ourselves with that have the strength when we don't and help us continue to make the right decisions in moments of fear or hardship. In the moment we often choose to ignore friends and family, thinking our judgement is better, but of course in hindsight when you're in that headspace it's almost impossible to make the right decisions."[9]
Another music video for the song featured Capaldi's distant relative, actor
Peter Capaldi as a bereaved husband who finds some joy when he visits the family of the woman his wife donated her heart to, and is able to listen to her heartbeat one last time.[10]
Chart performance
"Someone You Loved" reached No. 1 on the
UK Singles Chart[11] and stayed there for seven consecutive weeks.[12] It is also Capaldi's first entry on the US
Billboard Hot 100, debuting at No. 85 on the issue dated 25 May 2019 and becoming the singer's first number-one single in the country on the issue dated 2 November 2019. It reached No. 1 after 24 weeks on the chart, becoming one of the longest climbs to the top position in Billboard history. After three non-consecutive weeks on top it was replaced by
Post Malone's "
Circles".[13]
In
Ireland, the single cumulated 26.8 million streams in 2019 and was the biggest-selling song in the country that year.[14]
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201921 into search. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201923 into search. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201932 into search. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201934 into search. Retrieved 27 August 2019.