Death is something that if you’ve ever had the misfortune of experiencing, it can be unexpected and it is final. Dealing with it isnt much better– grief can be slow and painful and takes some time for your heart and mind to heal from the loss of a loved one.

Louis Tomlinson has taken his time and is now writing this song, two years after his mother had passed away from leukemia. Instead of the song being a heart-wrenching ballad, which the song does come across as at first listen, he makes the song powerful, beautiful and hopeful. The more you listen to it and its lyrics, the less sad and more optimistic you feel.

In an interview with the artist, he came out to speak about the song, about why it was time to finally write it and why his mom was such an important person in his life, the strength he found in himself because of his mom’s love for him and vice versa.

 It feels really liberating. … just had to bite the bullet and f***ing do it. I knew I needed to write this song, but I was a bit scared of it. I’m not at the stage in my grief where I’m going to open the first verse and burst into tears … I don’t want people to get caught up in the sadness of it, the song should be hopeful.

Something that was done really nicely with this track was the simplicity that went into every layer of the song. The piano in the beginning is balanced with the synsthesized voices of the chorus behind Tomlinson’s voice, and the wave rolling up to the chorus doesn’t come crashing down hard on the track, but the upbeat drum brings a change in tone and mood, reminding the listener that the song isn’t supposed to be lamenting on the past. The organic and basic structure of the song didn’t make one element overpower the others; Tomlinson’s vocals never drastically alter as he sings, nor do the instrumentals change– everything stays relatively consistent all throughout, and makes the song a lovely sentiment allowing the lyrics and meaning to shine through just as much as the sound does.

This song is important to listen to, for that time when you’re missing that one person and you feel like the world is dealing you the wrong cards, but his message of hopefulness is what lasted with me, the idea that there’s light inside the dark, his lyrics in the chorus, “I will be the best of me, always keep you next to me/ I’ll be living one life for the two of us” reminds me to sty strong and not to dwell on the things that make me sad but to also remember all the good in my life thus far.

Tomlinson reminds his listeners that its okay to be sad an cry, its okay to grieve, but its picking yourself back up afterwards that’s really important and to dance through your life in joy rather than strife.

-Genna Dara