In Massachusetts
Only 30 minutes from Alewife
I lay in my room
Wonderin' why I've got this life
I met you by surprise
You were hangin' out all the time
But you know you saved me from doin'
Something to myself that night
[Verse 2]
You called me seven times
One, two, three, four, on the line
I didn't mean to scare you
Just had the thoughts in my mind
They showed up to my door
My parents didn't know what for
Swear I could've done it
If you weren't there when I hit the floor
[Verse 3]
It's been so long
And you've been my sister all along
But you know I'll be alright
Eighth grade was never that tight
About
On “Alewife,” Clairo expresses her gratitude to her friend Alexa, who helped stop her from ending her life when she was in the eighth grade. Intially dubbed, “Eighth Grade,” the song is named after a train station in Massachusetts, near the town where Clairo spent most of her childhood.
Clairo gracefully recalls details from the sad event in an emotional yet mild-mannered fashion over an ethereal track. The track is based around an acoustic guitar, featuring glimmering piano, reverent drums, and dampened overdriven bass. Originally, Clairo opted for an electric guitar in “Alewife”, but was asked to re-record the parts by co-producer Rostam.
In October 2019, a podcast episode with Clairo and Rostam was posted by Song Exploder, in which the duo talked about the production of the track, from its beginning in Truth Studios, LA to the final product. Alexa also appears in the episode, briefly touching on her reaction to hearing “Alewife.”
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
I was sitting in the dining room with my mom, and I get a text from Claire. And she goes, ‘I wrote a song about you’ and I was like, ‘Okay, wait, what?’ She sent me the demo, and I go, ‘Okay Mom, I’m gonna play something Claire sent me.’ I play it off my phone, and we both just started crying.
I just felt so many things going through my body, just all these emotions, and it took me back to the night that that song was about. Which, we don’t really talk about a lot, but we know that it was there.
–Alexa, via Song Exploder
That song is extremely special to me, just because it’s about an experience that I never really shared with a lot of people. In eighth grade, I was having a really hard time dealing with my depression that’s been on and off my whole life, and there was a time where I really felt like I didn’t want to be here anymore. And instead of making this song about how sad that is and how bad I felt in the moment, I wanted to make it about my friend Alexa who called the police when she suspected that I was feeling this way. Even if it was just the thought, she still cared enough to intervene and be a true friend, which is something I didn’t feel like I ever had and had never experienced until Alexa. So the song is really more of a love song to her and kind of a ‘thank you’ and a reminder to everyone else that there are people like Alexa that want to help uplift you and get you out of really terrible head-spaces. I’m in the best stage of my life right now, and I would have never known how great it was, but Alexa is a big part of my life and a big part of my story.
– Clairo, Coup De Main Magazine
- 1.Alewife
- 2.Impossible
- 4.North
- 5.Bags
- 6.Softly
- 7.Sofia
- 8.White Flag
- 10.Sinking
