Honest Lyrics

[Spoken]
The other one is, of course, outing yourself
I think be the first to out yourself, I always think
Because, you know, there's no end to the hypocrisy of the human heart


[Refrain]
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah

[Verse 1]
It's 5 a.m. and I'm on the radio
I'm supposed to call you
But I don't know what to say at all
And there's this girl, she wants me to take her home
She don't really love me though
I'm just on the radio

[Pre-Chorus]
And I'm not gonna tell you that I'm over it
'Cause I think about it every night I'm not sober
, and
I know I keep these feelings to myself
Like I don't need nobody else
But you're not the only one on my mind
[Chorus]
If I'm being honest
If I'm being honest
You said I should be honest
So I'm being honest

[Verse 2]
It's 6 a.m., I'm so far away from you
I don't wanna let you down
What am I supposed to do?
It's been three weeks at least, now, since I've been gone
And I don't even like the road
I'm just on the radio

[Pre-Chorus]
And I'm not gonna tell you that I'm over it
'Cause I think about it every night I'm not sober, and
I know I keep these feelings to myself
Like I don't need nobody else
But you're not the only one on my mind

[Chorus]
If I'm being honest
If I'm being honest
You said I should be honest
So I'm being honest
[Refrain]
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah

[Pre-Chorus]
And I'm not gonna tell you that I'm over it
'Cause I think about it every night I'm not sober, and
I know I keep these feelings to myself
Like I don't need nobody else
But you're not the only one on my mind

[Chorus]
If I'm being honest
If I'm being honest
You said I should be honest
So I'm being honest

[Outro]
If I'm being honest

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About

Genius Annotation

“Honest” follows a famous person’s internal conflict between hooking up with a girl they just met — who is interested in them for superficial reasons — and waiting until they get back to the person they love.

In their last rehearsal for the Memories…Do Not Open Tour, the duo teased part of the chorus in their Instagram Story.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did The Chainsmokers say about "Honest"?
Verified Commentary
The Chainsmokers
via Facebook
Genius Answer

“Honest” is the oldest song on the album. Outing ourselves as one of our mentors advises. It’s a story about a balance between conscience, loneliness, and temptation told through the eyes of one of us after a night out on the road. Drew is talking to himself about what he wants to say to his girlfriend at the end of night when he knows she’s expecting to hear from him. He’s telling her he doesn’t want to lie to her and say he doesn’t get caught up in the superficial world of fame and fortune and what comes with it. He wants to be honest, which means having to admit not always thinking of her. It’s hard to put out a song like this. The message is dark and revealing of a personal moment, but it’s real for anyone who has ever thought about someone outside their relationship. We love this song because it challenges the thought that love and temptation are mutually exclusive. We all want to be happy and in love, but in reality of most relationships, there are still times of darkness, loneliness, and temptation despite our love for the other person.

Who speaks the intro?
Verified Commentary
Alex Pall
via Facebook
Genius Answer

That was actually Bono, who we’re lucky enough to have—I don’t know how we got lucky, but he’s a friend of our’s and he’s an incredible person and we’ve been really lucky in the past year and a half to meet incredible artists, like Ryan Tedder, like Chris Martin, like Bono and they’ve really been helpful to us [by] kind of showing us […] the way it is, the way it happens, the way it goes and offer us advice about their journey, about how we should appreciate our journey. And we asked Bono if we could have a call with him and just talk about anything—anytime we have drinks with him, we get into these really deep conversations, so we spoke with him for like 45 minutes and in that 45 minutes we got this perfect quote of his about how it’s the artist’s duty to out themselves. And it’s important, we felt like this really ran true with the song “Honest,” so we put it in there.

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