The Weeknd doesn’t lead a normal life. His songs describe the kind of dark and sexy adventures the rest of us can only dream of—or have nightmares about. But he’s not immune to falling in love, or so he suggests on “Here We Go… Again,” the eighth track on his new album Dawn FM. Featuring a verse from Tyler, the Creator, the song went straight to #1 on the Genius Top Songs chart.
“Here We Go… Again” opens with an accounting of recent successes. The artist born Abel Tesfaye had a big 2021 that began in January of that year, when he and his XO Records crew appeared on the cover of Billboard.
Strike a pose with my kinfolk
Front page of the billboards
And who could forget his meme-generating Super Bowl halftime performance the following month?
We still celebratin’ Super Bowl
Catalog lookin’ legendary
But “Here We Go… Again” is ultimately a song about relationships. The Weeknd first addresses a former lover who’s apparently settled for a total square.
Your girlfriend’s tryna pair you with somebody more famous
But instead you ended up with someone so basic, faceless
Someone to take your pictures and frame it
Meanwhile, Tesfaye has leveled up to someone more glamorous. Might she be Angelina Jolie, as the tabloids suggest? She’s definitely not Scream star Neve Campbell, though Tesfaye is aware of her work.
And my new girl, she a movie star
My new girl, she a movie star
I loved her right, make her scream like Neve Campbell
In the chorus, as he prepares for another romance that comes with no guarantees, The Weeknd evokes that famous quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson: “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
But you’d rather love and lost with tears
Than never love at all
So here we go again
The second verse goes to Tyler, who expresses skepticism about the concept of everlasting love. “Some things can change, go wrong with me,” he raps. Naturally, he’s in no rush to get married.
Forever is too long to me
We don’t need the government involved because we like to touch
We don’t need no damn religion telling us that we in love
Tyler ends the verse by suggesting he might be willing to entertain the idea of marriage—under one very important condition.
You gon’ sign this prenup, you gon’ sign this prenup
You gon’ sign this prenup, you gon’ sign this prenup
You can check out all the lyrics to “Here We Go… Again” on Genius now.
