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Jorja Smith’s With You Lyrics Explained: More Than a Summer Romance

Jorja Smith isn’t whispering about heartbreak this time. She’s dancing through it.

Released on 24 July 2025, With You skips the melancholic edge fans are used to and leans into a sun-warmed groove – just guitar licks, syncopated garage beats, and a voice that knows exactly what it’s saying without overexplaining.
The opening line doesn’t float in sentiment, it locks into something real, like she’s mid-thought and letting us catch up.
“You tell me life is better when you’re with me / You’re right, I’ve been hurt so bad.”
It’s not a dramatic declaration. It’s soft, even plainspoken. But there’s a quiet authority in how she lets each line hang. She isn’t pleading. She’s acknowledging.
There’s no attempt to reinvent her style, yet this feels like a pivot.
While The Way I Love You came with punchier breakbeats, With You is stripped back, letting space become part of the melody.
Co-produced by Ed Thomas, Maverick Sabre, and Jakwob, the production weaves romantic nostalgia into every reverb-soaked strum.
But the real anchor of With You is the video, directed by Ivor Lawson-Adamah.
It plays like an old home movie spliced with dream logic, shot in a vintage aspect ratio, framed by flickering party lights and long glances.
Lighting flickers in time with the beat. Camera cuts mirror emotional turns.
Fans have picked up on the precision, with one comparing the editing rhythm to visual choreography with moments cut exactly on pulse, even as Jorja moves slowly through the room.
And the song’s meaning? That’s where things deepen. Jorja Smith originally wrote With You about someone specific.
But during a BBC Radio 1 appearance, she shared that performing it live gave the song a new meaning.
It started to feel like it wasn’t just about one person anymore, and it was also for her fans.
That shift doesn’t rewrite the lyrics, but it does reframe how she sings them.
“You’re meant to be in my life” doesn’t just point backward, it lands where people are standing, watching, and singing along.
The line, “Did you ever keep what I sent you that time?” hits hardest. It’s not bitter. It’s a nudge.
There’s a tinge of memory, but no desperation. She’s already moved on. Or maybe just moved differently.
From a fan’s lens, the visual and sonic pairing has landed exactly where it needs to.
It’s the kind of track that invites you to fall for everything at once – the voice, the guitar, the glow of it all.
It makes you want luscious music again, the kind that lets you feel like you’re already in love, even if no one’s in the room.
That’s the emotional temperature here, not fireworks, not heartbreak, just warmth.
A kind of grounded affection too often missing in modern love songs.
As for placement, the track slides smoothly into the sonic territory she carved out on her last album falling or flying.
But With You”trades that record’s introspection for something more open, more generous.
She’s still reflective, but no longer just singing to herself. There are no plot twists here, no high-drama reversals.
Just a story that unfolds in present tense, held steady by voice, beat, and memory.
On With You, she repeats herself, but not out of hesitation. It’s more like she already knows what she wants to say, and just making sure it lands.
The song is called With You, but the question it leaves hanging is: with who? A lover? A crowd? Herself?
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Full Lyrics to With You by Jorja Smith
Chorus
You tell me life is better when you’re with me
You’re right, I’ve been hurt so bad
You’re meant to be in my life
Let you see the whole truth in my smile
So I’m lucky that I get to call you mine
Verse 1
You know you had me
Know I’ve always been yours
It feels like you’ve always been there
So I know why I don’t wanna be without you
No, I could never be without you (You, you)
Chorus
You tell me life is better when you’re with me
You’re right, I’ve been hurt so bad
You’re meant to bе in my life
Let you see the wholе truth in my smile (Smile)
So I’m (So I’m) lucky that I get to call you mine
Verse 2
Surely in my heart I always had you deep down
But you had to move away to figure out some things
You had to live a life away from where you’ve been
Did I still spend some time on your mind?
Did you ever keep what I sent you that time?
You’re the only one who knows me
The one who’s truly loved me
Chorus
You tell me life is better when you’re with me (Yeah)
You’re right, I’ve been hurt so bad
You’re meant to be (Oh-oh) in my life
Let you see the whole truth in my smile (Yeah)
So I’m lucky that I get to call you mine