Lola Young’s Messy Meaning & Review: A Raw Gen-Z Anthem

Lola Young's this wasn't meant for you anyway album cover — Lola Young’s this wasn’t meant for you anyway album cover

Lola Young’s Messy is tangled in contradictions, both in sound and emotion.

The song, released on May 30, 2024, and features on her album, this wasn’t meant for you anyway, captures a kind of chaos that refuses to be refined, making its title feel less like a description and more like a mission statement.

@octopusslover8 happy thanksgiving @Sofia Richie Grainge ♬ Messy – Lola Young

The track’s rise was fueled by a viral TikTok moment when Sofia Richie Grainge danced to it, but its grip on listeners comes from something deeper.

It resonates because it sounds like a moment unraveling in real time, the kind of emotional state that cannot be neatly packaged or easily explained.

A Sound That Refuses to Stay Neat

The production moves between restraint and outburst, never settling into predictability.

It begins sparsely, a hesitant breath before everything collapses into guitar-driven intensity.

There’s a rawness to the way the percussion stumbles forward, the instrumentation layering itself in a way that feels almost improvised, like an argument that starts with measured words before spilling over into something louder.

Young’s vocals follow suit, shifting between quiet contemplation and frustration that cracks at the edges.

There are echoes of 90s alternative rock and soul music, but Young’s approach feels less like homage and more like instinct.

She has cited Amy Winehouse and The Cure as influences, and
Messy feels like it exists in the space between them—deeply personal, sonically restless, and unwilling to smooth out its rough edges.

Lola Young’s Messy Lyrics Explained: No Clean Endings

Messy stays in the moments after a relationship should have ended, but hasn’t.

“I’m a mess, you’re a mess, but we make sense,” Young sings, a lyric that does not attempt to justify the situation, only acknowledge its contradictions.

The song is filled with that kind of honesty—the type that does not need to be profound to feel true.

Young captures the indecision of wallowing in something familiar, even when leaving would be the logical choice.

“I know I should leave, but it’s comfortable here” is not a plea or a justification—it is an admission of emotional inertia, of choosing familiarity over freedom.

“And now you’re someone that I used to know / But I still smell you on my clothes” lands even heavier.

It is not just about losing someone; it is about how their presence stays in ways you cannot control.

Young’s delivery makes it feel even more personal—there is no grand vocal run, no attempt at dramatisation, just the weight of an observation that hurts because of how casually it is said.

Young has described Messy as “an ADHD anthem” that reflects both the chaos of her last relationship and her personal struggles with balance.

“It really showcases everything I felt during my last relationship, but also it is deeper than that, as it talks about how I feel about myself in general — being too messy one day and too clean another, struggling to find that balance in myself.”

That tension between extremes is embedded in every part of the song, from its shifting dynamics to the way the lyrics resist easy resolution.

The Messy Music Video: A Chaotic, Symbolic Performance

Directed by Sarah Dattani Tucker, the Messy music video brings the song’s themes to life in a stripped-back yet highly expressive way.

Set in an empty, red-carpeted room with nothing but a towering birthday cake, Young delivers a performance that is as raw as the track itself.

The wide-angled, locked-off camera refuses to give close-ups, keeping viewers at a distance as if watching an unraveling from afar.

But the tension builds, and it’s clear that the pristine cake won’t stay untouched.

As the song escalates, so does the destruction—Young smashes her hands into the cake, the once-perfect surface turning into a chaotic mess.

It’s a visual metaphor for the way emotions spill over, resisting any attempts at containment.

The contrast between the stiff, controlled setting and the eventual breakdown mirrors the song’s sonic and lyrical themes, making the video an extension of Messy rather than just an accompaniment.

A few months after its release, the video gained viral traction, further solidifying the song’s impact.

Its simplicity makes it all the more powerful, emphasizing Young’s ability to channel emotion without elaborate visuals or distractions.

The BRITs Performance: A Perfectly Imperfect Moment

At the 2025 BRIT Awards, Young took Messy and turned it into something theatrical, a performance that blurred the line between performance art and emotional unraveling.

She started the song sprawled across a pile of wrinkled clothes and scattered belongings, not so much staging chaos as existing in it.

By the time she reached the song’s climax, she had thrown pieces of laundry into the crowd, poured an entire box of detergent onto the stage, and left everything looking even more disheveled than when she started.

“It felt right,” Young later said. “Like, if I was gonna sing about feeling messy, I should at least commit to it.”

The Messy BRIT Awards performance became one of the night’s most talked-about moments, cementing Young as an artist unafraid to embrace imperfection.

Ahead of the performance, she shared her excitement about bringing the track to a bigger stage.

“I’m really excited to perform Good Books and Messy live, both of these are songs I haven’t performed too much yet. I want to hear the crowd sing along and dance and just feel free too.”

That energy carried through the performance, a reminder that Messy is not just about personal turmoil—it is about releasing it.

Why Messy Is More Than Just a Hit

Though Messy found a second life through TikTok virality, its impact goes beyond a fleeting trend.

The song became Young’s first number-one single, something she never expected.

“I never set out to write a song that would go viral,” she admitted. “I just wanted to be honest.”

And that honesty is precisely why Messy has connected so deeply—it is not built for perfection, nor does it try to be.

Lola Young’s Messy lyrics meaning resonates with those who have been caught in emotional contradictions, and its success is a reflection of how modern listeners gravitate toward unfiltered storytelling.

Messy is exceeds what would be deemed a breakup song—it is a snapshot of self-reflection and frustration, wrapped in raw production.

The Messy TikTok trend may have introduced the song to a larger audience, but it is the depth of its storytelling that has kept it relevant.

Young has spoken openly about her reluctance to fit into industry molds, and Messy is proof that she does not need to.

If anything, the song’s success confirms that listeners are drawn to music that feels like real life—complicated, imperfect, and unresolved.

As Young continues to carve out her space, it is clear that she is not interested in chasing polish.

Her music thrives in the moments between clarity and confusion, and that is exactly why it sticks with you.

Lola Young Messy Lyrics

Verse 1
You know I’m impatient
So why would you leave me waiting outside the station
When it was like minus four degrees?
And I, I get what you’re sayin’
I just really don’t wanna hear it right now
Can you shut up for like once in your life?
Listen to me
I took your nice words of advice about
How you think I’m gonna die lucky if I turned thirty-three
Okay, so yeah, I smoke like a chimney
I’m not skinny and I pull a Britney
Every other week
But cut me some slack, who do you want me to be?

Chorus
‘Cause I’m too messy, and then I’m too fucking clean
You told me, “Get a job”, then you ask where the hell I’ve been
And I’m too perfect till I open my big mouth
I want to be me, is that not allowed?
And I’m too clever, and then I’m too fucking dumb
You hate it when I cry unless it’s that time of the month
And I’m too perfect till I show you that I’m not
A thousand people I could be for you and you hate the fucking lot

Post-Chorus
You hate the fucking lot
You hate the fucking lot
You hate, you hate

Verse 2
It’s taking you ages
You still don’t get the hint, I’m not asking for pages
But one text or two would be nice
And, please, don’t pull those faces
When I’ve been out working my arse off all day
It’s just one bottle of wine or two
But, hey, you can’t even talk
You smoke weed just to help you sleep
Then why you out gettin’ stoned at 4 o’clock?
And then you come home to me
And don’t say hello
‘Cause I got high again
And forgot to fold my clothes

Post-Chorus
You hate the fucking lot
You hate the fucking lot

Chorus
Oh, and I’m too messy, and then I’m too fucking clean
You told me, “Get a job”, then you ask where the hell I’ve been
And I’m too perfect till I open my big mouth
I want to be me, is that not allowed?
And I’m too clever, and then I’m too fucking dumb
You hate it when I cry unless it’s that time of the month
And I’m too perfect till I show you that I’m not
A thousand people I could be for you and you hate the fucking lot

Post-Chorus
You hate the fucking lot
You hate the fucking lot
You hate the fucking lot
You hate the fucking lot