Nice To Each Other by Olivia Dean: A Gentle Middle Finger to Dating Norms

Olivia Dean's Nice To Each Other song artwork — Olivia Dean’s Nice To Each Other song artwork

Olivia Dean’s latest single Nice To Each Other arrives like a gentle exhale after holding your breath too long.

Released on May 30, 2025, it is less of a love song and more of a romantic shrug. Co-written with Matt Hales and produced alongside Zach Nahome,

Following her recent contribution to the Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy soundtrack with It Isn’t Perfect But It Might Be, Dean continues to cement her position as one of Britain’s most emotionally intelligent songwriters.

It’s a deceptively breezy listen, barely past the three-minute mark, but carries a quiet complexity.

The song is a standout from Dean’s upcoming album The Art of Loving, due September 26, and it already feels like a manifesto for soft defiance.

Nice To Each Other Line-by-Line Lyrics Breakdown

“Here we are, back again / Fighting what’s in front of me”

Dean opens mid-scene, skipping exposition. There’s history here, maybe even déjà vu. The song doesn’t explain what’s wrong, because if you’ve been here, you know.

“There’s so much to unpack again / But if I come to Italy”

The fantasy interrupts the friction. Italy becomes shorthand for escape—a reset button wrapped in good wine and sun. Dean cleverly undercuts the heaviness with a daydream.

“We could be nice to each other / Wrong for each other / Right for each other”

This refrain is the centrepiece, balancing contradiction with grace. It doesn’t need resolution. It makes peace with grey areas, letting opposites co-exist.

“I don’t know where the switches are / Or where you keep the cutlery”

A charming nod to domestic unfamiliarity. She romanticises the mundane to highlight how newness carries its own kind of awkward magic.

“I’ll probably crash your stupid car / And make your life a misery”

This line breaks the softness wide open. It’s Olivia at her most playfully self-deprecating, rejecting the spotless partner ideal.

“I’ve done all the classic stuff / And it never works, you know it”

It’s a subtle eyeroll at romcom tropes. Been there. Said the right things. Still didn’t stick. So now what?

“Can we say we’ll never say the classic stuff? / Just show it”

A mission statement. Less performance, more presence. This lyric strips back emotional expression to its basics: action over declaration.

“Meet me on the mountaintop / I’ll be in the shallow end”

Contradictions again. Deep desire and emotional caution walk hand in hand. It’s giving intimacy with the safety on.

“‘Cause I don’t want a boyfriend”

Not a rejection of love, but of its tired labels. A sentiment echoing throughout her recent catalogue, especially for those burned out by the expectations that come with relationship roles.

“Water, sunlight, talking all night / Just enough to grow it”

No big gestures here. Just consistency, patience, and a little intentional care. It’s a garden, not a fireworks display.

The Sound: Clean, Cheeky, Unforced

Dean doesn’t overwork this one. A light, playful guitar riff opens the track and follows her like a wingman with no notes.

There’s no vocal acrobatics, just that signature clarity in her voice, slightly cheeky, like she knows something you don’t.

The production is smart enough to get out of the way—letting Olivia play with space, dynamics, and little melodic shrugs that feel like emotional ellipses.

Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other Lyrics Meaning in Context

Nice To Each Other‘s meaning isn’t hidden behind metaphor. It’s a bit of Gen Z pragmatism with a millennial soul.

The song meaning explained isn’t about whether love works, but about how we choose to treat each other while it’s happening. Whether it lasts or not becomes secondary.

Emotional Intelligence Over Labels: Why This Song Hits Now

In an era where dating apps reduce romance to swipes and modern relationships often feel more like strategic negotiations than organic connections, Olivia Dean’s Nice To Each Other arrives as a breath of fresh air.

The multi-BRIT Award and Mercury Prize nominee has delivered something that feels both timeless and urgently contemporary—a song that dares to celebrate the beauty of undefined connections.

The track’s genius lies in its rejection of the all-or-nothing mentality that dominates contemporary romance narratives.

Dean isn’t interested in the tired binary of casual hookups versus committed relationships.

Instead, she’s carved out a third space—one where two people can be deeply present with each other without needing to map out their entire future.

What many listeners have picked up on is the song’s sophisticated understanding of emotional intelligence.

Dean seems to have mastered the art of being “wrong for each other” while still being “right for each other”—a paradox that anyone who’s experienced meaningful but temporary connections will recognise immediately.

Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other Lyrics

Verse 1
Here we are, back again
Fighting what’s in front of me
There’s so much to unpack again
But if I come to Italy

Refrain
We could be nice to each other
Nice to each other
Wrong for each other
Right for each other
And rise to each other
Rise to each other
Mm-mm-mm

Verse 2
I don’t know where the switches are
Or where you keep the cutlery
And I’ll probably crash your stupid car
And make your life a misery

Refrain
But we could be nice to each other
Nice to each other
Wrong for each other
Right for each other
And rise to each other
Rise to each other
Mm-mm-mm

Chorus
‘Cause, you know, I’ve done all the classic stuff
And it never works, you know it
So can we say we’ll never say the classic stuff?
Just show it
Now and know it
Now
Now, now, now

Verse 3
Meet me on the mountaintop
I’ll be in the shallow end
And wait for you to call it off
‘Cause I don’t want a boyfriend

Refrain
But we could be nice to each other
Nice to each other
Wrong for each other
Right for each other
And rise to each other
Rise to each other
Mm-mm-mm

Chorus
‘Cause, you know, I’ve done all the classic stuff
And it never works, you know it
So can we say we’ll never say the classic stuff?
Just show it
Water, sunlight, talking all night
Just enough to grow it (Yeah)
Now and know it
Now
Now, now, now

Outro
Mm-mm
It could be nice (It could be nice)
It could be so nice (It could be so nice)
Oh, it could be nice to (Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba)
Oh, to each other (Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba)
Mm-mm, we could be nice to (Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba)
Oh, to each other (Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba)
Mm-mm, we could be nice to (Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba)
Oh, to each other (Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba)
Mm-mm, we could be nice to (Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba)
Oh, to each other