Nothing Lasts Forever
3 minutes and 4 seconds of “oof.” Sam Hunt released his latest album, SOUTHSIDE, Friday, April 3rd. The entire album is the epitome of Sam Hunt appeal, but the one song I can’t get over yet is “Nothing Lasts Forever.”
Closure is essential when a relationship ends and not having it is sometimes just as grueling as the heartbreak itself. Not knowing can be worse than hurtful, piercing spoken words. “Nothing Lasts Forever” is extremely simple. The chorus repeats and each verse capitalizes on the other, spilling truth that nothing lasts forever. But the statement is two-fold and brings a whole new layer of clever creativity to closure.
The song implies two concepts everyone can relate to. It’s so simple, it’s genius. Sam Hunt sings nothing lasts forever, stating their fling or relationship has ended and he’s facing the common disposition that some things don’t last. Leading up to the line in the chorus Hunt pleads, “So say I'm someone that you wish you never met / Your best mistake, your worst regret / Say everything, say anything but nothing,” unveiling that saying nothing rings an unwelcome but still present echo of ‘what did I do wrong?’ ‘Where did it go wrong?’
“Nothing” fills a void of silence that screams for forever. The silence screams louder than the words could. Sometimes it’s better to hear the hurt and truth from a voice than to hear the screams of silence that fill the air, which can haunt forever.
In addition to the heavy story wrapped in the simple lyrics of “Nothing Lasts Forever,” the musicality is noteworthy, too. The song crosses over into the terrain of multiple genres. It is inherently the pop-country sound that is Sam Hunt, but transcends into something you’d hear from Justin Bieber’s latest album or even Drake (people do call Hunt the Drake of country music). There are tracks adding depth to the song that sound pop and current, but the most interesting trait in the song adds a slight juxtapositon to the sound. There is a taste of strings that feel like a sweet serenade, a signal of sadness, confusion, and desperation. It’s beautiful and hollow and couples the simple lyrics with unique depth. It heightens the realization that 1. nothing lasts forever— their relationship is over and 2. nothing lasts forever— the void of silence and not-knowing why lasts forever, too.
One of the coolest things about music is the inherent versatility of the story behind the lyrics. When listening to the song again, I thought about it in a different light (shout out to Doug Stone). What if he is saying “go ahead and say it, because the pain will wear off just like this relationship did. Nothing lasts forever anyways so go ahead and say what you want to say.”
I always wonder if this is a source of confliction or paradoxical contortion for songwriters. It’s a blessing and a curse, a love and a hate. A songwriter may deliver a song with one particular feeling or experience behind each word, with the intention of creatively conveying the song in a unique two-fold type way, like “Nothing Lasts Forever” does, but what if the listener takes a completely fresh, unintended view of the song? Is that a frustration or a flattery for the songwriter? Sam Hunt, let me know?
Either way it’s a talent. “Nothing Lasts Forever” simply conveys the concept in all aspects. Listen to the song below—
