I have listened to more of Gracie Abram’s music in the past two months than I would like to admit. It is fitting that I am eating ice cream right now while listening to “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and writing this. The only thing missing is that I am not crying — the appropriate thing to do when listening to her music.
I never knew anything about her personally before I became fond of her music. Her newest album, “The Secret of Us,” seemed to align with situations that I was walking through in a season of life that I did not want to be in. Just like every other girl that Abrams attracts, I was drawn to her music because there was a boy in my life who simply acted like a boy and that hurt me. Even though I do not know anything about what she went through compared to what I went through, I feel as if we could sit down, drink some coffee and connect — because she airs out her emotions within her music. I feel like I know her personally.
Despite Abrams’ parents being famous in the film and tv world, Abrams has made quite a name for herself in the music industry. Her father, J.J. Abrams, has directed many science fiction movies, one of which is his 2009 “Star Trek.” In its July article surrounding the star, Prestige makes the point that “Gracie’s personal music catalog, which has remained honest and articulated complicated emotions, has obscured her ‘nepo baby’ label, proving her status as an emerging superstar.”
I wholeheartedly agree.
Abrams first made a name for herself when she opened for Olivia Rodrigo during her “Sour” tour in 2022. It was a unique experience for Abrams because the direct audience that Rodrigo attracts goes hand in hand with Abrams’ target audience. Rodrigo sings about all the things that go wrong in relationships, self-reflections and all the emotions girls go through when they break up with a boy that was mean and shorter than them.
Abrams’ similarities to Rodrigo are evident in “I Knew It, I Know You,” in which Abrams throws in two hard-to-swallow pills that accurately describe common issues in relationships that tend to make everything go south.
“You had the wrong idea about me/When all I ever did was consider you,” Abrams sings.
“It’s not my fault that you can’t sit with the hard thing.”
Abrams went on to open for Taylor Swift on her Era’s tour — even going on to collaborate with her on the song “us.” The collaboration was genius: Swift and Abrams are both so articulate with their words, describing every detail of every memory, moment or experience they have ever had. Choosing to combine their talents to produce a beautiful masterpiece that is relatable to past, present and future relationships that endure trials is an incredible feat.
Abrams’ songs make you feel as if you are her best friend; she is debriefing with you, being passive-aggressive. And you can’t tell if you should be right there alongside her, bashing the guy she currently hates, or if you should just remain quiet and listen as she might get back together with him next week. In that scenario, you would immediately regret everything that had come out of your mouth, taking it all back and reverting back to being the most supportive friend in the world — and not pointing out all the wrong that happened and how it is likely to happen all over again.
In her song “Free Now,” Abrams talks about how she understands that they should not be together because there are clearly some unresolved issues that she is bitter about.
“Hope you find somewhere safe for your baggage,” Abrams sings.
Including this line gives an inside look into Abrams, as an artist and as a person. Abrams calls things out in people that are uncomfortable. Everyone tends to think the same things, but rarely are they confident enough in themselves to put pen to paper and express their feelings in that way to create awareness.
Looking from the outside in at all of Abrams’ work, you would not think that she would write an uplifting song about a good experience — because that is simply not how she does things. However, the song “Packing It Up” has gained a lot of traffic on TikTok, as couples are creating little videos of them together and putting the song in the background, focusing specifically on the lyrics:
“I swear that I wasn’t looking for much/But that’s just when you happened.”
These are beautifully written lyrics, in that they operate in whichever direction the listener wants them to. They can be in reference to a romantic relationship or a friendship. The song allows the person to truly reflect on the timing of people in their life — how just when they start to convince themselves that nothing good is ever going to happen again, just one person can change that in a matter of seconds.
Abrams has also gained so much fame and popularity because she has not tried to reinvent the wheel. Swift’s fans are drawn to her lyricism and how her songs are consistently about love and heartbreak. Being overly dramatic about everything in life is typical of people these days. Abram’s music fits in a world where situationships — where two people hang out and act as if they are dating, but one or both are not comfortable with putting a label on anything or even talking about putting a label on anything, so they just sit in the awkward in between being more than friends but not dating — are becoming increasingly common. Heartbreak is inevitably the result of the lack of a relationship. Abrams alludes to this in her song “Blowing Smoke” as she gawks at someone for moving on too quickly.
“And you look stupid going out/if she’s got a pulse she meets your standards now,” Abrams sings.
Abrams continues to produce music that is relatable and reliable. Music that you can listen to by yourself in your room at night, or music that you can scream at the top of your lungs with your friends in the car late at night.