A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Have you ever felt like you just couldn't please anyone? Well, that's what inspired Lola Young's hit "Messy." That song has topped charts all over the world after it went viral on TikTok last year.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MESSY")
LOLA YOUNG: (Singing) 'Cause I'm too messy. And then I'm just too damn clean. You told me get a job. Then you ask where the hell I've been.
MARTÍNEZ: Who are you saying that to?
YOUNG: I think it was to myself in a weird, roundabout way. Like, can I not just accept this person who I am, and can I not just let other people love me for what I am? And, like, then, also, I was saying it to my ex, like...
MARTÍNEZ: To your ex.
YOUNG: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: And to you. And maybe the world, right? Because sometimes the world wants you to be something...
YOUNG: Wants you to be something...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
YOUNG: ...And you're not.
MARTÍNEZ: Lola Young stopped by our offices in Culver City. She's in Los Angeles to take one of the biggest stages of her career - Coachella, which starts this weekend. And "Messy" is sure to be the sing-along moment of her set. She says being diagnosed with ADHD helped her make sense of the song.
YOUNG: I got diagnosed after I wrote the song. And it just - yeah, it just made a lot of sense for me working out things mentally, understanding that like, God, that's why I'm like that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MESSY")
YOUNG: (Singing) 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 stupid 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 whole damn lot.
MARTÍNEZ: Do you ever think, like, when you're creating music, when you're writing it, that, like, maybe this line would eventually sound great on TikTok? I'm...
YOUNG: No.
MARTÍNEZ: No? Yeah. It's - and if you ever thought that, would you feel like, hey, wait a second?
YOUNG: Yes, because you have to - it's - you never have to - I never try and think about the consumer or what's going to happen to the song. I just try and write it from the heart. And as soon as I start thinking about the outside room, as it were, like, then it can massively mess you up and make you think, oh, my God, like, what am I actually doing this for? Who am I doing it for?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CONCEITED")
YOUNG: (Singing) You bought me some flowers. I gave them to someone else. Told me that you loved me. You're just talking to yourself. I don't want to know. I don't want to hear it. Let yourself out. You're so conceited. Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: So you're, what, 24 years old?
YOUNG: I'm 24. Correct.
MARTÍNEZ: From London.
YOUNG: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: How did you get into just wanting to sing?
YOUNG: I always knew it was what I wanted to be, and I think I was never good at anything else. So I didn't have the kind of B option of, like, oh, this is what I'd do if it didn't work out. So I just had to put my mind to it and go, I have to just keep working hard and keep honing in on my craft, and I feel like something good's going to happen. And I didn't know it would be at what scale or what that would come of it. I just had that constant, like, sense of, this is really what I want.
MARTÍNEZ: This is actually - most people figure out what they want to do. They realize what they're only good at, right?
YOUNG: Right. Exactly, yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WISH YOU WERE DEAD")
YOUNG: (Singing) We can pretend that we're in love when you come around.
MARTÍNEZ: Let's listen to another song - "Wish You Were Dead."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WISH YOU WERE DEAD")
YOUNG: (Singing) You throw my phone out the window, and the next thing, the neighbor said she's calling the feds. And I wish you were dead.
MARTÍNEZ: So, Lola, this song gives me the vibe that you think there's a big difference between saying you love someone and actually liking that person.
YOUNG: Yeah, yeah. Yes, A.
MARTÍNEZ: So what's the - to you, what's the difference?
YOUNG: I'm still figuring out, in all honesty, what I think love is. I think love changes as you get older, and as you are - you're in love more times. Like, it can take shape in different ways, and you feel it in different ways. But in the relationships I've been and I felt like I haven't really liked them, and I can claim I've been, like, in love with them. And even in that line, I say, like, you know, we can pretend that we're in love. Because it's just, like, that feeling of lost and toxicity can sometimes overpower what is that the premise of it.
MARTÍNEZ: And maybe not literally dead, but dead to you? Like, dead...
YOUNG: Yeah, dead to me. Oh, yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, yeah.
YOUNG: Unliterally dead. I'm joking.
MARTÍNEZ: Unliterally dead. Yes, well (ph)...
YOUNG: No, no. Of course. No, definitely not.
MARTÍNEZ: So - yeah.
YOUNG: No, no.
(SOUNDBITE OF LOLA YOUNG SONG, "INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS")
MARTÍNEZ: Now, let's listen to one more song. This song is "Intrusive Thoughts."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS")
YOUNG: (Singing) Hey there, intrusive thoughts. You don't make sense at all. Wish you would go away with some paracetamol. Hey there, intrusive thoughts. Maybe I'm wired all strange. All these intrusive thoughts, don't know what's real or not. They scream inside my head. Wish I could kill the lot. I've got intrusive thoughts. Maybe I'm wired all strange.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, you were diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder at 17, and you've only talked about mental issues. Do you, Lola, view that as something that someday, for lack of a better word - and I apologize ahead of time - something that you want to cure, or is that something that just makes you you?
YOUNG: I think it just makes me me. I think I've gone through the motions with my mental health. And I think I've spoken about it a lot publicly, and I think it's something that can be used in a powerful way, but I think it's just a thing I'd like to live with. I think there's a lot to say about it, but I think I'll leave it just, you know, it being difficult and beautiful at the same time.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS")
YOUNG: (Singing) Kind of messed up that you are me. Guess we just play nicely.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, because I think, you know, one of the great things about artists today that it seems like that is something that is not off-limits anymore. There's, like, an openness to artists talking about this, which I think helps people that listen to it and think, you know what? I don't have to just sit here in silence and suffer.
YOUNG: No, for sure. I think there's a stigma to be broken down. And I think that it's important just to be vocal about what you're experiencing. Because if you're not vocal about what you're experiencing, you're saying like you're saying, you're suffering, and that's never OK.
MARTÍNEZ: Have you heard from people about, like, the way you've been open and some of the lyrics in your songs that, hey, this has helped me a little bit?
YOUNG: Yeah, and I think that's what - you know, that's partially why I do - like, why I do this because it means that people feel like they have a voice. They're able to stand up and say what their experiences is. And everyone's different, but it's also just important to be vocal and speak up, you know?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS")
YOUNG: (Singing) Oh, hey there, intrusive thoughts. We got off on the wrong foot back there. Come on in. I'll put the kettle on. They're just intrusive thoughts, and maybe I'm not all that strange.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Lola Young. Her album is titled "This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway," and she'll be performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Lola, thank you...
YOUNG: Thank you so much.
MARTÍNEZ: ...So Much...
YOUNG: Thank you.
MARTÍNEZ: ...For stopping by.
YOUNG: No worries. Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WALK ON BY")
YOUNG: (Singing) Oh, man, ain't it sad? Kind of mad that the next time I see you, you'll be out holding hands with that girl that you claimed was just a friend. And I'll pretend that you didn't notice me when you looked me dead in the eye, and I'll just walk on by. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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