James Arthur's songs: The meanings behind his biggest hits

James Arthur is a Tay FM favourite, and his songs have been a playlist staple for years - with hits like 'Impossible', 'Say You Won't Let Go' and his newer single 'Waste My Tears' being favourites among his legions of fans.

As fans are waiting with bated breath for any news about a seventh album, we've taken a look back at some of his biggest hits through the years - reading between the lines of what the lyrics mean and providing an interpretation.

'Impossible' (2012)

James' first single was 'Impossible', released on 9th December 2012 - the same day he won The X Factor. It became the UK's fastest-selling single of that year, spending three weeks at Number 1 - and has gone on to be certified 4x Platinum, with over 2.4 million UK sales. A pretty good start for James!

But it wasn't actually an original song - James' version of 'Impossible' was a cover, originally by Shontelle who released it in February 2010. Shontelle's original version hit Number 9 in the UK charts and has been certified Gold.

It was actually co-written by Norwegian singer-songwriter Ina Wroldsen, best known for singing on 'Places' by Martin Solveig, 'Breathe' by Jax Jones and 'How Deep Is Your Love' by Calvin Harris. She's also written songs for the likes of Kylie Minogue, Sean Paul, David Guetta, Zara Larsson and Anne-Marie among many others.

Shontelle explained what the song meant to her in an interview with J-14: "I knew that there was no song out there for heartbroken people. I just wanted to put a song out that gave people hope – things may not work out the way you want them to, but you can move past it and everything is gonna be okay."

The lyrics express this perfectly, sharing a story of heartbreak and eventually overcoming it to be a stronger person. The chorus lyrics echo this: 'Tell them I was happy / And my heart is broken / All my scars are open / Tell them what I hoped would be / Impossible,' reiterating the despair that the singer finds themselves in.

The second verse talks in more detail about the break-up, revealing that there was a breach of trust: 'Fallin' out of love is hard / Falling for betrayal is worse / Broken trust and broken hearts / I know, I know / Thinking all you need is there / Buildin' faith on love and words / Empty promises will wear / I know, I know.'

'Say You Won't Let Go' (2016)

James released 'Say You Won't Let Go' on 9th September 2016 as the lead single from his second album, 'Back from the Edge'. The track went to Number 1 on its third week on the UK charts, marking James' second song to reach the top spot, and it's also been certified 7x Platinum by the BPI with a whopping 4.2 million sales in the UK.

Considered to be something of a "comeback" for James after he parted ways and then re-signed to Simon Cowell's record label, he spoke to Official Charts about why he thought it was such a popular song: "I think lyrically it relates to a lot of people as it tells a story. It’s a love story that can be adapted to suit any situation someone might be going through. I didn’t think I had a hit, but knew it was special - to me anyway."

It's no real surprise that it's so popular - it's an out-and-out love ballad. There's a story of two people falling in love, declarations of lifelong commitments and promises for the future - what more could you want!

The first verse details how the couple met ('I met you in the dark, you lit me up / You made me feel as though I was enough') - and while 'in the dark' could literally mean they were somewhere with low lighting like a nightclub, as suggested by the following line ('We danced the night away, we drank too much'), it could also mean that the singer was in a low place emotionally at that time, with the other person lighting a fire in them and bringing joy back to their life.

The first chorus shows us the singer fell in love immediately, but fell foul of old behaviours - withdrawing when things got serious: 'I knew I loved you then, but you'd never know / 'Cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go / I knew I needed you, but I never showed / But I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old.' He then repeatedly sings: 'Just say you won't let go,' encouraging the other person to provide the reassurance that they'll always be together.

The second verse sees the singer making vows, envisioning a future together and finding beauty in the everyday and staying grateful and appreciative of each other: 'I'll wake you up with some breakfast in bed / I'll bring you coffee with a kiss on your head / And I'll take the kids to school, wave them goodbye / And I'll thank my lucky stars for that night.'

James steps up each chorus, and in the final chorus ends the story with the couple as elderly people - still together, and still in love: 'I'm gonna love you till my lungs give out / I promise till death we part, like in our vows / So I wrote this song for you, now everybody knows / That it's just you and me till we're grey and old.'

'Naked' (2017)

James found more success with the slow love ballads in 2017, releasing 'Naked' on 24th November 2017 as the lead single from his third album, 'You'. Co-written by James and pop powerhouse songwriters Max Martin and Savan Kotecha, 'Naked' went to Number 11 in the UK and has been certified Platinum with more than 600,000 sales. The music video starred Cressida Bonas.

The song is all about pleading with a partner to give the relationship their full effort, and admitting that they're giving their all to it already - but feeling as though they're not getting that in return. We can hear this in the first pre-chorus: ''Cause here I am, I'm givin' all I can / But all you ever do is mess it up / Yeah, I'm right here, I'm tryin' to make it clear / That getting half of you just ain't enough.'

The chorus warns that they won't be hanging around too long if they can't fully commit, using the word "naked" as a metaphor for putting everything on the line and having nothing to hide: 'I'm not gonna wait until you're done / Pretending you don't need anyone / I'm standing here naked ... I'm not gonna try 'til you decide / You're ready to swallow all your pride / I'm standing here naked.'

In the next verse, it sounds as though things have ended on a sour note: 'Hey, get out / I've got nothin' left to give and you give me nothin' now / Read my mouth / If you ever want me back, then your walls need breakin' down.'

James told Popcrush of the song: "I’m glad people are liking it. When I first heard it I knew there was something special with it. I just like to write songs that people universally can relate to. I don’t necessarily base it on a pergola experience. From this song in particular, I actually imagined it as a female singing it. But I like that it can be relatable to everyone."

'Empty Space' (2018)

James released 'Empty Space' on 19th October 2018 as the second single from 'You', which peaked at Number 22 in the UK and was certified Platinum with more than 600,000 UK sales. The music video was released two weeks later, starring Harry Potter actor Tom Felton as the main character.

James himself spoke of the meaning behind the song in a press release when the song came out: "This song is for anyone who has ever deeply loved and lost someone dear to them, and is then faced with the struggle of trying to fill that void. It is about coming to terms with the fact that only that special person can truly fill the empty space."

We can hear in the first verse that the singer is trying to convince themself that they're not constantly thinking about the other person and what happened to break down the relationship, but it's clear that the opposite is true: 'I don't see you / You're not in every window I look through / And I don't miss you / You're not in every single thing I do / I don't think we're meant to be / And you are not the missing piece.'

As he continues in the first verse, we can hear James come to terms with the fact that the break-up really is all-consuming: 'I won't hear it / Whenever anybody says your name And I won't feel it Even when I'm burstin' into flames I don't regret the day I left I don't believe that I was blessed I'm probably lyin' to myself, again.'

James sings in the chorus about trying to get over the relationship, but comes to the realisation that that isn't going to happen as he realises this person is the love of his life (''Cause only you could fill this empty space'), and that thought continues into the second verse ('I've been drinking / I've been doin' things I shouldn't do') before finally admitting the real reason why the relationship has ended: 'I'm a liar and a cheat / I let my ego swallow me / And that's why I might never see you again.'

'Rewrite the Stars' (with Anne-Marie) (2018)

Another hugely popular James track was released on 16th November 2018 - a collaboration with none other than Tay FM fave Anne-Marie. The pair recorded a version of 'Rewrite the Stars' for 'The Greatest Showman: Reimagined' album, which saw pop stars record their own versions of songs from the musical film.

Originally sang by Zac Efron and Zendaya in the film, James and Anne-Marie's version was hugely popular - going to Number 7 in the UK charts and later being certified 2x Platinum by the BPI.

The point of the song in the film shows two characters who are falling in love with each other - but can't be together due to societal pressures and racism at the time (the film was set in the 19th century). However, this song allows them to imagine a future together, as they sing about what their life could be like together.

In the first verse, we can hear the male character trying to encourage his love interest to give in to their feelings, despite external pressures: 'So don't keep sayin' our hands are tied / You claim it's not in the cards / And fate is pulling you miles away and out of reach from me.'

Then, in the first half of the chorus, the lyrics are taking that one step further - but subtly keeping it hypothetical for now: 'What if we rewrite the stars? / Say you were made to be mine? / Nothing could keep us apart / You'd be the one I was meant to find,' with the use of "could" and "you'd", rather than the more decisive "will" and "you'll".

The second half of the chorus uses those more definitive phrases: 'It's up to you and it's up to me / No one can say what we get to be / So why don't we rewrite the stars? / Maybe the world could be ours tonight.'

The female singer then takes up the second verse, bringing them both back to reality: 'You think it's easy? / You think I don't want to run to you? / But there are mountains / And there are doors that we can't walk through / I know you're wonderin' why / Because we're able to be just you and me within these walls / But when we go outside / You're gonna wake up and see that it was hopeless after all.'

She then sings the chorus with a more jaded view: 'No one can rewrite the stars / How can you say you'll be mine? / Everything keeps us apart / And I'm not the one you were meant to find.' The two then sing back and forth about whether it'd be possible to be together, singing the hopeful version of the chorus together before the female character once again reminds the other of their reality with a heartbreaking outro: 'You know I want you / It's not a secret I try to hide / But I can't have you / We're bound to break and my hands are tied.'

Zendaya and Zac spoke about the song within the context of the film's meaning to Swiss outlet Kinowetter, with Zendaya paraphrasing a point made by Zac that "love conquers all", adding: "This is a forbidden love, this is something that's not supposed to happen - especially not at that time.

"It breaks your heart because the whole time you want them to be together, you want them to work but you know that it can't ... Within our song ... it's this constant back and forth, and for a second, they get lost in it, you know, in the air - they're lost in this idea that could happen, and quite literally at the end come back down to the ground."

James spoke about working on the song to Warner Music: "I'm aware of the magnitude of this album and it's an honour to be part of it to be considered good enough to sing on these great songs, and also to sing alongside one of my favourite singers."

'Lasting Lover' (with Sigala) (2020)

James teamed up with electronic DJ Sigala in 2020 to release the hit single 'Lasting Lover', which contains a sample of beloved Noughties electronic-pop track 'Time to Pretend' by MGMT. It was hugely successful - bringing energy during the COVID-19 lockdown - later getting to Number 10 in the UK and being certified Platinum by the BPI.

From the lyrics, we can tell that the song is all about a previous relationship that didn't work out - but the singer is encouraging the other person to give things another go. The first verse mentions that they can't stop thinking about the other person ('You're always just behind Each thought across my mind'), before confirming the relationship has been over for a while ('Keep crawling back to where we last Left our love on hold').

In the chorus, we can hear that the singer has not been able to get over the split ('I feel like I'm lost without a trace'), before revealing the potential reason for the break-up: 'She said, "I've been looking for a lasting lover"', which could mean that the relationship wasn't serious enough last time.

The song was actually written by none other than Scottish songbird Lewis Capaldi, who hilariously penned the song under the pseudonym of Anita Jobby - a pun on going to the toilet! James and Sigala told us all about how the song came about in an interview, as James was quick to praise Lewis for the songwriting and Sigala revealed the song had first been sent to him as a slow ballad before he worked his upbeat magic on it.

"It was just his guitar and his voice on it, then I worked on it a bit and got in touch with James from there to see if he wanted to sing it, but it was really cool to have him involved," said Sigala, as James revealed he hadn't actually known it was written by Lewis until later on.

"I didn't know that Lewis was involved. I got the song from Sigala and the vocal on it was a similar vibe to me. It didn't sound like Lewis! It sounded a bit like me, to be honest," going on to say that he doesn't tend to go for songs where he hasn't been involved with the writing process and praising Sigala as the "cream of the crop" when it comes to dance music.

'Emily' (2021)

James actually predicted the future with his song 'Emily', which appeared on his fourth album 'It'll All Make Sense in the End' in 2021. Explaining the song in a press release, James said: "(The song) arose from conversations about having kids. Would I even be a good dad? What if they read about all the s--- I’ve been through?

"It doesn’t matter because ultimately I’m the guy who’s going to be there for you all your life," further adding on social media at the time: 'Wrote a song for my future daughter if I ever have one.'

Although James is dad to a little girl named Emily who was born in November 2022, a year after the song came out, he revealed a few weeks after the song had been released that he originally wrote it as a tribute to a baby that he and his then-partner lost.

He told a podcast in late November 2021: "To be honest, when it first came out I sort of billed it as that," later confirming that his partner had been pregnant at that time, and that she encouraged him to speak about the pregnancy loss to raise awareness.

He continued: "I was thinking about having the hopes and fears anybody would have when being faced with having a child. And sadly it didn’t work out. Sadly, I was having a child. I guess it’s a bit weird people hearing it, what, he doesn’t have a kid and he’s talking about that.

"It’s a scary place to be, and as the man, you just want to be there for them, just put your own sadness aside at the time. It’s not about you. It was a sad time, we moved forward, and hopefully there’s blessings to come in the future."

With that in mind, the lyrics read as if James has written a letter to his daughter - singing about how he has made bad choices in the past ('I was living in a different world / Before I had my little girl'), but that being a dad inspires him to be the best version of himself (''Cause you make me a bеtter man than I'll ever be, ever be, ever be').

'Waste My Tears' (2026)

James released single 'Waste My Tears' on 18th September 2026, dropping a music video that featured none other than his own daughter, Emily, who was three-years-old in the video. It went in at Number 19 in the UK charts, and it remains to be seen how far it'll climb! Fans are convinced it'll appear on his seventh album, which he's dropped hints that he's currently working on.

James himself spoke of the meaning in an Instagram post: 'This song’s about knowing your worth, letting go of the things that don’t deserve your energy, and moving forward without looking back. One of my favourite lines is, ‘Don’t stop being anything but yourself,’ and I hope that means something to you too.'

Read a full breakdown of James Arthur's 'Waste My Tears'.

Scroll through to read up on James Arthur's career highlights:

You can hear James Arthur on the Tay FM playlist.

Author: Emma Dodds

Emma Dodds is a Digital Content Editor across Bauer Media's Rayo brands, including the Hits Radio Network, Greatest Hits Radio, KISS, Cool FM and Magic Radio. With a focus on long-form features, Emma prefers digging into a topic and really uncovering a well-rounded view of an artist - using honed SEO skills to figure out the answers to the questions people are really interested in. She especially enjoys a deep dive on song meanings analysis and lyrics interpretation!

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