"The Girl That Never Was" is a song by English singer-songwriter James Blunt. It was released by Atlantic Records UK on 4 October 2023 as the third single from Blunt's seventh studio album, Who We Used to Be.[1]
| "The Girl That Never Was" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by James Blunt | ||||
| from the album Who We Used to Be | ||||
| Released | 4 October 2023 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 3:13 | |||
| Label | Atlantic Records UK | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Red Triangle | |||
| James Blunt singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "The Girl That Never Was" on YouTube | ||||
Background
edit"The Girl That Never Was" was written by Blunt, George Tizzard and Rick Parkhouse. It was written about Blunt and his wife losing a child through miscarriage.[2][3][4]
Live performance
editOn 27 October 2023, Blunt performed the song on the BBC's The One Show. On writing the song, Blunt shared "I'm married. We had aspirations to start a family and...people in my situation have gone through that, you win some battles and you lose some [...] the ones that we have lost we struggle with a bit."[5]
Music video
editA lyric video was released on the day of the single's official release,[6] with the official music video, directed by Vaughan Arnell released on 12 October 2023.[7] On 20 October 2023, Blunt released a video showing an acoustic performance of "The Girl That Never Was".[8]
Chart performance
editThe single peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart Top 100 on 3 November 2023.[9] It appeared on that chart for seven consecutive weeks.[10]
Charts
edit| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[11] | 7 |
References
edit- ^ "James Blunt - Who We Used to Be". Spotify. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ Everett, Charlotte (28 October 2023). "James Blunt has One Show viewers in tears with emotional reason for new song". The Mirror. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ "JAMES BLUNT touches on loss in new single 'The Girl That Never Was'". XS Noize. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ "James Blunt drops latest single The Girl That Never Was". Retro Pop Magazine. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ Hallam, Katy (27 October 2023). "BBC The One Show viewers sobbing as James Blunt shares tragic reason for new song". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ "James Blunt - The Girl That Never Was (Lyric Video)". YouTube. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ "The Girl That Never Was (Official video)". YouTube. 12 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ "James Blunt - The Girl That Never Was (Acoustic)". YouTube. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart on 03/11/2023". Official Charts. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ "James Blunt - The Girl That Never Was". Official Charts. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
- ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 November 2023.