I Am Yesterday Lyrics - Zoe Boekbinder

Song Facts:

• Genre: Folk/Indie


• Featured on: Invincible (TV Series) Soundtrack


• Lyricist: Zoe Boekbinder

Annotations and Meaning:

"I Am Yesterday" by Zoe Boekbinder defines the emotions and reflection after an ended relationship, with much focus on more of who the person is and how they are prized by the ex-lover. Starting with the introspective question of why the singer is a haunting thought in the mind of the ex, it suggests merciless, restless contemplation. It focuses on the singer where the "criminal" actions of either moving on or just living life apart from the relationship are there for all to witness, while glaring at feelings of betrayal and public censure.
In "writing the worst thing I ever said in neon lights," and "dragging my name through the mud," the subject represents public shame or the casting of the ills of a person. And so, the phrase goes as a plea for the wrong which is supposed to have been committed. This, in direct contrast, was a moment of great intimacy when the ex had been seen—content and having moved on, really throwing into stark relief the singer's feelings of being stuck in the past.

The lines "Saw you out with your new partner— I am yesterday," and "You didn't even say goodbye" really slap the heart with the feeling of making oneself obsolete and pushed from memory, like an old piece of technology in the light of a new relationship. It conveys feelings of invisibility and insignificance, exacerbated by the lack of closure.

The latter also envisions the use of narration to further explain this: "Whatever you say becomes the accepted view / Whoever you say I am, they'll believe." Thus, it re-emphasizes powerful controlling dynamics in the narrative post-breakup, as the image of character and identity shown can be greatly influenced by the version offered by the ex-partner. "Tell a different story," he implored from the very bottom of his soul, wanting vindication and desiring that his parting in the ending of the relationship should be more truthfully depicted.

The metaphor "feeling the daggers from their eyes" shows the social gazes and probably judgments, drawn by the story of the ex-partner, and targeted at the singer. This contrasts the unseen hurt of being metaphorically stabbed with the public eye, sharply representing the opposing internal versus external struggles one goes through in the break-up aftermath.