A melancholy tale of unrequited love, “A 1000 Times” opens Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam’s collaborative album I Had A Dream That You Were Mine, named after the lyric that kicks off this song (and, in turn, the whole record).

Leithauser teamed up with Rostam for a few tracks on his post-Walkmen debut, Black Hours, and this track continues to pair his gritty howl with Rostam’s delicate, barroom-pop production. Here, however, the lyrics are more narrative-focused than the Black Hours tracks, a decision Rostam discussed in an interview with Pitchfork:

[Hamilton and I] worked really hard on lyrics and every song tells a story. In some ways, the more that I write songs, the more I feel that telling a story is the most important thing; just being able to close your eyes when you hear some lyrics and go somewhere. It’s worth taking the time to do that, because people respond to it.