Mess It Up

Mess It Up

Gracie Abrams

In the nostalgic and bittersweet “Mess It Up,” Gracie sings frustratingly at a past lover, begging for forgiveness. Her fear of emotional attachment has broken the relationship, but she’s willing to continue trying to bring the relationship back together.

The combination of drums, guitar and Gracie’s own voice all work in harmony to bring about the hasty and pleading nature of the song. As the song progresses and Gracie becomes more desperate, the tempo accelerates to emphasize and stress her regret and willingness to do whatever’s needed to fix her relationship. One interesting point to note the addition of the chorus as ad-libs in the outro, which is possibly Gracie’s way of showing that the overwhelming feeling of regret is taking control of her, as she comes to realize that she needs to fix what she has broken.

In the music video, Gracie accidentally drops a quantity of cakes she made as an apology for her ex. The ingredients used in making the cakes symbolize pieces of Gracie as she’s trying to fix what she broke. Over time, the cake progressively gets smaller until she’s left with almost nothing. However, this does not stop Gracie as she’s determined in seeking forgiveness, even if it’s at the cost of losing parts of herself.

Although released as a single earlier in 2021, the song did not appear on Gracie’s 2021 This Is What It Feels Like. However, the song is thematically similar to “Rockland,” a song from This Is What It Feels Like, with both songs exploring the regret she feels about a past relationship.