Song by
Ryan Ross Hernandezfrom the album
Sex with Former LoversTitle: The Younger Heart / Point of View
Studio: Capitol Studios (Hollywood, California)
Oro y Plata Studios (Livingston, Montana)
Genre: Indietronica, synth-pop, R&B, funk
Length: 7:58
4:12 (The Younger Heart)
3:46 (Point of View)
Label: Studio 60 Records
Songwriter: Ryan Ross Hernandez
Producer: Ryan Ross Hernandez
"The Younger Heart / Point of View" is a song by American singer-songwriter Ryan Ross Hernandez. It is the fourth track on his seventh studio album,
Sex with Former Lovers. "The Younger Heart" was previously released as a single in February 2016, with more of an acoustic country twang, and spanned over six minutes in length alone. The album version is described by Hernandez as a "reimagined, hyper frantic" synth-pop and indietronica song, consisting of looping drums, synthesizers, and every vocal heard being layered to create a booming effect. The unexpected change was done for the song to fit more accordingly to the overall sound of the record, while also providing a fresh take on the original song that was released over five years prior. Upon its original release, the song drew some controversy for its uncensored candor on sex, presumably written based on his relationship with pop singer Isabel Merjos.
After a synth heavy transition, the song shifts to its "Point of View" portion, a moody R&B track with psychedelic guitar riffs and a hip-hop inspired beat, featuring the only prominent guitar solo on the album. In relation to the former, "Point of View" shifts thematically to an intimate account of fame, mental health, and mortality. The final verse is believed to be added shock value for the tabloids to read into and analyze, as Hernandez mentions in the track, while also capsulizing the overall themes of sex, drugs, and alcohol found throughout the album. Some fans believe that the pairing marks a shift of muses, with some speculation that subtle references are being made at rapper Miami, who the guitarist dated for a handful of months between 2015 and 2016.
The updated version of "The Younger Heart" along with its companion song "Point of View," received acclaim from contemporary critics, who commended Hernandez's fearless songwriting and musicianship, some comparing the seamless sonic shifts to American singer-songwriter Joshua Grimmie's second studio album
"GOLDENHEART." Critics found the album take of "The Younger Heart" to be more authentic to the overall aesthetics of
Sex with Former Lovers, many agreeing that it should have been the single rather than the stripped-down recording. "Point of View" was described by Pitchfork as a
"trippy, drug-fueled R&B song" with lyrics that will soon flood social media posts.
Ryan Ross Hernandez wrote:"The song that both saved my career and nearly ruined it. I dealt with a severe lack of creativity between the completion of "Traveling Tales" in 2013 and the time when "The Younger Heart" was recorded almost three years later. I was touring nonstop. I felt burned out physically and mentally. At the time, I didn't know if I wanted to record another album or tour ever again, until I wrote "The Younger Heart." That song saved my career in the sense that it gave me a shot of adrenaline when I needed it most. It nearly ruined it because of all the other bullshit attached to it, which I won't go into. The new version of the album I recorded probably a year or so after the single came out. Once I had the direction I wanted to take this LP on, I knew I wanted to change it up with "Younger Heart" and make this reimagined, hyper frantic indie-pop song. If any song on this record survives the test of time when it comes to being played at shows, it's this one. I could only pair "Point of View" with "The Younger Heart," that much came rather natural when I had this notion floating around. If "Younger Heart" is the most vulnerable song I've ever released up to that point, then "Point of View" is this whole other monster where it felt like I was free-styling more than I was singing. In my mind, it is an almost indirect response to everything that has been said and written about my songs and their supposed subject matters."
The Younger HeartCould you see my hands shake
When I opened the front door for you?
Where I showed you a part of my life
That I keep far away from the view of everyone
I still have the artsy, naked pictures I took of you there that early morning
Your raven hair uncombed, you had no make-up on
But your smile could shine this whole place
While the sunlight crashed against your soft, gentle skin
Your thin fingers tracing over my chest
Like you were designing what my next tattoo should be
My hands roamed all over your body that night
You wore a buttoned-up shirt and a pair of your ripped jeans
When you stole my hat, you looked right out of the dream woman
The one I always envisioned in my head
You came to life on the quietest of nights
How many times do we gotta fuck before we can call it love?
'Cause somewhere between the cracks of sunshine that hit your tanned skin
As you sleep so soundly, so peacefully
And the way your lips kissed mine
Between moans the night before
It makes me believe that this could be the start of us
Falling into something
Something that we could call loveAre there nights when you still think about me?
Does my name ever come up in conversations?
Is my number still on your phone?
'Cause you can't just erase me from your memory
You can't mask all those nights we spent together
From the bedroom
To the kitchen
To having you up against the shower wall while the steam surrounded us
You can't replicate those lazy winter days in Big Sky
You can't forget those stolen kisses and spilled glasses of wine
While we danced in Los Angeles on a rainy night in
Have you thrown out the flannel shirt you kept after our third date?
The one that was always covered in your strands of hair
And I should have been more honest with you
I tried to make you believe my life was altogether and the sail wasn't torn
When in reality I was falling apart when you weren't around
I'm not proud of my past still defining who I am today or who I was to you
How many times do we gotta fuck before we can call it love?
'Cause somewhere between the cracks of sunshine that hit your tanned skin
As you sleep so soundly, so peacefully
And the way your lips kissed mine
Between moans the night before
It makes me believe that this could be the start of us
Falling into something
Something that we could call loveMaybe it's for the best now
After all this time has passed between then and now
I fell in love with someone who left
And I'm the only one to blame once again
While I heard through mutual friends
That you went back to your ex-boyfriend
And I just smirk because you deserve to find the love we were never able to make
Some nights I still wonder what could have been
Sometimes romance is all about timing, which we never got right
I think you were swallowed up in some guilt of a past ghost in our lives
How many times do we gotta fuck before we can call it love?
'Cause somewhere between the cracks of sunshine that hit your tanned skin
As you sleep so soundly, so peacefully
And the way your lips kissed mine
Between moans the night before
It makes me believe that this could be the start of us
Falling into something
Something that we could call loveHow many times do I have to make you cum before you can forget about him?
'Cause somewhere between your eyes shut, head hanging back
With my head between your legs
You were biting your lips so hard that you drew blood
Was that because of the way I made you fly and feel alive?
Could we have been starting something that night?
Or was it your fear of saying his name as I ate you out?Maybe I'm a selfish piece of shit who could not set his eyes on somebody else
Maybe you got scared of actually falling in love with someone like me
Maybe you never got over that other guy whose name I just can't place
Maybe there's no one to blame here and life just got in the way like it usually does
But maybe we were just a phase in each other's lives
You learn from it and keep on changing
---
Point of ViewTell me how much money do I need to make
So it can outweigh the pain
'Cause if money buys happiness
I still haven't found a store that sells it
If I could be happy all the time
Would I even want it?
I'm never in the moment enough to recognize my own happiness
Everything is fleeting like my mind, like my love, like my time on this Earth
Fuck if I know what I want while I'm here
Please let me just play my music with no preconceived notion
Please let me just have some sex with no strings
Please let me just drink some whiskey with no chaser
My whole life has been a movie and I'm trying to figure out what the ending will be
Will it come all natural?
Will it come from the family tree?
Will it come thanks to my bad habits?
Will it come disguised as an escape?
Will I do it to myself?
Will that hurt you later more than I'm hurting now?
It's never the answer but the question has been lingering on my mind
Yeah, the question has been hangin'
Kick the chair out
Can I call you when this episode ends and I feel like myself again?
That goes to all my former lovers
I'm not being selfish, I'm only caught up in my head
Where my problems stack up like towers with no windows
No light cracking through, only darkness everywhere
But that's not what they want to hear from me
That won't get them any hits on their website
That won't get any likes on social media
So here's a verse to analyze on your podcast
She's drug lusting and likes that I have my own demons
She used benzodiazepine as her savior
The sunshine annoyed you in the morning
You rather have that light running through your veins
Hotel California can't compare to what you pack
The views behind you make it feel like I'm shooting a POV porno every time we fuck
You always joked that my ex could barely hold a glass of wine
Now here you are drinking bottles of flavored rum
Were you really about that life or were you trying to impress me?
We saw your ex out on the town once
We made out in front of him and you told me to smack your ass
That night we had a foursome with your best friend and her best friend
---
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