These troubled thoughts that wage wars inside him, also shape up the poet he is. This could be factually correct since Caleb’s wife Lily Aldridge is one of the A-list models of the time. The singer thinks of how she could be ‘living it up’ while he is asleep on a tour bus somewhere in a remote part of the world. He speaks of his troubled thoughts of insecurity about his lover back at home. In the second verse, the singer talks about getting the attention of his lover. Being neutralized by surgery, Caleb is looking for a partner to lift his spirits up. Being on tour, the singers must miss the love and cosiness of home. This ‘you’ is most likely a dedication to Caleb’s wife Lily Aldridge, who has been good company all around.Īnd the singer could use somebody like that in these lonely times. The singer also references to a ‘you’ whom he wishes to have around him. Hence, relationships are a dangerous game. Being on tour and being an artist with a global reach, it would not be easy to find genuine people to be with you. However, it should be looked at in a manner that the singer has been trying to fill an emotional void that he has with fake people. ‘Painted face’ is an allusion to heavy make up which often translates to prostitution.
The lyric “Painted faces fill the places I can’t reach” has sparked the controversy that this line could mean the association of a prostitute. The routine of album-tour-album-tour could easily have a heavy toll on somebody’s mental wellbeing. This is a sign of being tired of the ‘same old.’ The rockstar lifestyle tends to have this effect on may artists. In the first verse of “Use Somebody,” the band sings of how they are used to looking down on everything they see. Considering the Caleb Followill composed the lyrics while being away from everybody, while recovering from his injury, we can imagine that he would have felt lonelier than ever. Many rockstars have confessed to feeling lonely even though they are at the height of their popularity with millions of following. The underlying theme of this song is loneliness. Listen to Caleb and Matthew talk about coming up with the song in Whiskey-infused surgery aftermath ĭownload “Use Somebody” Single on Apple Music and Amazon No longer trying to be a tough guy and admitting I need the people around me – mainly referring to Lily (Aldridge, Followill’s wife) – to get through it all. In that moment, I became more honest with myself and allowed myself to be vulnerable in my writing. In a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Caleb broke down the inspiration behind this song “This song came out from when I was healing from my shoulder injury…and away from everything out at my farmhouse. I felt immediately that it was a big song, and it scared me away. When I came up with ‘I could use somebody,’ I didn’t know if I was talking about a person or home or God. In a 2008 interview with Uncut Magazine, Caleb Followill, who wrote the major part of the lyrics, told the meaning behind this hit track It won ‘Record of the Year,’ ‘Best Rock Song,’ and ‘Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.’ Inspiration Behind “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon “Use Somebody” earned the band three Grammy Awards in the year 2010.