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Words from the artist’s archive
Back to '16 lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
Read the lyric sheet
Intro
Swipe back ten years on my screen tonight Everything felt different in that old light
Verse 1
Remember when the feed wasn't curated by machines Just bad Snapchat filters and our high school memes Flip phone buzzing, used to text without a read receipt Now I'm double-tapping strangers that I'll never meet Used to burn a CD, pass it through the class Now a playlist algorithm telling me what slaps Mom and Pop shops before the storefronts turned to glass Everything was temporary but we thought it'd last
Chorus
Take me back to '16, back to '16 When we lived it 'fore we screened it Take me back to '16, back to '16 When we meant it 'fore we memed it
Verse 2
Ten years hit different when the world caught a fever We traded all the handshakes for the hand sanitizer Used to crash the function just to see who'd show Now I RSVP "maybe" then I never go Choker necklaces and low-rise made a comeback tour But the innocence we had ain't in the thrift store Scrolling through the old pics, who's that kid? He's raw Smiling at the camera 'fore he knew the final score
Bridge 1
We were seventeen with nothing but time Before the world got heavy, before the climb Didn't know we had it good until we lost the signs Now I'm chasing '16 in my mind
Verse 3
But I can't rewind the clock or edit all the frames Every scar I earned became the muscle for the game My little cousin posting just like I did at that age And I realize I'm standing on the older side of change So I screenshot the moment while I'm living in it now 'Cause ten years from today I'll be searching for right now Twenty-thirty-six gon' look back thinking this was wild So I'm living while I'm breathing, yeah, I'm present as a child
Chorus
Take me back to '16, back to '16 When we lived it 'fore we screened it Take me back to '16, back to '16 When we meant it 'fore we memed it
Bridge 2
I don't need the past to hold me down I just need to feel the way I felt then now Every moment's vintage when you let it breathe So I'm making twenty-six feel like it's meant for me
Chorus
Take me back to '16, back to '16 When we lived it 'fore we screened it One more time! Take me back to '16, back to '16 When we meant it 'fore we memed it
Chorus
Take me back to '16, back to '16 When we lived it 'fore we screened it Take me back to '16, back to '16 When we meant it 'fore we memed it
Outro
Maybe '26 becomes somebody's '16 So I'm living for the memory they're gon' chase The good old days are happening right now Step outside the frame and feel your face
Inside the recording
Swipe back ten years on my screen tonight Everything felt different in that old light
Take me back to '16, back to '16 When we lived it 'fore we screened it
Maybe '26 becomes somebody's '16 So I'm living for the memory they're gon' chase
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.