When I first listened to Charlie Puths new song “I Warned Myself” it didn’t sound too different to the material from his previous album. The minimalist production, falsetto and dark tone are in a familiar realm. On closer inspection however, there are differences that make this song stand out from his past work.
On his previous album, Voicenotes, Charlie implemented what he calls an “anti-drop”. This is a build up in the verses that creates the expectation of some kind of beat drop in the chorus, but instead the music empties out surprising the listener with a much more bare bones instrumental. “I Warned Myself” actually begins with the chorus, surprising Puth fans in a different way.
Charlie described this song as being about a “vicious cycle of going back to someone continuously, knowing deep down that they aren’t any good for you” and the structure of the song reflects this. The chorus wraps around on itself, ending with “you’re the reason why” and continuing that sentence with “I Warned Myself” in a loop. Not only this, but the entire song does the same thing, giving starting with the chorus more purpose than just surprising people familiar with Puth’s last album.
On each verse Charlie begins by remembering the things the person he was dating did while they were together. He wants them to look into the past and recognise that they have hurt him. He wants the blame for the hurt he is feeling to be put on them, rather than on himself for continuously going back to a bad situation he knows he shouldn’t.
He fights against himself in the chorus, as ghosts of Charlie’s past knowingly and disapprovingly react with “mmm’s” as he sings that he cant trust himself and he knows that he’ll go back one more time. In the outro these voices become muffled, struggling to make themselves heard before Charlie forces out one more “you’re the reason why” bringing the song full circle. Charlie is once again unable to let the relationship go and is still blaming someone else for his weakness and inability to do what’s right for him despite having made the same mistake many times before.
The structure of “I Warned Myself” cleverly mimics the content of the song and creates something more interesting than just another song about Charlie Puth not trusting women.
Joshipgirl 