Charlie Cello’s “miss u” catches a breakup before it happens, with the speaker already grieving a relationship they still believe they should leave. Scrolling through phone contacts, hoping someone can offer something, the speaker questions why they need another person to feel okay. Then come the memories of lying in bed, playing with their partner’s hair, staying up for hours. The image of the licorice boots beside the new white shoes gives the relationship its own private detail, something ordinary that now belongs to the past.
Charlie began writing the song before the breakup, after setting an expiry date on the relationship. That knowledge gives the repeated question, “will we ever kiss again?”, a particular weight. The separation has a reason, but the body still remembers the bed, the hair, the hours spent together. The new shoes are already on.
