Teddy Swims recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the release of “Lose Control,” his song that topped the Billboard Hot 100 back in March. Since Teddy put the track out, it’s been RIAA-certified for sales of 2 million copies and made him popular enough to sell out shows all over the world. And while he says he knew the emotional song would be a hit, he still can’t explain it.
“People listen to that song and I don’t know why they love it. I don’t know why,” he tells ABC Audio. “I think it’s kind of the function of good music, though, ain’t it? It’s just like, ‘Ooh. That’s touching my heart. That’s just touching me. I need to hear that,’ you know?”
“And I don’t know why it works, but we all know it works,” he adds. “And I knew it was going to work.”
Although “Lose Control” seems like a song about a guy who can’t be away from the woman he loves, Teddy says it was actually inspired by a drug-fueled, toxic relationship that he was in.
“The substances we were on, they kind of became the substance of our relationship,” he shares. “Both of us were just addicts together, you know?” However, he says the song does a good job of covering that up.
“You don’t really quite know that that’s what that song was about,” he notes. “It’s, like, a happy, fun song everybody can dance to or jump to or sing along. But it is really [about] the darkest, toxic emotional relationship. … It’s a dark place for sure.”
Teddy is currently touring Australia; he comes back to North America in early August for a few festivals, including Lollapalooza.
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