| I Finally Understand | |
| Type: | single |
| Cover: | File:I Finally Understand cover 1.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Caption: | Designed by POLYGON |
| Artist: | Charli XCX |
| Album: | How I'm Feeling Now |
| Recorded: | April 15th, 2020 |
| Genre: | |
| Label: | |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Claws |
| Prev Year: | 2020 |
| Next Title: | Charger (Charli XCX Rework) |
| Next Year: | 2021 |
"I Finally Understand" (stylized in lowercase) is a song by British singer Charli XCX, released on 7 May 2020 as the third single from her fourth studio album, How I'm Feeling Now. As with all previous singles from the album, three official covers were released for the song. The song was first announced on Charli XCX's Twitter on 2 May 2020.
"I Finally Understand" is a UK garage and Baltimore club-influenced[1] electropop[2] and Eurodance[3] song described as an "ode to her boyfriend".[4] The song has been described as "groove-driven" and having "a more straightforward pop format than 'forever' or 'claws' but with a no less diverse sonic palette."[5] [6] In the lyrics, she also delves into her struggles with mental health with the line "My therapist said I hate myself really bad."[7]
Callie Ahlgrim and Courteney Larocca both contributed to an article for Insider. Ahlgrim wrote that the song was "super catchy, cleaner and more minimalistic than much of the album, and very strong lyrically", while Larcocca found that the track's "steady beat throughout [reminded her] of Grimes' 'Oblivion'", in addition to "[loving] how completely overdramatic Charli is about finding a love so strong".[8] Anna Gaca from Pitchfork felt that the song was "devoted to sincere, immediate romance and pleasure".[9] Stereogum listed the song as the 5th best song of the week of 8 May 2020, praising the song for not being "a love song in the stereotypical, classic sense", while finding some lyrics "sexual as all hell", saw "raw vulnerability at work", concluding that the track was at "some level, a dance-pop song, and dance-pop songs almost never get as real as that".[10] Josiah Hughes from Exclaim! called the track an "excellent tune from her endless catalogue of hits" as "Charli XCX's seemingly unstoppable pop reign continues".[11] Mike Wass from Idolator called the song "another flawless banger" as the "anthem deals with matters of the heart", furthermore being "another stellar pop song that benefits from being a little rough around the edges". Wass soon included the track in top thirty best pop songs of Q2, 2020.[12] Josiah Skallerup, writing for Riff Magazine, called the song "one of the most poignant shelter-in-place tunes, built out of a drum-and-bass loop", as the "song chronicles a myriad of feelings that are likely coming up for many of us—insecurity, depression and anxiety—as well as the potential we all have to break through those feelings to heal by tapping into some personal reflection and growth" during quarantine.[13]
Credits adapted from Tidal.[14]