On “I Miss The Days,” NF reminisces his childhood and exposes many parts of himself that he has never talked about in his music. He talks about the days where he was truly happy and free from the high expectations and horrible criticisms of others.
He also questions when and how that happiness chang...
[Intro]
Mm, mm
Mm, mm
[Verse 1]
I miss the days when I had a smile on my face and
Wasn't so caught up in all of the small things
Wasn't so adamant that I could handle everything alone
And wasn't so cautious and always exhausted
And actually listened to things that my heart said, heart said
Ridin' my bike, just ridin' my bike
Not overthinkin' my life
Not always wonderin' if I'm a likable person
Or someone that nobody likes
Not always stressed about money or losin' my job
Or scared I ain't makin' a flight
Not always goin' to bed every night
With this knot in my stomach that never unwinds
What happened to me? Yeah, what happened to me?
When did I start to believe I wasn't worth it
Then question my purpose to breathe?
Wonderin' who I should be
Happiness out of my reach
Scared to get back on my feet
Need to get rid of what's detrimental, but it's hard to let go
When the thing that hurts you help you get to your dreams
See, I miss the days when I wasn't so faded
Love wasn't always invasive, I could embrace it
Just innocent, waitin', not always livin' in anguish
When did I break and become overtaken?
What was the moment I caved and
Gave away all of my faith and made a replacement?
I miss the days when, I miss the days when—
[Chorus]
I miss the smiles we had when we were young (Oh)
I miss the memories of feeling love (Oh)
I miss us runnin' underneath the sun (Oh)
Staring out the window when the rain would come (Oh)
I miss the smiles we had when we were kids, yeah (Oh)
I feel like life was so much simpler then, yeah (Oh)
When we had joy and we were innocent (Oh)
I'd give it all to feel that way again, way again
[Verse 2]
Give me my mind back, yeah
Give me my mind back
The one that told me I was worth somethin' when I fall flat
Yeah, fall flat
The one that told me I was worth somethin' when I'm off track
Back when my imagination wasn't in a cage and it was free to run fast
Yeah, give me my mind back
Yeah, give me my, give me my mind back
Before it was hijacked and wasn't described as
A place of limitation, always indicating I can't
Handle everything from my past
Handed anything it dissects 'til I'm depressed
I know I'm blessed, but I'm cursed too
Take me back when I was happy, but I wasn't actin'
Vulnerable but didn't see it like some kind of weakness
Or a thing that's unattractive
Had emotion, but I learned to mask it
Didn't know what I was runnin' after
Didn't know the older I would grow
The more I'd lose control and take in all the baggage
It's really sad when everything you thought was stable crashes
Everything you thought would take the sadness
Really only made it deeper, got me off the deep end askin'
Will we ever feel like we imagine?
Will we ever feel like we adapted?
Will we ever feel like we did back then?
Just take me back when, just take me back when
[Chorus]
I miss the smiles we had when we were young (Oh)
I miss the memories of feeling love (Oh)
I miss us runnin' underneath the sun (Oh)
Staring out the window when the rain would come (Oh)
I miss the smiles we had when we were kids, yeah (Oh)
I feel like life was so much simpler then, yeah (Oh)
When we had joy and we were innocent (Oh)
I'd give it all to feel that way again, way again
[Bridge]
Oh-oh-oh (Oh)
Oh-oh-oh (Way again)
Oh-oh-oh (Mm)
Oh-oh-oh (Way again, way again)
Yeah
Oh-oh-oh (Oh)
(Had when we were kids)
Oh-oh-oh (Oh)
(So much simpler then)
Oh-oh-oh (Oh)
(And we were innocent)
Oh-oh-oh (Oh)
Yeah
[Chorus]
I miss the smiles we had when we were young (Oh)
I miss the memories of feeling love (Oh)
I miss us runnin' underneath the sun (Oh)
Staring out the window when the rain would come (Oh)
I miss the smiles we had when we were kids, yeah (Oh)
I feel like life was so much simpler then, yeah (Oh)
When we had joy and we were innocent (Oh)
I'd give it all to feel that way again, way again (Oh)
[Post-Chorus]
Oh-oh-oh (Oh)
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
[Outro]
Mm, mm
Mm, mm
I Miss the Days was written by NF & Tommee Profitt.
I Miss the Days was produced by Tommee Profitt & NF.
NF released I Miss the Days on Fri Jul 26 2019.
Nate usually alters, mixes, and layers his voice in his music to add effects like that (most popularly in “Let You Down”) but he probably used his background vocalists' vocals for this song, possibly in addition to his own vocals.
Midnight Donuts zine spoke with Travis Cottrell about this song and “Change”:
One of my best friends is Tommee Profitt, who is NF’s producer and cowriter. So Tommee just called in … like eight singers to sing on a couple of songs. … So we just did that one day. We sing on a lot of things for Tommee...