Demi Lovato’s latest single ‘Anyone’ serves as the first release following her drug overdose in July 2018. Lovato states that the song was recorded four days prior to this overdose, with the released single being a raw recording of this moment.
The loneliness and pain Lovato was feeling around this time is evident, as she can be heard emotionally asking for “anyone” to help. She also revealed that at the point of recording, she believed she was in an “okay” state of mind. But she now wishes she could “go back in time to help that version of myself”, as revealed in an Apple Music interview.
Though musically the song is very simplistic, with nothing more than a basic piano backing, this allows her strongest attribute to shine through; her raw, emotional voice. Despite the overdose being assumed an accident, clearly the cry for help that comes across in ‘Anyone’ proves that something drastic was bound to happen to the superstar. Anyone who has struggled with mental health, severe loneliness and addiction are likely to relate to Lovato’s lyrics in this song. The focus being that “nobody’s listening to me”, not even God as she explicitly exclaims “why the fuck am I praying anyway?”, illustrating the isolation and disconnect from the world that many feel when they’ve given up on living.
Lovato begins by listing all the things and people she tried to talk to, including her guitar, piano and imagination, then resulting to “confid[ing]in the alcohol”. She expresses feeling that “no one hears me anymore” and feeling “stupid” when singing, praying and living. Vocals and emotional expression aside, ‘Anyone’ shows that Lovato is only human like the rest of us. She has her flaws, addictions, pain and demons that she is trying to battle in order to stay alive. This was evident in her single ‘Sober’, released as one of her last pre-overdose songs in June 2018. In this, she tackles similar themes, but mostly apologies to family, friends, fans, and herself for not being sober anymore. This in itself shows that Lovato was slipping down a dangerous path, evident in her actions just one month later.
Despite its relatability, and the heartbreak evident in Lovato’s voice as she cries out for help in ‘Anyone’, celebrity mental health is still not taken very seriously. Following Lovato’s overdose, though fans and celeb friends expressed sympathy and well wishes to the star, majority of social media simply made a meme out of her overdose. I’m sure I don’t even need to say an explicit example, as this became one of July 2018s meme ‘trends’ due to its popularity. Yet celebrity’s are the same as the rest of us, just with a little more money and fame, but we still treat them as jokes when they suffer.
‘Anyone’ serves as a message to listeners that sometimes when we believe we are doing ‘ok’, we may actually be at our worst and in need of asking for help. It also highlights that society should take celebrity mental health seriously, just as you would a friends, with reactions to Lovato’s overdose proving how far we still need to come on this front. ‘Anyone’ is a song that will give you chills, make you tear up, and will resonate with previous (or current) versions of yourself if you have felt some of what Lovato was feeling in the moment of recording. Though the song itself is nothing too revolutionary musically, it certainly taps into important debates regarding mental health (both our own and celebrity) that we should all consider.
Demi Lovato’s ‘Anyone’ is out now via Island Records.
