Mar 92 min read

losing a friend by elijah woods

You’ve probably heard of Elijah Woods through some of his music while scrolling on social media or listening to the radio. His original song “24/7, 365,” has been used over 200,000 times on TikTok and his cover of “fingers crossed” by Lauren Spencer Smith has more than 54 million streams on Spotify. Behind the scenes, Elijah is a multifaceted songwriter and has worked with with JESSIA, Uptown Boyband, and Ann@lise (to name just a few!)

A black and white square photo of a person wearing white tank top. The photo is zoomed in and focused on one half of heart friendship necklace. — Cover art for "losing a friend" by elijah woods

His latest release, and first release of the new year, is called “losing a friend” and came out Friday, March 8th. The track is emotionally raw and introspective and dives deep into the complexities of human relationships and the tricky journey of self-discovery. A recurring theme throughout the song is miscommunication and self-doubts that seep into the binds of a relationship, slowly melting the glue that holds it together.

The instrumentals are gentle, serving as background noise for the sad story Elijah is telling through his touching words. With lyrics like, “We’d argue but never uncover the hard truth,” the song carries a sense of unresolved tension and unanswered questions. Toward the end of the song, Elijah repeats the phrase, “Is this all part of losing a friend?” and with each line, the song becomes more emotional and intense. The instrumentals and vocals continuously increase and Elijah’s vocals become desperate, as if he’s yelling into an unresponsive void.

Each stanza in the song explores love, loss, and the relentless search for closure. “losing a friend” reminds us that, sometimes, the hardest battles are the ones fought within ourselves. “[The song] was written about a very personal experience,” Elijah says. “The progression from a small, intimate piano ballad to a full-out rock-inspired, soaring outro encapsulates the love, confusion, disappointment and grief. The song speaks to the end of a friendship and the emotional rollercoaster that comes with it.”

Elijah sold out his cross-Canada tour last year and is now preparing for his sold-out headline tour in Asia. He’ll be stopping in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, as well as joining Niall Horan for his Indonesia date and performing at the Seoul Jazz Festival alongside Lauv, Jeremy Zuker, and JP Saxe.