Known for her mellow, folk and R&B inspired sound, Webster’s music is easily enjoyed by anyone. Her lyrics contain a lot of repetition and personal anecdotes that add authenticity and rawness to her already soulful-sounding melodies. Because I’m seeing her this Friday, I’m sharing my top 10 Faye Webster songs that I hope to see performed.
10. “I Know I’m Funny Haha”
As the title song for her 2021 album “I Know I’m Funny Haha,” this song tells the events of a simple, down-to-earth love story between Webster and her then-boyfriend Boothlord, an Atlanta rapper in the hip-hop/R&B duo Danger Incorporated. Each section of the song shows little snippets of their relationship and finds joy in the mundane — Webster’s landlord keeping her security deposit, her boyfriend’s family forgetting who she was and Webster wanting to start a rock band with Booth. The wholesome recount of their relationship paired with the dreamy guitar and drums makes “I Know I’m Funny haha” a top ten, but its surface level lyrics don’t make it higher.
Best lyric: “And we can argue about the same things / talk about neighbors on the front porch / hope they don’t know my landlord personally”
9. “I Know You”
“I Know You” is Webster’s navigation through the process of drifting apart from someone. This song also tells her willingness to change for her partner to try and close the growing gap between them. However, it ends with Webster’s acceptance that they simply aren’t as close as they once were, but that they nevertheless left an indelible mark on her that she will always look back on fondly when thinking about this time in her life.
Best lyric: “When we’re old and have to leave the Earth / I’ll still remember all I’ve learned / From you”
8. “Jonny”
One of Webster’s most iconic songs, with the easily relatable intro line “I’m losing my mind,” “Jonny” is a reminiscence of a past relationship that Webster’s mind drifts back to when she asks herself what she wants from love and life. Webster’s slow, dragging vocals emphasize her mind’s grudging return to thoughts of this inescapable, failed relationship and give the impression of someone shuffling their feet. The “Jonny (Reprise)” at the end of the album adds even more depth into this song, and Webster’s usage of passing time as a technique offers different perspectives of “Jonny.” It stands by itself but is supplemented by its reprise.
Best lyric: “Jonny, maybe you’ll never hear this / or maybe it’s stuck in your head / well, I hope it makes you cry”
7. “What’s The Point”
The point of this song was for Webster to vent about how frustrating and embarrassing it is to try too hard to make a relationship happen when one person just isn’t as committed as the other. Boothlord is again the object of her affection, and she makes a reference to him by saying, “Every song he’d sing / I’d pretend was for me,” exemplifying the way she would look for proof of his love in everything that he did, even if he didn’t intend for her to interpret his actions that way. Webster’s defeated repetition of “I tried too hard” throughout the song conveys feelings of reflective embarrassment at trying to force a relationship with someone who wasn’t as devoted as her.
Best lyric: “But he never took me out / we stayed shut up in his house / I tried too hard”
6. “Hurts Me Too”
“Hurts me Too” follows Webster’s acknowledgement that most of her songs are sad, but vows to never change her style of writing because it is what’s authentic to her. This song also pieces together sad experiences with scattered mentions of an unrequited love and a time she saw her father cry in front of her. These sad experiences explain why Webster feels the need to write sad songs– she believes it is the human experience and wants to write about it uncensored. “And I am done changing words, just so my songs sound prettier,” Webster said.
Best lyric: “The day that I said I loved you / You didn’t say it in return / That was the day I realized / That silence is actually heard”
5. “Right Side of My Neck”
This song captures a beautiful expression of Webster’s unconditional love for her partner. After her partner complains and expresses an insecurity about their recent haircut, Webster insists that it looks good and truly means it. Her adamant assertion that the haircut is in fact flattering goes further than just wanting to cheer her partner up– it demonstrates how Webster loves her partner despite their flaws. She also says she doubts they “even paid,” implying that her partner cut their hair themself (which could explain the unflattering cut), but Webster loves those quirks in her partner. The catchy instrumental and sweet lyrics put “Right Side of My Neck” in Faye Webster’s top five.
Best lyric: “You looked back at me once / But I looked back two times”
4. “A Dream With a Baseball Player”
As a representation of loving at a distance, “A Dream With a Baseball Player” carries a wistful and hesitant tone that captures Webster’s confusion about her crush on someone she’s never talked to before. This slow, soulful, R&B song is about Webster’s infatuation with Ronald Acuna Jr., a baseball player for Webster’s hometown team, the Atlanta Braves.
Best lyric: “My grandmother’s dead / And I can’t sleep ’cause this isn’t my bed / He doesn’t even know those things exist”
3. “In A Good Way”
“In A Good Way” refers to the interpretation of Webster’s tears. In relationships, a buildup of emotion (positive and/or negative) often leads to crying, and Webster is expressing that her partner can only make her produce tears of joy. Based on the lyric “I didn’t know that I was capable of being happy right now / but you showed me how,” Webster expresses vulnerability about being helped by her partner while she’s in a place where she thought she couldn’t be happy. The mix of violin and cello, staccato guitar and keyboard all add to the dreamy ambiance of the song.
Best lyric: “I know you’ve been having nightmares lately / And I’m sorry I fall asleep first”
2. “Kingston”
The iconic line “the day that I met you I started dreaming” followed by the muffled, punctuating snare is a perfect intro for this dreamy love song. The mellow brass and pedal-steel add to the dream-like quality of this ballad dedicated to new love and Atlanta summers. Deservedly one of her most famous songs, “Kingston” has is an extremely relistenable song.
Best lyric: “I think that tonight I’ll leave my light on / ‘cause I get lonely when it’s out and I miss you right about now”
1. “She Won’t Go Away”
According to Webster, this song was the first she wrote on her electric guitar, and this fact is abundantly clear in the experimental sound of the song. This was the first Faye Webster song I fell in love with because of the instrumental and just the way Webster sings “it’s you” (which she does over and over again). Webster wrote “She Won’t Go Away” about a friend who was pursuing the same love interest as her and the feelings that came along with the unorthodox situation. Uncomfortable feelings of competition between herself and her beloved friend over a person neither of them were committed to led to invalidated and complex feelings of jealousy and distrust. Webster passive-aggressively calls out someone in the love triangle, saying “it’s you, hiding in limelight / it’s you no one really likes,” and this open-to-interpretation aspect of the song adds even more meaning. Overall, “She Won’t Go Away” is the most well-rounded Faye Webster song based on instrumental, vocals, storyline and lyrics, which is why it deserves the number one spot.
Best lyric: “I think I have lost / So much time, over the course / Calling you mine, you say it’s fine / But she won’t go away
