Demi Lovato’s ‘Anyone’ Lyrics Were Her Call for Help Before Her Overdose

Demi Lovato just performed “Anyone,” her first new single, live at the Grammys for the first time. But ahead of the broadcast, she explained to Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s New Music Daily show that she recorded the song four days before she was hospitalized from a drug overdose. They were her call for help and a symbol of where she once was and is no longer.

Lovato told Lowe:

This song was written and recorded actually very shortly before everything happened. So I recorded the vocals for it four days before [the overdose]…The lyrics took on a totally different meaning…You kind of listen back to it and you think, how did nobody listen to this song and think, “Let’s help this girl.” I even think that I was recording it in a state of mind where I felt like I was okay, but clearly I wasn’t. And I even listened back to it and I’m like, “Gosh, I wish I could go back in time and help that version of myself.” I feel like I was in denial, but then a part of me definitely knew what I was singing for. I was singing this song and I didn’t even realize that the lyrics were so heavy and emotional until after the fact. And that’s what kind of brings us to this moment…I remember being in the hospital and listening to the song and it was about a week after I had been in the hospital and I was finally awake. And I just remember hearing back the songs I had just recorded and thinking, “If there’s ever a moment where I get to come back from this, I want to sing this song.”

Here, the song’s full lyrics to take in, via Genius:

Intro:
Uh, uh

Verse 1:

I tried to talk to my piano
I tried to talk to my guitar
Talked to my imagination
Confided into alcohol
I tried and tried and tried some more
Told secrets ’til my voice was sore
Tired of empty conversation
‘Cause no one hears me anymore

Pre-Chorus:

A hundred million stories
And a hundred million songs
I feel stupid when I sing
Nobody’s listening to me
Nobody’s listening
I talked to shooting stars
But they always get it wrong
I feel stupid when I pray
So, why am I praying anyway?
If nobody’s listening

Chorus:

Anyone, please send me anyone
Lord, is there anyone?
I need someone
Anyone, please send me anyone
Lord, is there anyone?
I need someone

Verse 2:
I used to crave the world’s attention
I think I cried too many times
I just need some more affection
Anything to get me by

Pre-Chorus:

A hundred million stories
And a hundred million songs
I feel stupid when I sing
Nobody’s listening to me
Nobody’s listening
I talked to shooting stars
But they always get it wrong
I feel stupid when I pray
Why the fuck am I praying anyway?
If nobody’s listening

Chorus:

Anyone, please send me anyone
Lord, is there anyone?
I need someone
Anyone, please send me anyone
Oh, Lord, is there anyone?
I need someone
Oh, anyone, I need anyone
Oh, anyone, I need someone

Outro:
A hundred million stories
And a hundred million songs
I feel stupid when I sing
Nobody’s listening to me
Nobody’s listening