“What If You” by Brooke Annibale

We all have that one person who we cannot stop thinking about. The person who we love so much, but whatever we do, the relationship just doesn’t work out. 

“What if You,” by Rhode Island based singer songwriter Brooke Annibale, is the perfect song for us over-thinkers. It perfectly expresses the feelings that are hard to put into words. “What if You” is acoustic guitar heavy and has a mix of both pop and indie sounds. Annibale’s expressive song writing skill creates a gentle song that is catchy and full of emotions. 

Annibale wrote the song in the middle of the pandemic. She has been writing music for a while however, she stopped pursuing music to focus more on her mental health. 

In an interview with FLOOD Magazine, she says “I thought, is diving back into my music career gonna knock out any mental-health progress I’ve made? Can I put out a record, be vulnerable, and do the whole cycle again? And then I realized: It’s a double-meaning metaphor. What if everything that I loved loved me back? What if I just did this? And it worked.” 

She describes the meaning of the song about trusting yourself and doing something you love, in hopes it works and loves you back. But the song can be interpreted in many ways. Personally, when first listening to the song, I felt a strong sad emotion. It reminded me most of the friendships I had lost over the pandemic, and how I ache to go back to the days where I could just call up my close friends when I most needed them. 

The lyrics that made an impression on me were “Am I really strong enough to do it all over again? Take me back, back to where I feel something.” It puts me back into the present and makes me realize that in order to be happier, I must put in the effort to make closer connections. But it also puts into perspective the feeling of wanting to go back to the good times. I can definitely connect to Annibale through her song; it makes me feel less alone in times I need the most support. 

Annibale is signed to Nettwerk Music Group and will be on tour from April through July. You can listen to her new single here on 104.7 KX FM whenever you want to reminisce about your past, present or future.

Review written by: Sana Rashidi