Hannah Grace and Gabrielle Aplin’s “Why Can’t I Cry About It?” is an intimate meditation on the paradox of unexpressed emotion, carried by two voices in rare and radiant harmony.
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“Why Can’t I Cry About It?” – Hannah Grace & Gabrielle Aplin
There are certain collaborations that feel inevitable –
– not through predictability, but because the artists involved share such a profound kinship in artistry and spirit that their union seems written in the stars.
Hannah Grace and Gabrielle Aplin are two such artists. Their long friendship has blossomed into occasional creative crossovers, and with “Why Can’t I Cry About It?,” they deliver a track that feels both exquisitely personal and universally resonant.
Released August 8th, the single appears on Grace’s newly released second album, Bigger Picture, and is already being championed as one of the year’s most affecting duets. Where so much contemporary pop traffics in glossy immediacy, “Why Can’t I Cry About It?” takes a different path: A patient, delicate exploration of a deeply human paradox, the inability to release emotions, even when you most need to.
The world, she breaks, my heart
Tears me down, as she falls apart
All the colours of pain,
they all look the same
Can’t see the light for the dark
Why can’t I cry about it?
Why can’t I cry at all?
Grace has spoken candidly about the song’s origins. Written during an autumn retreat in Nashville in 2023, “Why Can’t I Cry About It?” emerged in the quiet aftermath of a difficult personal moment. She recalls sitting with an overwhelming knot of feelings, yet finding herself unable to shed the tears that might have brought relief. It is this paradox, the awareness of pain, but the absence of release, that forms the lyrical spine of the track.
Co-written with Jess and Henry, the song carries the fingerprints of a writing session grounded not in formula, but in confession. Grace has often emphasized her belief in the restorative power of crying, and it is precisely this conviction that lends the song such bittersweet irony. The title is not rhetorical; it is the haunting, unresolved question at its core.
As moving as Grace’s songwriting is, the single’s true magic lies in the alchemy between her and Aplin’s voices.
Both artists are known for their crystalline vocal tones, but when they meet, something transcendent occurs. Their harmonies seem to shimmer rather than simply blend, like two prisms reflecting the same light from slightly different angles.
There is an intimacy to the way they sing together, as if one is holding space for the other. At times, Grace’s vocal takes the lead with a quiet vulnerability, while Aplin’s harmonies hover like a comforting hand on the shoulder. Elsewhere, their roles reverse, but the effect is seamless, never competitive. It is less a duet than a dialogue, two voices gently circling the same ineffable emotion.
The news ain’t breaking through
All the tragedies and terrible truth
Run off my skin like rain, again and again
When all I want to do
Is cry about it
Why can’t I cry at all?
The production wisely avoids clutter, giving ample space for their vocals to breathe. The arrangement is understated: Soft piano chords, brushed percussion, and the faintest swell of strings. It is the kind of simplicity that takes courage, no ornamentation to distract, only a spotlight on feeling.
For many listeners, the song’s emotional apex arrives in the bridge leading into the chorus. Here, the instrumentation swells, the harmonies grow bolder, and the lyrics take on an almost pleading intensity. The effect is visceral; this is the moment where unexpressed tears threaten to break through, where the emotional dam quivers under pressure.
It is rare for a song to provoke physical sensation, but “Why Can’t I Cry About It?” is one of those rare cases. The hairs on your arms rise, your breath catches, and you find yourself inhabiting the very paradox the song describes. Paradoxically, while the narrator laments her inability to cry, the listener may find themselves unexpectedly in tears.
What makes “Why Can’t I Cry About It?” so affecting is not only its lyrical honesty, but also its universality.
Most people, at some point, have experienced the frustration of emotional blockage, the strange, numb silence where grief, anger, or longing should be. In addressing this, Grace and Aplin have touched on a subject that is rarely explored in music with such directness.
The lyrics are plainspoken rather than poetic, but therein lies their power. By refusing artifice, the song speaks plainly to a common truth. In a culture that often romanticizes emotional catharsis, the big cry, the dramatic breakdown, “Why Can’t I Cry About It?” reminds us that the absence of tears can be just as excruciating.
I think of all the joy, a new sunrise
Good red wine, on summer nights
The future in a child’s eyes
Nothing is moving me, used to come easily
As part of Bigger Picture‘s lead-in, this single sets expectations high. Grace’s previous albums established her as a thoughtful, soulful songwriter with a gift for vocal purity. Her latest release confirms that promise: Bigger Picture is her most mature and emotionally resonant work yet, an album that examines life’s subtler contradictions rather than chasing grand gestures.
Gabrielle Aplin’s contribution here also cannot be overstated. While this is Hannah Grace’s single, Aplin’s presence feels integral, not auxiliary. Their artistic partnership is a reminder of what can happen when ego is set aside and shared vulnerability is allowed to take centre stage.
In an age where music is often engineered for instant gratification, “Why Can’t I Cry About It?” stands apart. It is not a song to blast in crowded bars or to score viral dance clips; it is a song to sit with, to return to in moments of stillness, to whisper along with when words fail.
Its beauty lies not in its grandiosity but in its restraint. By daring to linger in unresolved emotion, Grace and Aplin offer listeners something rare: Not closure, but companionship in ambiguity. Sometimes, the greatest comfort is simply knowing that someone else has felt the same inexplicable ache.
With “Why Can’t I Cry About It,” Hannah Grace and Gabrielle Aplin have delivered more than a single; they have crafted a shared confession, one that feels both fragile and luminous.
It is a song about what is unsaid, about the tears that remain stubbornly withheld, about the mysterious gap between feeling and expression. And yet, in listening, one feels less alone.
Why can’t I cry about it?
Why can’t I cry at all,
at all, at all, at all, at all
The world
she breaks
my heart
Bigger Picture is an album of extraordinary tenderness, and “Why Can’t I Cry About It?” stands as one of the most quietly devastating and beautiful releases of the year.
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:: connect with Gabrielle Aplin here ::
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“Why Can’t I Cry About It?” – Hannah Grace & Gabrielle Aplin
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© Nat Michele
© Nat Michele
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