On the latest episode of Song Exploder, Gracie Abrams chats with podcast host Hrishikesh Hirway all about her song “I Love You, I’m Sorry.” Delving into the making of song, sharing isolated tracks from the studio recording, voice memos she recorded during the writing process, and more.
LISTEN NOW: Song Exploder: Gracie Abrams - "I Love You, I'm Sorry"
If you’re here then you most likely already know, but nevertheless, here’s a little bit about Gracie. The Los Angeles-bred singer/songwriter (and daughter of famed writer/directer/producer J.J. Abrams) first started putting out music in 2020. After releasing a couple EPs and her debut album between then and 2023, her second album, The Secret of Us, arrived in June 2024. Nominated for Best New Artist at the 2024 GRAMMYs, Gracie is up for an award at the forthcoming 2025 ceremony, nominated for Best Duo Performance, for “Us,” her collaboration with Taylor Swift.
Throughout her conversation with Hrishikesh, Gracie, a self-proclaimed "open book," candidly discusses the writing and recording process of “I Love You, I’m Sorry.” Sharing insight into not just the song, but also the relationship she and her co-writer Audrey Hobert have as friends.
Starting off by sharing the exact moment when the idea for the song first came, Gracie said, “I had just made a plan to hang and talk with my ex-boyfriend who I used to write lots of songs about,” noting that at this point they had already been broken up for two years.
“I just felt so much, not even residual love, but just like real love for somebody who was so significant in my life and such a formative partner. And I think having had a couple years of space there was more room than ever for, not only reflecting on all that was, but also kind of fantasizing about a world in which everything was cool between us.”
As Gracie went on to explain, the reason for the meet-up “wasn’t some dramatic thing,” they were simply both just going to be home for the holidays. That being said, “it was very significant for me to reconnect,” Gracie expressed.
Detailing how the actual song writing process began, Gracie shared, “Audrey Hobart, my roommate and dear friend, and co-writer… She and I were sitting outside… and I just had the first line of the song come into my head immediately. It was one of those moments when we were in the middle of a conversation, and I told Audrey ‘hold on!,’ ran inside, got the guitar, and that was the start of it.”
Gracie additionally went on to share voice memos from the writing process, and talk about working with the song’s producer Aaron Dessner, playing isolated tracks from their time recording the track at his Long Pond Studio in upstate New York, plus a whole lot more.
To listen to the entire conversation and hear everything Gracie had to say about the making of “I Love You, I'm Sorry,” press play on the episode above.