‘Ever You're Gone’ by Orville Peck & Teddy Swims - Lyrics & Meaning

Released as part of Orville Peck's deluxe Stampede album in early August, ‘Ever You're Gone’ features a special set of guest vocals from alt-pop sensation, Teddy Swims.

It's been an ongoing debate within the country music world whether Swims should be considered a part of the genre or not, with his distinctive, gravelly voice, heart-on-his-sleeve lyricism and sonic textures often feeling country-adjacent at the very least. Although the jury's still out, his decision to link up with masked South African trailblazer, Orville Peck, again highlights his love for country music.

‘Ever You're Gone’ is joined on the new version of Stampede by ‘You're an Asshole, I Can't Stand You (and I Want a Divorce)’ with Margo Price, ‘Where Are We Now?’ with Mickey Guyton, ‘Conquer the Heart’ with Nathaniel Rateliff, a cover of ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ with TJ Osborne, Waylon Payne and Fancy Hagood and more.

‘Ever You're Gone’ carries a weighty, brooding ambience that harks back to classic Western ballads, with Orville Peck's commanding vocals cascading across an undulating guitar riff.

Teddy Swims’ signature rasp enters the fray early on, combining with Peck's to produce a simmering duet. They let each line breathe, with haunting, choral backing vocals introduced during the hook to accentuate the drama and emotion of ‘Ever You're Gone’.

“Been losing track of counting days

Watched the moon over the silver lake

Darlin', it's all tired anyway

Tired 'til ever you're gone”

Orville Peck and Teddy Swims trade forlorn verses about how lonesome they've been since their respective lovers left, with Orville lamenting how long it's been since he saw his partner that he's lost count of the days. He wistfully watches the moon setting over a lake, painting a beautiful image in listeners’ minds, before dismissing this as “tired”. Everything has lost its lustre and its life without love.

“Ooh, saw you dance at the rodeo

Warm breeze and that song that you wrote

Sometimes it's not about what you know

Not knowing if ever you're gone”

Teddy Swims echoes Orville Peck's sentiments, recalling how infatuated he became when he saw his lover at the rodeo. He builds a vivid picture of how there was a comforting breeze rushing through as they sang to the crowd. The protagonists philosophically muse how sometimes it's not what you know that ends up hurting you, rather, it's the uncertainty of what you don't know that causes you pain. In this instance, they seem to be referring to their respective lovers’ whereabouts.

“This anxious heart of mine gets me in and out

in and out of trouble, so many times

And I keep losing pieces each time I try

I've burned enough bridges to light my way home through the darkest night”

The narrator opens up about how their inherent anxiety often exacerbates troubling situations and leads them astray, with Orville and Teddy underlining that a piece of their heart breaks off each time they commit to someone and the relationship deteriorates.

They explain that, in the past, their anxiety and worry has led them to breaking things off too soon and burning the bridge. In turn, they create an evocative image of them using the blazing bridges as a way of lighting their journey home in the night, seemingly representing how they'd call it quits as a means of protecting themselves.

“The ghost in the room hangs out whilе I'm home

Imagine all you can think all alone

I tеll you, time swallows the best of us whole

Thinking since ever you're gone”

Teddy Swims describes his lover's absence as a “ghost in the room”, as he continues to feel his old flame's presence looming over him as he attempts to get over them.

Swims confides that his mind is spiralling out of control, before touching on how he's been spending too much time alone, leaving him to think nonstop about their relationship.

“Wonder if I can feel how I did

Something hangs over my head

I hope that's forgotten instead of just dead

Not dead, still ever you're gone”

Orville returns to ask longingly whether he'll ever be able to find the peace and contentment he used to enjoy before losing his partner, outlining how he feels as though he has something constantly hanging over his head like the fabled sword of Damocles.

He maintains hope that the love they shared and the spark that was once lit between them has simply been forgotten, rather than being ‘dead’ and extinguished for good.

Although Orville Peck is yet to comment specifically on ‘Ever You're Gone’, the ‘Midnight Ride’ hitmaker shed light in a Paste interview on how his Stampede duets album as a whole came about, “I asked the next person and the next person and, as people said yes, it started snowballing. I would ask someone if they were interested in being on the album and then, they would say yes and we would have to figure out if it would be possible for us to be in the same studio at the same time”.

(Orville Peck, Teddy Swims, both)

“Been losing track of counting days

Watched the moon over the silver lake

Darlin', it's all tired anyway

Tired 'til ever you're gone

-

Ooh, saw you dance at the rodeo

Warm breeze and that song that you wrote

Sometimes it's not about what you know

Not knowing if ever you're gone

-

This anxious heart of mine gets me in and out

In and out of trouble, so many times

And I keep losing pieces each time I try

I've burned enough bridges to light my way home through the darkest night

-

The ghost in the room hangs out whilе I'm home

Imagine all you can think all alone

I tеll you, time swallows the best of us whole

Thinking since ever you're gone

-

Wonder if I can feel how I did

Something hangs over my head

I hope that's forgotten instead of just dead

Not dead, still ever you're gone

-

This anxious heart of mine gets me in and out

In and out of trouble, so many times (So many times)

And I keep losing pieces each time I try

I've burned enough bridges to light my way home through the darkest night”

For more on Orville Peck, see below: