‘Past Yesterday’ by Jelly Roll & Skylar Grey - Lyrics & Meaning

Shortly before Jelly Roll's highly anticipated new studio album, Beautifully Broken, was due to arrive on October 11th, Jelly's wife, Bunnie XO, shared a video on TikTok featuring a snippet of a track that seemingly tackles sexual assault, titled, ‘Past Yesterday’.

However, ‘Past Yesterday’ was nowhere to be found on the Beautifully Broken tracklist. Some fans assumed that the name had perhaps been changed, but after listening through the entire project, the song was notably absent. In the comments section to Bunnie's original video, though, eagle-eyed followers saw she'd confirmed ‘Past Yesterday’ would in fact be released as part of a deluxe version of Beautifully Broken.

That expanded project arrived later on October 11th, featuring momentous collaborations with Halsey, Keith Urban, ERNEST, Russ and Skylar Grey, with the latter guesting on ‘Past Yesterday’. It's a heartbreaking, visceral tale that pivots around a young girl who has her innocence ruthlessly stolen from her by a neighbour.

After Bunnie XO shared the initial clip, ‘Past Yesterday’ quickly blossomed into one of the most keenly awaited songs from the 28-track Beautifully Broken (Pickin’ Up The Pieces).

Due to similar themes, connections have been drawn between ‘Past Yesterday’ and another Jelly Roll fan-favourite, ‘She’, which appeared on his previous album, Whitsitt Chapel.

‘Past Yesterday’ carries the weight and poignance that pervades much of Beautifully Broken, with the rasp of Jelly Roll's vocals blending powerfully with Skylar Grey's sleek, polished delivery. Given the theme of a loss of innocence that underpins ‘Past Yesterday’, there's a striking juxtaposition between what could be perceived as the ‘purity’ or lustre of Skylar's voice, compared with Jelly's rugged, raw vocals. The introduction of a violent electric guitar and emphatic drums partway through the track intensifies the emotionality of this haunting offering.

“Don't judge me if I get too high tonight

My journey isn't yours, it's only mine

The damage has been done, so this I pray

‘God, give me the strength to get myself past yesterday’”

On ‘Past Yesterday’, Skylar Grey's vocals present the perspective of the girl who is the victim of the sexual assault, while Jelly Roll narrates the story from an outside perspective. A core theme of Beautifully Broken is battling against guilt for past mistakes, but on ‘Past Yesterday’, this is flipped, with the protagonist contending with judgement from others as a result of something she had no control over.

To try and numb the pain of the memory of what happened, the girl chooses to get high, warning the listener not to criticise her actions, because they have not been through what she has. Another central theme of the album is leaning on faith in our darkest moments, which we see again here, with the protagonist praying to God to help her.

The titular phrase ‘Past Yesterday’ is a clever play on words: the girl pleads for assistance in making it “past yesterday”, while at the same time, each word is a synonym of the other. ‘Yesterday’ is in the ‘past’, and this wordplay accentuates the idea that traumatic events, even if they happened a long time ago, can still cause us grief today.

There's also the twist on the common phrase “make it past today”, with the revamped line that's used in this song (“make it past yesterday”) conveying the sense that the trauma that happened long ago is the source of the pain the girl still feels today.

“Her mom and daddy trusted

That neighbour she grew up with

They were working days and nights

So he took her home from school sometimes

One day when she came home

It looked like she saw a ghost

Snuck up to her room to cry

With a life-long scar to hide”

Jelly Roll narrates the story of how the sexual assault happened, with the girl's parents busy working day and night shifts, meaning they let their neighbour drive her home from time to time. Jelly implies that the neighbour is the one that assaulted her.

“Young enough for princess posters

Suddenly she's lifetimes older

He stole the innocence from her

Before she knew the meaning of the word

Hours in the shower steam

Still never felt clean

As she curls into a ball

Some things you can't wash off”

After the harrowing account of the assault, Jelly Roll offers a stark, heartbreaking contrast with the childhood innocence the girl should've been allowed to continue enjoying, by describing how she was “young enough for princess posters”.

The perpetrator has cruelly stolen her innocence, before she even understands what it means. Here, we get the idea of innocence connected to ‘purity’ and ‘cleanliness’ in the girl's mind, as she tries to ‘wash off’ the trauma of what happened to her.

“A few paths in life she could take

But not one of them I could blame

Finding every way to numb

Finding ways to overcome”

Jelly Roll again touches on the theme of judgement, as he underlines that, when something this traumatic has happened to someone, there's no way anyone can blame them or criticise them for feeling the need to use substances to get through the pain. The protagonist simply wants to feel ‘numb’ so she doesn't feel the anguish of what happened to her playing over and over again in her mind.

“I pray that God will right that wrong

And still find a way to carry on

‘Cause you ain't the hell that you've been through

You're more than what's been done to you”

Jelly Roll begs God to find a way to “right that wrong” of what the girl had to go through, before addressing her directly and stressing that “You ain't the hell that you've been through”. Jelly assures her, “You're more than what's been done to you”.

“In those corners you'll find

That you're broken and scared

There's no-one by your side

Still all your angels are there

At your lowest of lows

When life's been cruel and unfair

I just hope that you know

All your angels are there”

The religious undertones of ‘Past Yesterday’ come to the fore here, as Jelly Roll attempts to comfort the protagonist by emphasising that, regardless of how hopeless the situation becomes and how ‘broken’ she feels, the girl will always have her army of angels by her side. The message seems to be that God will help her get through this.

Jelly Roll has not delved into the inspiration behind ’Past Yesterday’ just yet, but his wife, Bunnie XO, has outlined how this is one of her favourites from his 2024 album. Taking to TikTok, Bunnie shared a snippet of the deeply emotional track a few days prior to its official release, alongside the heartfelt caption, “This song makes me cry everytime I hear it. If you’re a survivor - IT WAS WRITTEN FOR YOU”.

“Don't judge me if I get too high tonight

My journey isn't yours, it's only mine

The damage has been done, so this I pray

‘God, give me the strength to get myself past yesterday’

-

Her mom and daddy trusted

That neighbour she grew up with

They were working days and nights

So he took her home from school sometimes

-

One day when she came home

It looked like she saw a ghost

Snuck up to her room to cry

With a life-long scar to hide

-

Young enough for princess posters

Suddenly she's lifetimes older

He stole the innocence from her

Before she knew the meaning of the word

-

Hours in the shower steam

Still never felt clean

As she curls into a ball

Some things you can't wash off

-

Don't judge me if I get too high tonight

My journey isn't yours, it's only mine

The damage has been done, so this I pray

‘God, give me the strength to get myself past yesterday’

-

A few paths in life she could take

But not one of them I could blame

Finding every way to numb

Finding ways to overcome

-

I pray that God will right that wrong

And still find a way to carry on

‘Cause you ain't the hell that you've been through

You're more than what's been done to you

-

Don't judge me if I get too high tonight

My journey isn't yours, it's only mine

The damage has been done, so this I pray

‘God, give me the strength to get myself past yesterday’

-

In those corners you'll find

That you're broken and scared

There's no-one by your side

Still all your angels are there

-

At your lowest of lows

When life's been cruel and unfair

I just hope that you know

All your angels are there

-

Don't judge me if I get too high tonight”

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