He'll Never Love You (HNLY)

"He'll Never Love You (HNLY)"
General information
Artist	Hayley Kiyoko
Release Date	March 30, 2018
Recorded	2017
Genre	Pop
Length	3:51
Labels	Empire, Atlantic
Composer(s)	Kiyoko, Dorr, Bernardy, Cara Salimando
Producer(s)	Dorr, Bernardy
Album	Expectations
Expectations Chronology
"Wanna Be Missed"
"He'll Never Love You (HNLY)"
"Palm Dreams"

"He'll Never Love You (HNLY)" is the tenth track off Hayley Kiyoko's debut album, Expectations. It was released on March 30, 2018 through Atlantic and Empire.

Background

The song was first announced as part of "#CountdownToExpectations" held on Kiyoko's social media profiles on March 22, 2018 and was among the last songs to be announced.

Lyrically, this song is about the same girl that also inspired "Curious" and "What I Need". Thus linking the three tracks together.
However, the songs lean more towards Curious and follows the same structure of a girl not admitting the feelings she has for Hayley and not embracing her sexual identity by being with a man she does not love according to Kiyoko. The girl doesn’t leave the other relationship to be with Hayley and is only playing games with her. Hayley tells that he won’t love her like she does.
Similar to its related other songs it appeals to the same question of why the girl does not accept her feelings and rather hides than to be with Hayley.

"As a songwriter, it’s easy to feel an emotion and then write a song about that emotion. But for me personally, it’s very difficult to go through an exact experience and then autobiographically write exactly what happened from beginning to end. That was the one song I was able to accomplish that, where it was like, ‘I left a mark on your neck.’ Like literally from the beginning to end, every single word in that song is exactly what happened to me. It’s such a fun song for me, because I get to sing it and yell it from the top of my lungs, where I’m like, ‘This is what you did to me, and this is how I felt, and he’ll never love you like I do.’ It feels like an anthem to my life that I’ve been trying to write for years, where it’s just like, ‘Come on! Wake up! You like girls! Wake up and smell the coffee!’ It’s been a song that’s been on the tip of my tongue and I haven’t been able to just put into words."

—Hayley Kiyoko in an interview with GQ

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I left a mark on your neck
I know that you won't forget
Yeah, I know, yeah, I know, I'm the best you've ever had
Yeah, 'cause I'm sweet like that
Yeah, you know, yeah, you know
Playing with my fingertips
Sitting there biting your lip
Trying to kiss, who are you trying to trick?
Why don't you just cut the shit?

[Pre-Chorus]
'Cause baby, you know that you got it
Girl, yeah, you know that you want it
Girl, why can't you just be honest--with yourself?

[Chorus]
I know every day you're thinking of me (thinking of me)
I make it better when you're feeling lonely (feeling lonely)
You say no one will understand
You wish you could but you just can't so
How many days, how many nights
'Til you realize, he'll never love you like me?
He'll never love you like me

[Verse 2]
Talking until 3 A.M
Giving me that look again
Yeah, I know, yeah, I know, I'm the drug you never did
Higher than you've ever been
Yeah, you know, yeah, you know
Took me like I was a hit
Addicted but trying to quit
Get over it
Act like you already did
So thirsty, you're drowning in it

[Pre-Chorus]
'Cause baby, you know that you got it
Girl, yeah, you know that you want it
Girl, why can't you just be honest--with yourself?

[Chorus]
I know every day you're thinking of me (thinking of me)
I make it better when you're feeling lonely (feeling lonely)
You say no one will understand
You wish you could but you just can't so
How many days, how many nights
'Til you realize, he'll never love you like me?
He'll never love you like me
'Cause he'll never love you like me
He'll never, never, never, never, never, never
He'll never, never, never, never, never, never

[Bridge]
Hold on, you tell me that I'm not the one but
You know what is right, you say is wrong
Playing with my fingertips
Sitting there biting your lip
Trying to kiss, who are you trying to trick?
Why don't you just cut the shit?

[Chorus]
'Cause he'll never love you like me
He'll never, never, never, never, never, never, never
He'll never love you like me
He'll never, never, never, never, never, never, never
'Cause he'll never love you like me
He'll never, never, never, never, never, never, never
He'll never love you like me
He'll never, never, never, never, never, never, never

Trivia

• This is Kiyoko's only song to feature an abbreviation within its title.