NEVER CAME BACK Lyrics – The Kid LAROI | from “BEFORE I FORGET”

The Kid LAROI is dropping his sophomore album BEFORE I FORGET on January 9, and NEVER CAME BACK feels like that late-night scroll through old texts you can’t delete, raw and unrelenting.

This track, slotted as the 10th cut on the 15-song set, is LAROI channeling pure post-heartbreak alchemy: breathy verses over shimmering synths and subtle trap snares, produced by Andrew Aged, Daniel Aged, Zack Sekoff, Devin Workman, and Dopamine’s engineering touch. It’s got that signature Aussie drawl—raw, confessional flows that blur rap and melody—leaning into indie-pop edges with a nocturnal vibe, like driving empty streets at 3 a.m.

Thematically, it’s all about the quiet victory of vanishing: reaping what you sow after believing the unbelievable, trading lost sleep for unexpected peace. That repeating hook—“You waited, but I never came back”—loops like a scar fading, flipping nostalgia into freedom, ghosts into ghosts. It’s vulnerable without wallowing, a nod to LAROI’s creative direction of mining real-time ache, scribbled in the blur of his high-profile split that fueled the whole project.

BEFORE I FORGET clocks in at 15 tracks, a Columbia Records release that’s basically LAROI’s scrapbook of love’s fallout—memories you wish you could erase before they define you. It kicks off with the intimate “ME + YOU” and rolls through standouts like the brooding “JULY,” the feature-heavy “RATHER BE” with Lithe, and the dreamy “THE MOMENT” alongside Clara La San. There’s “A PERFECT WORLD” already out as the lead single, dropping that glossy pop sheen on deeper cuts, plus interludes like “HER INTERLUDE” to let the emotions breathe. The whole thing builds this arc from fresh wounds to hard-won clarity, with runtimes keeping it tight and replayable.

Right now, LAROI’s in that sweet spot of evolution, three years past his debut’s teen-fueled chaos in F*ck Love and building on The First Time’s more polished introspection. At 22, he’s trading wild nights for wiser scars, channeling Aussie grit into global anthems that feel lived-in, not just lived through. This album’s his way of closing chapters while cracking the door for what’s next—proof he’s growing without losing that fire.

Dive into the NEVER CAME BACK lyrics below and unpack its raw narrative. Don’t miss other BEFORE I FORGET tracks for more of The Kid LAROI’s introspective heartaches.