Like I'm Gonna Lose You

"Like I'm Gonna Lose You" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor from her debut major-label studio album ''Title'' (2015), featuring guest vocals from John Legend. Trainor wrote the song with Justin Weaver and Caitlyn Smith, and produced it with Chris Gelbuda. Epic Records released it as the album's fourth single on June 23, 2015. A soul love ballad, "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" is about savoring moments spent with loved ones and not taking them for granted.

Critics praised Trainor's vocals and the song's composition, but some thought its mellow style did not suit her. In the United States, "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" reached number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was certified 4× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It peaked at number one in Australia, New Zealand, and Poland, and attained 5× Platinum certifications in Australia and Canada.

Constellation Jones directed the music video for "Like I'm Gonna Lose You", featuring Trainor singing in a candlelit room on a rainy night while people engaged in a diverse variety of relationships are shown interacting with their loved ones. Trainor performed the song on television shows such as the ''Billboard'' Music Awards, ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', and the American Music Awards, and included it on the set lists of her concert tours That Bass Tour (2015), MTrain Tour (2015), and The Untouchable Tour (2016).

Background

After independently releasing three albums herself between 2009 and 2010, Meghan Trainor started writing songs for other singers. In 2012, she signed a publishing deal with Big Yellow Dog Music, a Nashville, Tennessee-based music publishing firm, and moved to Nashville the following November. While working in Music Row, Trainor met fellow songwriters Justin Weaver and Caitlyn Smith, and wrote "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" with them, intending to pitch it to Kelly Clarkson. She signed with Epic Records in 2014 after L.A. Reid, the label's chairman, convinced her to become a recording artist. Epic wanted Trainor to record an entire album and asked her to begin working on songs for it. She released the doo-wop song "All About That Bass" as her debut single, which reached numberone in 58 countries and sold 11 million units worldwide. "Lips Are Movin" (2014) and "Dear Future Husband" (2015) served as the follow-up singles, which were sonically similar and reached the top 15 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Trainor initially decided not to include "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" on her debut major-label studio album, ''Title'' (2015), because it did not keep with the album's doo-wop sound. After her uncle, Burton Toney, forced her manager to listen to it, the latter was reduced to tears and convinced her to put it on the track list. Trainor's management, which also represents John Legend, sent "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" to him. He said "I love this. I want to be a part of it". Trainor produced the song with Chris Gelbuda, with whom she had co-written the song "3am" and Sabrina Carpenter's 2014 single "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying". It was released as the sixth track on ''Title'' on January 9, 2015, featuring guest vocals from Legend. Epic Records promoted "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" to contemporary hit radio stations in the United States on June 23, 2015, as the fourth single from the album. The label sent the song to rhythmic contemporary radio stations in the country on October 6, 2015, and radio airplay in Italy on October 30.

Composition and lyrical interpretation

"Like I'm Gonna Lose You" has a duration of three minutes and forty-five seconds. Trainor and Gelbuda programmed the song; he recorded her vocals at The Green Room in East Nashville, Tennessee, and Jason Agel recorded Legend's vocals at Germano Studios in New York City. Manny Marroquin mixed it at Larabee North Studios in Universal City, California, and Dave Kutch mastered it at The Mastering Palace in New York City.

Trainor delivers her soprano vocals with a twang on "Like I'm Gonna Lose You", which is a soul ballad. Unlike other songs on ''Title'', it features minimal instrumental accompaniment and places emphasis on Trainor's vocals; the Associated Presss Melanie J. Sims noted that in a rare moment for Trainor, it does not employ "a catchy hook or quirky production". Ian Gittins of Virgin Media described "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" as a "classic Motown-style ballad", and Chuck Arnold of ''Rolling Stone'' likened Trainor and Legend's chemistry on the "finger-snapping ballad" to that between Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.

"Like I'm Gonna Lose You" is a love song with lyrics about fatalism. Trainor stated she wrote it after having one of "those nightmares that your brother or sister or boyfriend just dies", after which, one is relieved to find them still alive: "It's like I'm going to love you like I'm going to lose you because I know what it feels like from that dream and I'm not going to let it happen". In the lyrics of "Like I'm Gonna Lose You", she parlays her fear of losing a loved one into determination to relish and savor every moment spent with them. Trainor sings about how "tomorrow" is not assured, promising someone that she "won't take hemfor granted". In his verse, Legend sings about how one could lose everything "in the blink of an eye" and promises to kiss his partner longer and tell her everything he wants to say, while delivering a "silky voice and presence".

Critical reception

Music critics including Gittins and ''Newsday''s Glenn Gamboa thought "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" sounded like a "classic"; the latter commented that it will serve Trainor throughout her career. Writing for MTV News, Loren Diblasi called the song a "moving collaboration", and Madeline Roth considered it among the standout tracks on ''Title''. Elysa Gardener of ''USA Today'' deemed it proof that Trainor was most appealing when she was not cunning and agitational. ''The Daily Telegraph''s Helen Brown opined that "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" is a formulaic ballad, but complimented Legend's sincerity of tone. Jeff Benjamin of Fuse considered Trainor and Legend an unlikely pairing to perform a love duet but was impressed by the end result.

Some critics like Gittins and Sims praised Trainor's vocal prowess on "Like I'm Gonna Lose You"; others thought its subdued style did not suit her. Sims felt that the song was the "most refreshing" on the album, and found its focus on her voice a welcome change from the production-heavy nature of other tracks. Gardener called Trainor's vocals a flawless accompaniment for Legend's; ''Billboard''s Carl Wilson thought Trainor was static without the deeper quality added by Legend's vocals. Writing for ''New York Daily News'', Jim Farber thought the seriousness of "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" did not befit Trainor, noting that it only flattered Legend. Marc Hirsh of ''The Boston Globe'' wrote that Trainor struggled when attempting to stray from her usual pastiche music, and failed to project personality on the song while Legend "ame
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