The Way Life Goes (feat. Oh Wonder)

"The Way Life Goes" is a poignant exploration of heartbreak, resilience, and acceptance. At its core, the song is a reflection on Lil Uzi Vert's very public breakup with his long-term girlfriend, Brittany Byrd. The lyrics juxtapose the glamorous, hedonistic lifestyle of a rap star with the raw, universal pain of losing a significant relationship. Uzi uses materialistic boasts—new Louboutins, expensive champagne—not just as a flex, but as a depiction of the hollow distractions people use to numb emotional pain.

The song's central message is delivered through the interpolated chorus from Oh Wonder's "Landslide": "I know it hurts sometimes, but you'll get over it." This serves as a mantra of hope and perseverance. It acknowledges the validity and depth of sadness and exhaustion that follows a breakup ("I know you're sad and tired / You've got nothing left to give") while offering reassurance that healing is possible and a new life awaits. The song captures the moment of realization that despite the immense hurt, life must continue. It’s a message Uzi intended for anyone going through hard times.

The track portrays a complex emotional state that is both vulnerable and defensive. Uzi admits his deep feelings and regret ("I like that girl too much, I wish I never met her"), while also attempting to project strength and indifference by mentioning a "new chick" and cutting off contact. This duality makes the song highly relatable, capturing the messy and often contradictory feelings involved in getting over someone. Ultimately, the song's meaning is a bittersweet acceptance of life's painful realities, suggesting that growth comes from enduring and moving past such experiences.

The song chronicles the emotional aftermath of a difficult breakup, widely believed to be about Lil Uzi Vert's ex-girlfriend, Brittany Byrd. It opens with a blend of bravado and vulnerability. The narrator flaunts his lavish lifestyle, mentioning Moët and red-bottom Louboutins, which serve as superficial distractions from his inner turmoil. He quickly admits his lingering feelings for his ex, confessing, "I like that girl too much, I wish I never met her." This sets a tone of regret mixed with the unavoidable pain of the separation.

The central theme, encapsulated by the sampled chorus from Oh Wonder's "Landslide," acts as a comforting mantra throughout the track: "I know it hurts sometimes, but you'll get over it / You'll find another life to live." This recurring phrase serves as both a message to himself and to anyone listening who is experiencing similar sorrow. It acknowledges the depth of the pain but offers a hopeful promise of eventual healing and moving on.

In the verses, the narrator delves deeper into the specifics of his heartache and his attempts to cope. He reminisces about moments in their relationship, such as looking at rings in Hawaii, and contrasts his current pain with his ex-partner's apparent happiness with someone new, whom he dismissively calls a "lame." This reveals his feelings of jealousy and hurt, yet he also shows a flicker of maturity. He recognizes that money and material possessions couldn't keep them together, stating money "don't attract a thing."

He grapples with the decision to let her go, rapping, "She don't want me, then I'ma let her." This line signifies a painful but necessary step toward acceptance. He tries to convince himself he has moved on by finding a "new chick" who he claims is "better," a common coping mechanism of trying to replace a past love. However, the raw emotion in his delivery suggests he is still very much attached. The narrative is a candid portrayal of a young person navigating the complexities of love, loss, and fame, ultimately concluding that heartbreak is a painful but survivable part of life's journey.

"The Way Life Goes" was released on August 25, 2017, as a track on Lil Uzi Vert's debut studio album, Luv Is Rage 2. It was later released as the album's second single on October 3, 2017. The song was primarily inspired by Uzi's breakup with his girlfriend, Brittany Byrd, a recurring theme throughout the album. Uzi himself stated the song was for people going through difficult times, reflecting his own personal struggles.

The track's creation is notable for its prominent sample of the 2015 song "Landslide" by the British indie pop duo Oh Wonder. The production, handled by Ike Beatz and Don Cannon, builds upon the gentle piano melody and vocals of Oh Wonder's Josephine Gucht from the original track. They layered this with trap-style drums, including heavy kicks and syncopated hi-hats, creating a unique fusion of emo, pop, and trap. The song is set in the key of F# Major with a tempo of approximately 82 BPM.

A popular remix featuring Nicki Minaj was released on November 3, 2017. Uzi had been teasing Minaj's involvement for some time before its official release. This version peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The original song and its visualizer gained massive popularity, with streams on Spotify surpassing one billion.

The rhyme and rhythm of "The Way Life Goes" are central to its emotive and catchy appeal. The song follows a relatively straightforward 4/4 time signature and maintains a moderate tempo of around 82 BPM, creating a laid-back, yet propulsive, rhythmic foundation.

Uzi's rhyme scheme is primarily composed of couplets (AABB) with a focus on multisyllabic and near rhymes. In the opening, he rhymes "wetter," "redder," "cheddar," and "together," creating a consistent, flowing sound. This makes the verses feel cohesive and rhythmically satisfying. His flow is adaptive; he often starts and stops his phrases in unconventional places, creating a syncopated feel against the steady beat. This technique, common in trap music, gives his delivery a conversational and spontaneous quality.

The rhythmic contrast between the verses and the chorus is a key element. Uzi's verses have a more complex, rap-driven cadence, while the sampled chorus from Oh Wonder is melodically simpler and more spacious. This dynamic shift allows the emotional weight of the chorus to land with greater impact, providing a moment of clarity and reflection amidst the more frantic verses. The interplay between the lyrical rhythm and the underlying trap beat, with its skittering hi-hats and deep 808s, creates the song's signature melancholic but head-nodding feel.

"The Way Life Goes" showcases Lil Uzi Vert's signature blend of musical and literary styles, which defines the emo rap subgenre.

• Musical Sample Interpolation: The most significant musical technique is the integration of Oh Wonder's "Landslide." Rather than a simple loop, the producers, Don Cannon and Ike Beatz, wove the original's piano melody and vocals into a trap framework. This creates a powerful juxtaposition between the soft, melancholic indie-pop sound and the hard-hitting 808s and hi-hats of trap music.
• Melodic Rap (Sprechgesang): Uzi employs a melodic, sing-song vocal delivery that blurs the line between rapping and singing. His use of Auto-Tune is not just for pitch correction but as an aesthetic tool to enhance the emotional, almost mournful quality of his voice, making it sound fluid and ethereal.
• Ad-libs and Vocal Inflections: Throughout the song, Uzi uses ad-libs and changes his vocal inflection to convey different emotions. His voice shifts from boastful and quick-paced when rapping about money to a slower, more strained tone during the introspective parts, adding layers of emotional texture.
• Juxtaposition: The track is built on lyrical and musical juxtaposition. It contrasts braggadocio about wealth with raw admissions of heartbreak. Musically, the gentle, hopeful sound of the Oh Wonder sample is set against a darker, more aggressive trap beat, mirroring the song's mixed emotions of hope and despair.

"The Way Life Goes" became one of the standout tracks from Lil Uzi Vert's highly successful debut album, Luv Is Rage 2, and had a significant cultural impact. The song peaked at number 24 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was certified multi-platinum by the RIAA, cementing its status as a commercial hit. Its popularity was further boosted by a remix featuring Nicki Minaj, which brought additional mainstream attention.

The track is considered a quintessential emo rap anthem, perfectly blending the genre's key elements: introspective and emotional lyrics, melodic rap delivery, and trap-infused beats. It helped solidify Uzi's position as a leading figure in the "SoundCloud rap" generation and showcased his ability to craft songs with deep emotional resonance, moving beyond simple ad-libs and gimmicks. The song's vulnerability and relatable theme of heartbreak resonated deeply with a young audience, becoming an anthem for dealing with loss.

The clever use of the Oh Wonder sample was widely praised and highlighted a growing trend in hip-hop of sampling from indie and alternative genres. The song has also found a place in other media, such as being featured as a Jam Track in the popular video game Fortnite, introducing it to a new generation of fans.

"The Way Life Goes" employs several metaphors and symbols to articulate its themes of heartbreak and materialism.

• Luxury Goods as a Facade: Uzi frequently references high-end brands like Moët & Chandon champagne and Christian Louboutin shoes ("My Louboutins new, so my bottoms, they is redder"). These are not just displays of wealth but symbols of a hollow, materialistic lifestyle used to mask his emotional pain. They represent his attempt to fill the void left by his relationship with temporary, superficial pleasures.
• Money ("Cheddar"): The line "I'm not a rat, but I'm all about my cheddar" uses a common slang term for money. Here, it symbolizes his focus on his career and financial success as a coping mechanism. He shifts his energy to something he can control (making money) in the wake of a romantic loss he cannot.
• Being Tied to a Tree: In the music video for the remix, Uzi is depicted tied to a tree. This powerful image symbolizes feeling trapped and helpless in the aftermath of his breakup, unable to move on despite his desires. It visually represents the emotional paralysis that heartbreak can cause.

The most significant recurring element in "The Way Life Goes" is the chorus, which is directly lifted from Oh Wonder's song "Landslide."

• The Chorus Motif: The lines, "I know it hurts sometimes, but you'll get over it / You'll find another life to live / I swear that you'll get over it," function as the song's central thesis and emotional anchor. Its repetition serves as a mantra, a form of self-assurance for both Uzi and the listener. It appears multiple times, reinforcing the theme of hope and the inevitability of healing. Each time it returns, it provides a sense of comfort and perspective after Uzi's verses detail his specific pain and confusion.
• The Phrase "That's the way life goes": While not explicitly in the lyrics as a recurring phrase, the song's title itself acts as a motif. It encapsulates the song's philosophical underpinning of acceptance in the face of hardship and uncontrollable events.
• The Confession: The line, "But I like that girl too much, I wish I never met her," appears at the end of the refrain. This recurring thought frames the entire narrative, grounding Uzi's boasts and attempts to move on in the raw, unchanging truth of his regret and deep-seated feelings. Its repetition emphasizes that despite his efforts to cope, the core pain remains.