Meaning of Chest Pain (I Love)

by Malcolm Todd · 2024

“Chest Pain (I Love)” by Malcolm Todd is about the emotional pain and longing someone feels after a breakup or separation, struggling with loneliness and heartache but still holding on to love for the other person.

This song has been Shazamed over 901,289 times. As of this writing, Chest Pain (I Love) is ranked 63

‘Chest Pain (I Love)’ by Malcolm Todd is a song about feeling heartache and longing for someone who isn’t there. We’re going to talk about what the words mean, how the music feels, and why people connect with it. Let’s explore together! ⬇️

The song paints a moody landscape, shadowed by sadness and yearning, where emotional pain feels almost physical. Malcolm Todd’s voice floats in a haze of vulnerability, echoing the ache of loss and the looping hope that love will somehow ease the hurt.

The chorus pulses with repetition—“I love, I love, I love”—almost like a heartbeat that refuses to quit, even when the rest of the body wants to give up. We hear a soul stuck between loving and hurting, as if saying “I love” over and over could summon the person back or erase the chest-tightening loneliness. It’s raw, it’s haunting, and it’s so very human: we cling to love, even when it’s the very thing that aches.

️ In the verses, the bed becomes a safe island and a prison, with lines like “My feet can’t fall out of bed / I don’t know where to go, so I’ll lay here instead.” There’s a sense of paralysis—a refusal or inability to move on—mixed with honest confusion (“You might not know me, I wish I could lie / But I can’t deny”). The lyrics blend everyday details and deep confessions, making us feel the narrator’s restless mind and hollow chest.

Even as the world says the pain will fade, the cycle repeats: symptoms of sorrow and dread linger, looping back to that simple, almost desperate declaration—“I love.” The song captures the strange comfort of heartbreak, where suffering is familiar and loving, despite it all, is inevitable.

Malcolm Todd’s “Chest Pain (I Love)” reminds us that heartache is both a wound and a testament: sometimes, to love deeply is to hurt, but in that ache, we’re vividly, unmistakably alive.

Writer(s) of Chest Pain (I Love): Malcolm Hobert, Jonah Cochran