About Let Her Go

"Let Her Go" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Passenger. It was recorded at Sydney's Linear Recording and co-produced by Mike Rosenberg (a.k.a. Passenger) and Chris Vallejo. The recording features Australian musicians Stu Larsen, Georgia Mooney, Stu Hunter, Cameron Undy, and Glenn Wilson. "Let Her Go" was released in July 2012 as the second single from Passenger's fourth album, All the Little Lights. The song became a sleeper hit, achieving international success and topping the charts in many countries around the world. As of July 2014, it has sold over one million digital copies in the UK, and over four million in the US. In 2014, the song was nominated for the Brit Award for British Single of the Year, and won Passenger the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Work.

The lyrics of the song are poetic and melancholic, describing the regrets associated with ending a relationship. The chorus describes situations in which one does not appreciate what he/she has until it is gone, and relates this to love. The verses give detailed scenes involving a heartbroken man dealing with his breakup. The song's intro is inspired by the outro of the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Slow Cheetah". "Let Her Go" is driven by a chorus which is repeated five times throughout the song. The second half of the final chorus is performed a cappella. Including acoustic guitar and vocals from Rosenberg, backing vocals, piano, drums, bass, and strings, the song is instrumentally diverse. The song is performed in the key of G major, played with a capo on the seventh fret of the guitar. Rosenberg's vocals span from D4 to the high note of E5.