"What If I" was a demo that Poppy made for Brett Manning. The song was first recorded by Poppy as a demo for Brett Manning, he later also released his version.
Background[]
Poppy's demo (2012)[]
The production for the song "What If I" started in a day in which Brett Manning finished giving Poppy a singing lesson to which she would ask him if she could write with him, as she heard a brief melody in the piano played by him the phrase "what if" came to her mind, thereafter, she kept repeating the phrase "what could have happened if I just" in order to come up with more; subsequently, Manning said "What if I’d driven around the block, to waste a couple of ticks on the clock", she continued with "what if I decided not to stop, you would have never entered my thoughts", as he then added "What if I found someone else, would I have the void that only you could help". The song was written while Manning was playing the piano.[2] The production of the song was revealed on January 12th, 2012 via Manning's Twitter account with the tweet "In the studio with @thatPoppy producing vocals on our favorite chill song "What if I"... A paralyzingly tune!", this song was likely recorded by Brett Manning and Poppy at the same time in 2012. The production likely started in the same month and ended seemingly on February of that same year.
The demo made by Poppy was ended and released without prior announcement to her SoundCloud account on March 6th, 2012.[3] A visual video for Poppy's demo was created by her friend at the time Zolloc and was posted on his YouTube channel on June 13th, 2012.[4]
Poppy's demo state (2013)[]
Sometime in September 2013 Poppy's demo was made unavailable from SoundCloud since Poppy deleted her own account sometime in that month, this action was also made to all of Poppy's songs released since 2012 to 2013 as a way to reinvent herself and being set to signing to Island Records in January 2014.
Brett Manning's version (2014)[]
In October 24th, 2014, Brett Manning's final version of the song was officially released alongside a music video.
Theme[]
"What If I" is about questioning a lover. The person describes ways they could have altered situations so their relationship wouldn't have existed. However, since they didn't do this in the past, they won't in the present. Their lover is described to have positively impacted them, but they wonder how things would have been different if they met their partner on another day.
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
What if I, had driven round the block
To waste a couple ticks on the clock
What if I'd decided not to stop
You would've never entered my thoughts
What if I, found someone else
But I have a void, that only you could help
Or maybe met you on a different day
Would I have looked at you some other way
[Chorus]
But I didn't
So I shouldn't
Wonder what if I
[Verse 2]
If I were a little more smart
Or learned to not think too hard
What if I were too stable to risk
Push the envelope, I know you can't resist
But if I would gamble 'cording to the odds
Or blamed my fate upon the will of God
[Chorus]
But I didn't
So I shouldn't
Wonder what if I
But I didn't
So I shouldn't
Wonder what if I
[Outro]
What if I, had driven round the block
To waste a couple ticks on the clock
Versions[]
Trivia[]
- This song was released on the same day as "Doesn't Mean I'm Wrong".[3][5]
- Rain and thunders sound effects can be heard at the beggining of the song, during the chorus and at the end of the song.
- Brett Manning's version of the song is only not available on some streaming platforms including his own complete discography for unknown reasons.
Gallery[]
