Lea Michele: Why Songwriting Is The Best Therapy

Lea Michele has opened up about songwriting being her “therapy” to recover from the unexpected death of her boyfriend, Cory Monteith.

Lea Michele still cannot forget what she describes as “the most devastating thing that’s ever happened to me in my whole life,” when her boyfriend Cory Monteith died of an overdose in the summer of 2013.

But thankfully Lea Michele has music and songwriting, which the actress-turned-singer says is “a form of therapy” to her.

Lea Michele spoke to People magazine and opened up about her second album, Places, which was released late last month. There is one track in particular that has caught her fans’ attention, with many believing she is singing about Cory Monteith’s final days.

Places is Lea Michele’s first album in more than three years after the release of her debut album Louder in 2014, which came less than a year after the tragic death of her boyfriend, Cory Monteith.

Lea Michele has been candid in the past about one of the songs from Louder, “If You Say So,” being about her late boyfriend, but this time the Glee star has stopped short of confirming that any of her songs on the new album were inspired by Monteith.

All Lea Michele has said was that, “I like to keep certain things private,” and adding that “songwriting is a form of therapy.”

There is one song in particular on her sophomore album, Places, that reads like a letter to her late boyfriend, who had starred with Lea Michele on Glee before his sudden death in 2013. And that song is a heart-wrenching ballad named “Hey You,” in which Michele seemingly sings about Monteith’s last days.

“Final days were the hardest / I didn’t think they would be your last / I know you had to go away / I’ll tell you every day I miss you.”

Although Lea Michele refuses to admit that “Hey You” is about Cory Monteith, her words that it serves as a follow-up to “If You Say So,” the very song written with Sia that she earlier confirmed was inspired by her late boyfriend, speak for herself.

Lea Michele co-wrote “Hey You” with songwriters Ali Tamposi and Wrabel. Although the song touches upon such a sensitive subject matter as the final days of her late boyfriend, Michele has admitted that every time she listens to it, her “overall feeling” is nothing but “joy and love.”

Lea Michele, who admitted to People magazine that creating Places was a cathartic experience, also explained that her second album conveys “exactly how I’m feeling in my life right now.”

“I want the world to hear it.”

If Places repeats the success of Lea Michele’s debut album, which was recorded back when the actress-turned-singer starred on Glee, then the world will actually hear it, and it will go places even louder that her 2014 hit album.

One song from her debut album, in particular, made Lea Michele famous, as the album’s first single named “Cannonball,” which debuted at No. 75 on the Billboard Hot 100, earned Michele the title of the first Glee cast member to ever get into the Billboard’s prestigious chart as a solo artist.

Lea Michele is also going on tour to promote Places and make the world hear it. Her tour kicks off on Monday, May 8, at Seattle’s Moore Theater, according to the Seattle Times.

In spite of everything she has been through, Lea Michele says she is “so happy” now because she “feels so strong.” Michele is focused not only on her singing career but also acting.

Lea Michele, who was recently cast in a new ABC comedy from Hamilton Tony winner Daveed Diggs, hopes to return to Broadway soon.

[Featured Image by Cindy Ord/Getty Images]