 The lyrics for "Breathe" are about heartbreak and the loss of a person the narrator spent much time with. In the song's verses, the narrator acknowledges that people change and grow apart, though she is upset because she knows the person "like the back of her hand." In the song's refrains, she realizes the need to remain strong and breathe in order to live without the person. Ken Tucker of Billboard believed "Breathe" was a "love-gone-wrong song."
