“‘No One Noticed’ was definitely a song that no one expected to be our ‘hit,'” singer Maria Zardoya told Variety in a “Behind the Song” interview. “It was never meant to be a single. It was never meant to be a focus track. We didn’t even have a video for it.”
That, of course, all changed. The song became the second single from their sophomore album, “Submarine,” and gained traction on TikTok, where users added it to videos about sadness. Even Billie Eilish became a fan, singing the song on her Instagram last year. Her shoutout grew the song’s streaming numbers by 200%, according to Billboard.
Zardoya’s vulnerable lyrics explore feelings of isolation, detachment, and being unnoticed in your worst moments. “You could be going through the darkest period of your life, and no one might ask you about it,” she told Genius.
In the song, even her partner seems distant.
“No one tried
To read my eyes
No one but you
Wish it were true”
The lyrical structure of “No One Noticed” mirrors the song’s sentiment by being ambiguous. It has an indie pop vibe, but there’s no clear verse or chorus, as the band members discuss in the Variety interview.
“I’ll go so far as to say this song doesn’t have a chorus,” says drummer/producer Josh Conway. “This song is verse, instrumental break, verse, instrumental break, bridge, outro.”
“Or it’s only choruses and there’s no verses,” guitarist Jesse Perlman interjects.
The only typical pop aspect of the song is that it has a repeating four-chord pattern, but it’s not the chords you might expect. “No One Noticed” is in the key of G major. It starts on an A minor, moves to D7, and resolves to a GMaj7. In musical analysis, this is a ii-V-I, a slice of the circle of fifths that is most commonly found in jazz standards. The Marias then turn the GMaj7 into a G7, which sets up tension that wants to resolve to a C. However, they instead use the chord to jump back to A minor.
The GMaj7 to G7 motion shows what a difference just one note can make. GMaj7 includes the notes G, B, D, and F# while G7 is G, B, D, and F. By dropping the seventh of the chord down one half-step, it creates a swirling tension that announces something is about to happen.
It’s appropriate that “No One Noticed” is on the album “Submarine,” because the sonic textures The Marias create make you feel like you’re underwater. Perlman added his signature bubbling guitar fills, created with a Moog pedal and reverb. Zardoya also layered her vocals to near-extreme levels.
“We almost wanted to give the illusion that you were tripping,” she said. “We would add layers that we wanted to hear and just add and add and add. It wasn’t a less-is-more approach.”
The music video makes it even more literal, as Zardoya swims underwater.
Watch the video and follow along with the sheet music for “No One Noticed”:
