Mike Posner compares life now to when he wrote ‘I Took A Pill In Ibiza’: “I feel proud to look at the song lyrics and know that NONE of them are true anymore”

Mike Posner has looked back at writing of dance hit ‘I Took A Pill In Ibiza’ – saying he feels pride that the song’s lyrics no longer resonate with him.

READ MORE: Mike Posner Interviewed On His ‘…Ibiza’ Earworm And Taking On Lukas Graham In The Charts

Now 11 years after penning the lyrics to the hit track, which became a global hit thanks to a dance remix by SeeB, the singer-songwriter has reflected on how his life has changed since its 2016 release.

Taking to X/Twitter on his 37th birthday today (July 31), Posner broke down the lyrics in a series of posts, updating them to reflect his current standing as “a completely new man…one that I’m proud of.”

Revisiting the confessional track’s iconic opening lines: “I took a pill in Ibiza / to show Avicii I was cool / and when I finally got sober, felt 10 years older,” Posner said that now, having nurtured his relationship to God and those closest to him, the more accurate line would be: “I love myself more than ever, no longer do shit that harms my body to try to get people to like me.”

on my 26th birthday, i wrote I Took A Pill in Ibiza…11 years ago. The song became popular several years after i wrote it.
This year I celebrated my 37th birthday. I feel proud to look at the song lyrics and know that NONE of them are true anymore. I've grown into a completely…

— Mike Posner (@MikePosner) July 31, 2025

He had previously shared a deeper reading of the song, explaining that while his breakout song ‘Cooler Than Me’ was a success in 2010, the work released after this wasn’t getting the attention he expected.

He said the only person who helped him during this period was late artist Avicii (real name Tim Bergling) who died in 2018 from suicide. “When I was sitting at home with an empty calendar, he asked me to work on his album,” Posner said in 2022.

He went out to Ibiza to watch Avicii but described the experience as “the saddest thing ever.” While he was “looking at all these people having fun,” he says he never felt more “alone”.

After this, he was offered what he thought was MDMA but recalls being “up all night” after taking it. He added: “I woke up the next day and I felt like hell. So, that song is about that darkness and that low in my life. The infinite irony of it is that these guys remixed this heart-breaking song and made it into a club banger.”

Now, responding to the reference in 2018, Avicii told Rolling Stone: “Mike’s a good friend, so I took it as an honour. And I agree – parties can be amazing, but it’s very easy to become too attached to partying in places like Ibiza. You become lonely and get anxieties. It becomes toxic.”

As Posner detailed on X, he no longer feels no pressure to prove himself to others with achievements, flashy purchases and empty relationships. He said the “sports car just to prove I’m a real big baller” line in the song would now be replaced by a Toyota 4Runner, and added that his extensive collection of Jordan shoes has been donated.

“If I buy myself something nice, it’s because I love myself and I deserve it, not because I’m trying to prove to others I’m good enough,” he explained.

He also touched on making a “massive investment” in his personal life, and said his relationship with God “is on a whole new level.”

The year of its release, Posner spoke to NME about how the song felt more like a reflection of his career trajectory at the time than an overt drug reference.

“With that song,” he said, “I was just trying to be honest about coming down from the mountaintop of success; people’s ascent to the top is always very well-documented and everybody wants to write about it, but I was interested in what it’s like to come back down again.

“I had to live that, and it was a great experience for me – it made me a much better person. I guess it’s ironic that a song containing a line like, ‘I’m just a singer who already blew his shot” has actually given me another shot. I find that hilarious.'”

The post Mike Posner compares life now to when he wrote ‘I Took A Pill In Ibiza’: “I feel proud to look at the song lyrics and know that NONE of them are true anymore” appeared first on NME.