"Breathing" is a eurodance song that displays influences of electro, house and R&B, and features "tribal vocal chorales" in the background. It samples the song "Pilentze Pee", which is sung by the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir. Lyrical inspiration for the song came from the death of Derülo's cousin, who died in 2011, but also from a romance he had. Quite a mixture.

Nooo, Yeaaah

I only miss you when I'm breathin'
I only need you when my heart is beatin'
You are the colour that I'm bleedin'
I only miss you when I'm breathin'

This ain't no ordinary feelin'
You are the only thing that I believe in
I know you're coming back to me a-a-a-and
I will be waiting here for you till the end

I only miss you when I'm breathin' (breathin')
I only miss you when I'm breathin' (breathin')
Without your love, don't know how I survive
It's you, it's you just keepin' me alive
I only miss you when I'm breath-ahhh-a-a-a-ahhh-a-a-a-ahhh

A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a

Ayiyiyiyiyiya
Ayiyiyiyiyiya
Ayiyiyiyiyiya

I wan' see pictures of you leavin'
On these four walls, and on the ceilin'
Give you a kiss but I am dream-i-i-i-in'
These crazy thoughts are so deceivin'
You are the drug I am feelin'
Paradise that I'm still seekin'
I'm still alive hope there's a reas-o-o-o-on'
Can't move my lips but my heart is screamin'

I only miss you when I'm breathin' (breathin')
I only miss you when I'm breathin' (breathin')
Without your love, don't know how I survive
It's you, it's you just keepin' me alive
I only miss you when I'm breath-ahhh-a-a-a-ahhh-a-a-a-ahhh

A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a
(Ohhh, ohhh, ohhh, just breathin')

Ayiyiyiyiyiya
Ayiyiyiyiyiya (ohh baby)
Ayiyiyiyiyiya (I only miss you when I)

I'm screamin' out your name
But you don't answer me
I know I kissed your face
Is this my fantasy?

Sound the alarm
Tell everyone
That I only miss you

I only miss you when I'm breathin' (yeah baby, yeah baby) [breathin']
I only miss you when I'm breathin' (we not breathin' here, we not
Breathin') [breathin']
Without your love, don't know how I survive
It's you, it's you just keepin' me alive (ayiyiyiyiyiya)
I only miss you when I'm breathin' (ayiyiyiyiyiya, ayiyiyiyiyiya)
I only miss you when I'm breathin'

BREATHE= /bri:ð/ Get air in and out of our body (noun: breath /breθ/). If you’re alive, you’re breathing, if you stop breathing you die.

HEART= /hɑ:t/

BEAT= beat-beat-beat. If a heart beats, it pumps blood /blʌd/ all around our body. If a heart doesn’t beat… you’re dead, sorry.

COLOUR= /kʌlə*/ (American English spelling: color)

BLEED= /bli:d/ to get blood /blʌd/ flowing out of our body (as when you have a cut)

AIN’T= (coll.) Isn’t
The form “ain’t” can be a colloquial substitute for the negative forms of the verb to be and to have in the present tense.

THIS AIN’T NO ORDINARY FEELING= Apart from the colloquial “ain’t”, we also find another colloquial feature here: double negative. In standard English we should say: “This isn’t an ordinary feeling”. Moreover, the negative article NO is the negative equivalent to SOME or ANY, but in standard English, it is not used as a negative equivalent for the singular A. So this use of singular NO is, again, a colloquialism.
- I haven’t got any friends here = I ain’t got no friends here (colloquial)
- She isn’t Italian = She ain’t Italian (colloquial)
- There aren’t any cats here = There are no cats here (standard)
- I don’t have any cats at home = I have no cats at home (standard)
- I don’t have a car = I have no car (colloquial)

THAT I BELIEVE IN= This is a relative sentence explaining the identity of the antecedent (in this case: “the only thing”). The verb is “BELIEVE IN something/someone”; when we have a verb with a preposition, that preposition goes before the relative connector, but we can move it to the end of the relative sentence, and in that case, we can use THAT as a relative connector:
1- I believe in one thing: you
2- You are the only thing in which I believe
(relative clause: in which I believe)
3- You are the only thing which I believe in
4- You are the only thing I believe in

I WAN’ SEE= (slang) I want to see.

SEEKING= Looking for.

I’M STILL ALIVE HOPE THERE’S A REASON= I’m still alive (and I still) hope there’s a reason.

SOUND THE ALARM= (imperative) If you sound something, you make it produce a sound:
- She sounded the school bell to get all kids inside.
- A big man sounded a gong at the beginning of the ceremony.

I ONLY MISS YOU= You’re the only person I miss. Also, it is the beginning of the next sentence: "I only miss you when I'm breathing" (= that's the only time when I miss you, which is always). So this "bridge line" carries two meanings at the same time.

When asked about why there is so much rhythm in a song made about his cousin's death, DeRülo explained: "It's partly about my cousin's passing and partly about a relationship I was in. It has a positive-negative vibe to it. If you're going through something you don't have to dwell in it. You can pick yourself up and that was the thought process behind writing this song and during the recording process, during the writing process it was pretty emotional and pretty rough for me. I was actually in tears when I was making the record."