#personal lyric analysis | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

goginaporter · 7 months

Text

lyrical analysis of love you forever

or, breaking down ricky's love (confession) for gina

we're a little under three months out from the series finale of high school musical: the musical: the series. I've spent those months freaking out over rina and appreciating the beautiful arc they got in s4 that closed out their story over the course of the series. there are a million special moments that rina has in s4 (I mean, a rain kiss? can I have this dance? a duet together about their commitment to each other despite uncertainty? we really got it all) but one definitely stands out among the rest. love you forever is ricky's declaration of love for gina that he sings to her at her press conference for her new movie that, as far as he knows, is about to send her across the world. this post is gonna be a line by line analysis of the lyrics, as well as talking about everything that brought them to that moment and that made it special. enjoy <33

I've been wishing on a falling star for too long

this line opens the song and is such a beautiful callback to when there was me and you, the song ricky all but serenades gina with in 1.06 (the lines it references: I thought you were my fairy tale / A dream when I'm not sleeping / A wish upon a star / That's coming true). wtwmay is a song that gabriella sings after troy's betrayal in hsm and when ricky sings this line, to me, it represents a callback to his past relationship with nini. he was holding on to nini and that relationship too tight, wishing on a falling star. as gabriella says, wishes on stars just "don't come true" and for ricky, this relationship ultimately ended in failure. however, as much as this line signifies the crash and burn nature of that relationship, it's also a reference to the start of his relationship with gina in that bunker room as he strummed on a guitar, in a similar fashion to love you forever, to these lyrics.

I've been running, I don't know what from

this line references the conversation that ricky had with ej in 4.05 when ej forces ricky to reckon with the fact that he runs away from those he loves when faced with hard realities and that this tendency hurts both those around him, but also hurts him. it's incredibly full circle when you pair this with the fact that ricky is singing the song on the guitar ej gave him after they sang speak out, where ej tells him that "you'll probably get more use outta this than me" (4.05). i think it's really cool that this line also references gina's similar character flaw of running when things get hard, which she also sings about in second chance (Maybe I'm safer when I'm on the run / No time to open up my heart / Maybe I'll hide behind my walls again / Instead of tearing them apart) (also important to note that second chance is non-digetic and ricky has never heard gina sing these lyrics). so fascinating that ricky and gina have the same habit of running, with ricky running back to things that are familiar and gina pushing forward to leave things in the past before they can hurt her.

But you and I've become a sacred kinda home

this is one of my favorite lines of the song, especially because this theme of finding a home is such a critical cornerstone for both ricky and gina's arcs throughout the show. ricky's home life in s1 turns on its head when he discovers that his parents are separating. pairing this with his breakup with nini nearly sends him into a spiral, but he finds a new home of sorts in the theater program, telling gina "it's just nice to have somewhere to go after school every day, y'know" (1.05), which she herself resonates with, affirming his feelings.

of course, at the beginning of s2, we find out that ricky and his dad are moving to an apartment after his mom moves out. this drastic shift, the loss of his childhood home, is again disorienting, and again paired with changes with nini, what with her moving to denver. in 2.02, he tells nini that she is his home, which is really interesting, placing that kind of pressure on her. but what's even more interesting is that he knows he's moving, knows from the beginning of 2.01, and yet nini does not find out about his new home until 2.03 on valentine's day, months later. this is juxtaposed to gina showing up to his apartment that same episode. it's especially special that ricky is placed in the same situation that gina typically faces, the unpacking and getting accustomed to a new space. it is those undertones that serve as the undercurrent for their conversation. the apartment is in disarray when gina arrives, and remains that way for much of the season. gina, however, is endeared by the messy environment of the apartment and jokes along with ricky to put him at ease. by the time we return to it in s4, it's (naturally) much more lived in, with clothes strewn about, pictures of gina, and aptly placed posters lining the wall of ricky's room.

as I mentioned earlier, ricky calls nini his home in s2. this line says that he and gina together have become a home of sorts for each other. singing this to gina is important for ricky, but it also speaks to the unpredictable nature of gina's childhood, where she moved from city to city, never staying in one place for more than a few months, which she tells ricky in 1.05. by the end of s1, we think that she has to move again, something that's harder for her now that she's made connections with the wildcats, namely with ricky. as we see in the flashback scene in 2.06, she tells ricky that she wouldn't quit on them if not for her move, that they would essentially remain close if she weren't leaving salt lake. of course, she doesn't leave and instead moves in with ashlyn. it's her first taste of stability that she can really remember, but as she tells carlos in 2.04, she feels out of place living in a house she doesn't own and with a family that isn't hers. these feelings culminate in gina wanting to leave, a subplot we see primarily in 2.05 and 2.06. after revealing to ashlyn what she said to ricky opening night of hsm, ashlyn sings home from beauty and the beast to gina, telling her that she has a home with ashlyn, not just physically, but within their friendship. there is so much symbolism in that one scene that we don't have time to get into but this moment definitely shifts gina's perception of what a home can look like. in s3, we learn that her mom is moving back to salt lake city where she'll be staying long-term to allow gina to complete her time at east high. in fact, it's in this very house that we get our first scene of rina in s4, with ricky sneaking into her window. one's room is a reflection of oneself, and ricky and gina are all over each other's rooms, both literally and figuratively, throughout the season. combining this with the connection between the two that only strengthens over the course of the season, it comes as no surprise that ricky sees his and gina's relationship as a sacred home.

I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love and I know it / No net, no fear, right here in this moment

my twitter account was littered with theories and thoughts and hopes for ricky's love confession to gina, but whether it was public or private, planned or spontaneous, the one thing that I knew I wanted was for ricky to say that he is in love with gina. so on august 9th when ricky got to the chorus of love you forever, tears started pooling in my eyes because the confession, which was already literally perfect, delivered my biggest wish. one of my favorite aspects of the song is how much it reflects their journey because these are all the words that ricky would tell gina in some big speech, evidenced by him practicing all throughout 4.07. but when it comes down to it, after references to moments between them and beautiful metaphors, it builds to him telling gina not only does he love her, but that he's in love with her. there's no doubt in his mind of this fact. the sky is blue, the sun shines, and ricky bowen loves gina porter. so much of ricky's love for nini was tied to fear, especially a fear of change. that his love for gina transcends fear, that he is confident in what he tells her both shows his growth in romantic relationships but also in how much gina has redefined what it means to love someone for him.

I've never been more sure of what I got, yeah / Cause this is so much more than puppy love, so

continuing with the theme of confidence, ricky tells gina that he's never been more sure of what he's got in their relationship. I know I'm bringing rini up a lot but that relationship is a perfect frame of reference for how much ricky has changed when it comes to love. both his singing of I think I kinda you know in 1.01 and his love confession to nini in 1.10, while genuine, are riddled with stuttering and uncertainty ("I think", "I don't know", etc.). when you compare the ricky of 1.01 and the ricky of 4.08 and how he attempts to use song to profess his love, the differences are stark, and that's the point. as he all but said in 3.08, everything he's known about love has been changed by gina and that is reflected in love you forever. I love the puppy love nod and think it's narratively important for so many reasons. for one, it's a reference to their first date, as well as to gina's childhood. in that vein, it seems to mirror what gina tells ricky in 4.02, that mack was a crush of her childhood. calling what they have "more than puppy love" also nods to their growth, not just over the course of the series, but even throughout the season. from dealing with scrutiny in the fallout of the documentary to gina's increasingly busy schedule to their temporary pause to gina nearly moving across the world, they've been faced with many problems, and while they didn't handle all of them perfectly, they handled them together and came out that much stronger.

I'll say it first, no matter what the cost / Here I am full heart, full stop / I love you

in 3.05, ricky talks to jet following the fallout of the real campers of shallow lake drama. he asks jet what he's running from and tells him that sometimes when feelings are hard to articulate, it helps to sing instead. with love you forever, we see ricky taking his own advice. I love that ricky is insistent that he tells gina "I love you" first, both because he wants to rectify mistakes from his last relationship, but also because gina says, in a talking head, that she doesn't want to be the first to say "I love you," (4.06) further cementing the connection that rina has. it also affirms that there is no doubt in either of their minds that they love each other and want to say it to each other. it's also important to note that ricky understands the risk of singing this song at this point in time. for all he knows, gina is about to board a plane that will be taking her to the other side of the world for six months. however, he sings this song, affirms his love for her, no matter the cost, because he just wants her to know. he loves her in salt lake, he loves her in new zealand, and he loves her forever. ricky sings that he is there with a full heart, full stop I love you. in an interview after s3's finale, tim federle, the showrunner, states that while nini will always have a small part of ricky's heart, gina has a way of making hearts race. this line, to me, symbolizes the notion that gina is his heart, that his love for her encompasses it. there's a beautiful analysis of ricky being gina's heart canonically that I think helps tie all of this together, establishing that gina is ricky's heart, just like he is hers.

of course, I would be remiss to not talk about the full stop of it all. as we see in a flashback in 4.06, ricky opens up to gina in their first meeting about how he struggled saying I love you to nini, his ex. after hearing this, gina presents him with a possibility you can tell he's never considered: "maybe you just don't love her, full stop." ricky stutters in response, but doesn't fully negate gina's statement, in fact telling her that he's "kinda" planning on telling nini through song later that night outside her window (ironic that this plan doesn't pan out for him twice in the show, both here and in 2.03). that he brings up this notion of full stop, where there's no room for doubt, in his confession for gina further proves how deep and real and true their love is for each other. super small thing before I move on but I love how "I love you" gets its own special moment of pause in the song to fully communicate the gravity of such a statement.

I never knew that I could feel so sure and so strong /How can three old words feel so brand new?

Again, this idea of being sure comes up again in this second verse/buildup to the chorus. ricky has done the love confession before. he's been in love before. but again, with gina, it's different. it's deeper, more strong, more secure. and so when he says these words, in a situation that mirrors his audition for hsm, of course it feels different. in that auditon, he was singing nini's words back to her. love you forever, in contrast, is all ricky. those three words do feel new because now he's singing them to gina and for gina, where previously he sang them for himself. also a really cool note about the parallels between ricky's audition and love you forever is that tim federle released the initial script for love you forever, and one of the descriptions writes that ricky "launches into the audition of a lifetime." this song, this confession, is the start of his forever with gina. of course these words feel new.

Mm, so rare, so real right here in this moment / And I'm starin' at the only thing I want, so

I tear up hearing ricky say that the love that he has for gina is both rare and real. both ricky and gina, at different points throughout the show, cast doubt on love. ricky says in a talking head in 1.01 that love is dead (fun fact: ricky is wearing the same denim jacket from that talking head during love you forever teehee). gina, in the 4.06 flashback, calls love lame. their faith in love ebbs and flows throughout the show, but once they are together, there's no question. it's why ricky encourages the seblos reconciliation in 4.06 or why gina tells jet to confess his feelings for kourtney in 4.08. if they've found this beautiful love in each other, where they got a second chance on love in every sense of the words, why wouldn't they want that for everyone else, for the people that they love?

the second half of this lyric, of ricky "staring at the only thing he wants," is my absolute favorite line of love you forever. ricky's eyes are naturally drawn to gina in nearly every episode of the show, whether she's looking at him or not, whether they're speaking or not. even before he recognized those feelings in himself, we could see it because she was always the apple of his eye. this rings especially true during love you forever, where ricky does not take his eyes off of gina the entire song, except when miss jenn turns the lights on. gina is the center of his universe and who he has been drawn to since she entered his life. there was a tweet after s4 aired that stated that ricky looks at gina as though he's falling deeper in love with her every time and this line captures that.

I wanna finish what we started in the stairwell where we met

the bridge opens with this line and it's so fitting. to suggest that committing to loving each other forever is finishing what they started when they had that first conversation in the stairwell is so insane and will always make me spiral when I think about it. this line all but confirms that ricky and gina began to fall for each other in that moment. that their conversation in the stairwell is what catalyzed their respective character arcs also all but confirms that they're soulmates, that there was an invisible string that connected them, inexplicably tying their fates together forever.

I wanna live like I have never even heard the word regret

both ricky and gina have instances that they look back on and wish they had done things differently. gina says so explicitly in 2.05 when speaking to kourtney. she alludes to her goodbye to ricky after hsm's opening night, stating that it was something she wishes she could take back. in 3.06, ricky tells jet that he wishes that he didn't let color war gina slip through his fingers, suggesting that he would've done things differently if he were more cognizant of his feelings for her. ricky never wants to feel like that again, that he's missed his chance with gina due to fear. he wholeheartedly embraces his love for her because he knows what it was like to live without it and doesn't want to live in a world where gina isn't his reality.

I wanna scream what's in my heart and I won't ever take it back

ricky and ej's duet in 4.05 is about speaking your truth and speaking even when it's hard. the song even has a line about "screaming out." where in speak out, screaming out solicits no sound, ricky singing this line in love you forever is him being able to vocalize the feelings in his heart. he also commits to never taking these words back. his feelings for gina are eternal and everlasting. this is important for gina to hear because words have always been unreliable to her. people that she cares about, whether her mom or jamie or even e.j., have made verbal commitments to her at one point or another, and each one of them has later reneged on that commitment, whether intentionally or not. ricky can say these words, can say "I love you" to gina, because he's been saying it through his actions the entire show. gina doesn't always trust words, but she trusts actions. ricky has more than proven his love for her, and it's this continued declaration through his works that allows these words to ring true for her.

'Cause I love you feels a lot like high school and forever after that

I made this observation a couple weeks ago but this line is so fascinating. when the season first dropped and I heard the line, I was a tad confused. what does it mean for love to feel like high school? I was listening to the hsm3 soundtrack when it all clicked for me. in high school musical, the final song they sing in hsm3, the last line is "I want the rest of my life to feel just like a / High school musical" with this line, ricky is basically saying that he will love gina for the rest of his life. throwing in a hsm reference is also incredibly fitting given that they've just completed the first night of their run as troyella, further cementing their legacy as the troyella of the show. i love that, even when the bridge is repeated, ricky and gina are the only ones to sing these lines. when the bridge is sung for the third and final time, ricky and gina are now together on stage singing the words "I"m in love, I'm in love, I'm in love" to each other in between the lines of the bridge. the song closes with ricky singing "I love you feels a lot like high school" with gina singing "and forever after that." I love this ending for two reasons: ending the song with rina singing together re-emphasizes that they're in love, and in love together (for the first time), as tim mentions in an interview. I also love it because even as the wildcats join to sing the bridge near the end of the song, ricky and gina are the only people to sing the lines "I'm in love x3" and "I love you feels a lot like high school." even though their friends step in to sing some lines, ultimately, the song is a love song for gina, about gina, and that's why it ends with her. as tim (love how much I'm referencing him) mentioned in an interview, rina is the beating heart of the romance of the show, and their friends coming in to sing along to ricky's love song for gina fully solidifies this.

162 notes · View notes

send-me-a-puffalope · 5 months

Text

why doesn’t spotify have public notes for people (me) who have character playlists and want to ramble about how each song fits a character

#i want people to see my character playlist and experience it as i experience it #i want people to see my vision #(by reading a detailed analysis of every song lyric by lyric)#i’ve literally never ever mischaracterized a character and my playlist is the only valid playlist #and i am the most correctest person on the platform btw #nat’s rambles

51 notes · View notes

ohdorothea · 24 days

Text

Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me / Look What You Made Me Do / I Did Something Bad / my tears ricochet / …Ready For It?

#so I felt better then immediately made a web weave #also this is not like mega serious lyric analysis this is just me putting forward why I think who’s afraid of little old me is from #the villain personal created in reputation #anywayyyyyyyyyy

21 notes · View notes

mdemn · 1 year

Text

“there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” (1 john 4:18 esv)

molly brodak - molly brodak freakin’ out on the interstate - briston maroney, i will follow you into the dark - death cab for cutie, & marie lu.

#is this anything #i am just tired of looking at this in my drafts and thinking it’s good and then thinking it’s horrible #so i am just throwing it out there #word weaving #word web #quotes #book quotes #song lyrics #on fear #on love #poetry #lyrical analysis #post: poetry #post: personal #alt id #image described

60 notes · View notes

ilostyou · 1 year

Text

taylor x 5sos parallels - part 11/?

#i feel like this one is kind of obvious but analysis is as follows #theyre both detailing a relationship dying a kind of slow death where it reaches this point of. we're together but you're ?? a stranger #in the sense that they're no different than any random person and they may be together but it feels like theyre just. not #like there's no support from them they're not communicating at all and it doesnt matter how close they are physically bc sm is obv missing #and theoretically tsou is after the breakup which makes it interesting to think abt them being the same relationship just before and after #more being the relationship deteriorating and them coming to realize theyre just not exactly working anymore #and tsou being post breakup but feeling the same way looking back and saying. i could love you if we worked this out right #anyway. enjoy xoo #swiftsos parallels #swiftsos #parallels #5sos #5 seconds of summer #5sos lyrics #taylor swift #taylor swift lyrics #the story of us #more #more 5sos #mparallels

97 notes · View notes

prod-svt · 13 days

Text

genuinely loving these two recent seventeen titles track names; god of music & maestro.

those are distinct titles given to influential and important people in the music world. god of music is self-explanatory. maestro is a distinguished musician, especially a conductor of classical music or someone who is skilled enough to be considered an artistic genius.

while us, carats, use it or sometimes interpret it as titles for seventeen themselves (which, deserve), the overall message of the two song is more than that.

god of music, as per woozi's commentary live, at its core is an appreciation song towards the proverbial god of music because music is what connects carats and seventeen, music is seventeen's life, as cringy as it sounds, but its true. without music, how can carats know seventeen. without music, how can seventeen convey their feelings and emotions in a creative way.

in maestro, it questions "who is the real maestro?" in an era where everything can be created to easily bc of machines. in here, its in the realm of music but it can also be applied to every branch of arts and creatives. in writing, in illustration, in animation, in digital arts, in communication arts. however, in the end, the human touch would prevail bc of its result's personality and the humanity stored in each piece made. because how can a machine work to produce ""art"" without the works of humans, where can they steal to distort if not from the humans, what can they run through their machines if not the works of human.

#personally after listening to woozi's commentary live #it just became obvious that something shifted in the themes of their albums #from face the sun until now #or maybe after face the sun #there's just some hints of commentary in their title tracks specifically #but still has their unique seventeen touch #seventeen #seventeen kpop #woozi #lee jihoon #seventeen lyrics #era: 17 is right here #seventeen maestro #svt lyrics analysis

8 notes · View notes

insert-neologism · 2 months

Text

paper doll by flower face

#yellowjackets #jackieshauna #i started making this. like right after i uploaded isobel (finished yesterday but it was too late to put in on here lol)#meaning in not much time (so that's why it's probably not my best work)#realized i used the same scenes like too often on the third rewatch which is the rewatch i do on here #n i dont want to go back and change it the save it and upload in on here. sorry #tbh im REALLY not sure if anyone is even watching those. mainly doing this for my code of honor #(<- thinking to myself 'omg im gonna edit the whole albim the shark in your water by flower face to jackieshauna #and then acting like I swore my life to that cause)#(more like code of HOMOr amirite)#anyways. considero g how not much time i took in this im still proud of it #mitos incredible life #mine art tag #also I just realized this (or my edits in general) might not make that much sense withiut my thoughts?#like (most of the time) i have MANY thoughts abt the lyrics and I could analyse i think all of my edits very in depth #and it IS THAT DEEP bc im the creator and what i say is true fr #might do an analysis. if anybody likes this i see that as confirmación that ppl want it.#and if it's for the imaginary person thatll find this in ca 5 years (named him jesú.)#anyways jackieshauna brainrot REAL i cant listen to baby teeth anymore withiut thinking sbt them and violently feeling a lot of things #jackieshauna: The Shark In Your Water

6 notes · View notes

gaylorarchive · 1 year

Text

#gaylor #gaylorarchive #forever winter #red #red tv #lyric analysis #closeting #twitter #on a personal note #i remember this campaign so clearly #and I remember holding onto that sentiment #hoping desperately that one day I could be out and open and safe #and i'm not even that old #like at all #i'm not even a millenial #but I remember the it gets better campaign so so clearly #it really helped

41 notes · View notes

thekidsarentalright · 1 year

Text

i rly do think kintsugi kid hits incredibly different and deeper from the perspective as a chronically ill person than it ever would otherwise. absolutely guts me

#chronically ill either physically or mentally ofc both apply . as someone who is chronically ill both ways #it's like. god i could write a whole analysis of it from this perspective actually tags wont do it justice #just the lyric on the bright side got the wrong insides is enough for me to be like yeah. i literally do. i was made wrong. i am wrong.#and it is what makes me me and if i dont have that who am i without my flaws . if i dont have that what do i have. id miss it. god.#edit addition: also like the chemical haze part is esp heartbreaking from the perspective of a chronically ill person who at one point was #highly dependent on substances to help ease the pain and is a time period of my life that was awful yet sometimes i miss bc at least i felt #nothing. now i feel so much and it's better for me and i know that but sometimes. i miss it.#txt

26 notes · View notes

wavesoutbeingtossed · 6 months

Text

So while I’m on my “You’re Losing Me” riff, another thing that really strikes me about the song is how pervasive loneliness is in it.

This isn’t inherently unique in Taylor’s music; she is after all the narrator in most of her songs. They are inherently self-centered and not in a selfish way, but in a literal way: these are songs about her and her perspective. It makes sense then that YLM is uniquely about her experience in this relationship and this breakdown.

But when I talk about the theme of loneliness, it’s how alone she as narrator is throughout the story. Even in the opening salvo, where he says, “I don’t understand,” and she says, “I know you don’t,” the conversation represents two people fundamentally pushed to their own corners.

There is a clear split between we and I throughout the story.

We thought a cure would come through, now I fear it won’t. We loved this room cause of the light, but now I just sit in the dark and wonder if it’s time. Should I throw out everything we built?

There’s a divide between when they were on the same team, and when she’s been cast adrift. They were working on fixing their problems, but now she alone is burdened with the knowledge that they’ve passed the point of no return. They chose a home to house their future dreams together, but now she’s left all alone in the dark feeling those dreams slip away. They built a life, but now she’s the one having the make the call to take it down.

But it gets progressively darker than that. The line about being a phoenix mending all her own gashes has always jumped out at me, because it connotes her dealing with blow after blow by herself, having to put herself back together each time, the onslaught relentless even if she ultimately overcomes. Yet it’s him who tears her apart for good. The image it paints is of a person continually facing her own struggles on her own, dealing with the fallout like a lone wolf (sorry for the continued animal allusions?), but whatever it is that the subject he does breaks her worse than the thousand cuts she’s experienced before. Even here, the idea is of a person who shoulders her burdens by herself and being praised for it (something something when I used to fight you’d tell me I was brave etc. Even though I know that’s an entirely different situation but it’s also not) or at least being expected to do it, but the subject’s actions — or lack thereof— cut deeper than any of those lonesome fights. She keeps fighting for herself, trying to grow from the hurt, but his “blow” threatens to undo it all in one fell swoop.

Of course, as the song continues, the story expands and becomes one about miscommunication and apathy. I’m not one to believe that every single line in Taylor’s songs is literal; she’s a master at metaphors and scene setup, so as much as some commentary interprets the line about glaring and sending signals as literal and therefore putting the onus on her for not communicating effectively and expecting the person to be a mind reader, I feel like this is where her affinity for being flowery paints a far sadder picture.

She glared at him with storms in her eyes could mean she’s acting pissed but not saying why, but it could just as easily be a metaphor for sharing anger/upset with your partner who refuses to acknowledge its weight. (How can you say that you love someone you can’t tell is dyin’ when it’s right in front of you?) I sent you signals and bit my nails down to the quick could be seen as again not saying what’s wrong and expecting him to pick up on her behaviour, but I also feel it’s an instance where her penchant for emotive language is at play: it’s not that she expected him to read her mind, it’s that she tried every way she could and he still didn’t care. The signals could be that like a lighthouse in a storm: clear and guiding, but dangerous if ignored. She told him in all the ways she could, literal, emotional and physical, that she was wasting away, but he wouldn’t take it seriously. It once again details the experience of a person living through this tragedy completely on her own, whose pain is dismissed at every turn.

Which brings us to, “My face was gray but you wouldn’t admit that we were sick.” It could mean, she was making herself ill and he ignored the reasons why, but as I mentioned in my post earlier, death hangs over the entire song. (There’s a larger essay to be written about that theme alone.) To me, it’s not just that she’s grey because she’s ill, her face is grey because she’s (metaphorically) dead. She’s already died (or the relationship is dead) before he’s even admitted there was anything wrong to fix. She alone is sitting with this realization.

As the song continues, the loneliness with the burden of this knowledge shifts to the loneliness of everything she feels she’s done or felt that’s been ignored or dismissed.

My pain is an imposition. (On you.) I gave you all my best me’s. (And I didn’t get yours in return.) I bled and tried to be the bravest soldier only in your army frontlines. (But you didn’t fight in mine when I needed you.) I’m the best thing at this party. (But you’d never acknowledge I exist.)

By the time she gets to the end of the bridge, she’s fading fast but even as she’s losing the battle, she’s still imploring him to fight for her and them in a last-ditch effort. Show me you’re still with me. But she never gets that answer, because ultimately they’ve lost the pulse, and her heart has stopped. While the song begins with them fundamentally misunderstanding each other, it ends with her confirming her fears in the opening: there is no more we, but there is no more her either. She’s gone, all alone, without anyone there to see it.

In spite of the fact that the song is super catchy and uptempo, with a characteristic banger bridge that is fueled by anger and seeping with resentment, “You’re Losing Me,” is incredibly sad and kind of morose. It leaves such an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, which I imagine is only a fraction of the feeling of the person experiencing the story is.

#me thinking too hard about taylor lyrics #lyrics analysis #taylor swift #Midnights #you’re losing me #writing letters addressed to the fire #Sadly i relate a lot of this song to my mother minus the marriage stuff lmao #it makes me so sad for Taylor because the feelings of loneliness pain and apathy in this song are just so heartbreaking #especially for someone shouldering it alone #and not to compare to current events #but it must be wild to feel some lightness after sitting with all this for so long #Again the death imagery is a lot and I don’t think I’m the person to discuss it #but it’s definitely A Thing

10 notes · View notes

dangerous-advantage · 7 months

Text

i refuse to believe mxtx has not listened to at least one or both of the songs 'viva la vida' by coldplay, and 'pompeii' by bastille. i refuse

#this isn't even me like vaguely connecting lyrics to characters like i love to do (see 'third eye' and 'third eye (demo)' for hua cheng)#like istg i could make a full analysis post about how these two songs (especially the latter)#relate to xie lian and bai wuxiang respectively #i could do it right now #and NO this post was not brought about by my ardent desire to have an actually GOOD mash-up of those two songs #that combines elements of both while keeping a fair balance between both songs.#like come on PLEASE i *need* to listen to a mash-up where the person doing it confidently puts together the respective bridges #it CAN be done and if you do everything else at least semi-well and it sounds smooth then you WILL have created a masterpiece #i would do it myself but i have neither the means nor ability #anyway. didn't mean to ramble off on that tangent.#jk i totally did lmaoooo #this post is about tgcf btw. if you didn't pick up on that. lmao #tgcf #tian guan ci fu #xie lian #bai wuxiang #this post is so vague i feel bad tagging anyone else lmao #hob #heaven official's blessing

11 notes · View notes

ialwaysknewyouwerepunk · 1 year

Text

the greatest - a close reading

AAAAFRGHGGHGH!!!!!! FAITH IN THE FUTURE!!!!!!!!! i just spent three days soaking up these lyrics, and i am just so fucking excited to finally get these analyses on paper and out into the world, black on white hehe. i’m so fucking blown away by the body of work louis’s put out, and the world he’s created, once again, with his lyrics. the unit these songs form is honestly incredible - with every song sounding so different, and telling its own story, while being so connected to each other? it’s a mosaic of a mind. and if you know me, you know i completely lose it over parallels, so you can imagine how this album has hit me ksjhfkjsrhf

if you’re reading this, thank you so much. it really means a lot <3 and keep an eye out for the others, bc they’re on their way!!

ALRIGHT LET’S GO

faith in the future, track 1

LYRIC ANALYSIS

Tell you I’m on my way Nothing could make me late Said I had a plan for us Time it came and changed it all

immediately: central themes on the album are introduced

louis is there for the ones he loves

time - change

"tell you": promise made - he's reliable, takes on the responsibilities that come with relationships

"plan" // "master plan", silver tongues // "25 and it's all planned", jly

We had to disappear Cos nothing gets through here Through that circle round my heart Where the best of me should start

we had to hide our true selves, we had to go in the closet

<> we had to disappear bc my heart hardened, bc of everything that happened i blocked us/love out

i know i'm at my best when i follow my heart - i know that now (lots of the content on walls) - hard on himself for being so guarded

I said you know me Alone we’re only Just as good as the rest

Together we’re the greatest We’ll never be that cold again No falling all to pieces We’re the greatest It’s you and me until the end Life for us is never over

when we come together, our love creates something that surpasses what anyone else is doing, and is better than what any of us might try alone. why should i close off my heart, when that destroys everything that’s great?

cold = alone // "when it gets cold", all this time = darkness = pain

"until the end" // silver tongues // end of the day

The way you know something Your face reminded me Of a love you cannot hide But don’t need to tell me why

when you know, you know

// “it was there i saw it in your eyes”, home

you can't hide your love, but you have to anyway > don't need to tell him why, he knows that story like none other

Back dancing in the dark Back to the very start Finding pieces that can fit Making up for what we missed

// "shadow dances", only the brave

no more falling to pieces, now we're focusing on rebuilding, finding a life that actually works - working to make the relationship as great as it is

"making up for what we missed" - lost time // "it’s not how you spend the time, it’s if you waste it", all this time // too young

I said you know me Alone we’re only Just as good as the rest

Together we’re the greatest We’ll never be that cold again No falling all to pieces We’re the greatest It’s you and me until the end Time for us is never over

letting go of that focus on lost time: looking forward, to all the time we still have left

SYNTHESIS

With The Greatest, Louis has made his statement of intent (as he liked to say of Kill My Mind): we’re the fucking best, but only if we stick together. If we let down our walls and keep them down. He told us on his last album how he’s worked to let his walls crumble down, and on Faith in the Future it’s obvious he still actively has to keep it that way, and that it isn’t always easy. He’s also not always easy on himself - as he discusses in Holding on to Heartache - but with this opening track he wants to shout through those doubts and insecurities and make a stand. This is a fact, because I’ve spoken it into reality. I’ll keep reminding you just as I’ll keep reminding myself. (Which is a sentiment that forms a very thick, secure line through the album.)

Doubts and fears of Louis’s include time, lost time, and the changes that are a result of that. He definitely discusses the pain and loss that can come with change on the album, but here he shakes it off and focuses on what’s to come. We have faith in the future, and to really make that true, we need to believe we have time, a life ahead of us. No matter what happened in the past, including deep grief, like having to hide your love.

I think it’s incredibly powerful he has those lines in his opening track. A loud, clear mention of hidden love, of an unspoken secret kept between those who just know what this is about. Queer signalling at its finest.

The Greatest encompasses so many of the key themes on the album, making it the perfect introduction. Life and love is yours for the taking, but you need to put in the work. You can’t give up. We need to keep going. No matter how much pain there is, how much darkness. No matter how everything keeps changing, and you sometimes lose your way. We’ll use that change in our advantage, we’ll see time as time we still have, instead of something we’ve lost. It’s all about perspective. Oh, yeah, and perhaps the most important part: you can’t do it by yourself. It’s you and me until the end. We can fucking do this.

#lyric analysis #the greatest #WE'RE IN #i finally wrote another analysis :')#feels good #i'm back #lmao yes i'll make this a Moment for me #anyway #i'll post this during the listening party yes #anyways <3 21 more to go lololol #no i won't make all of the bonus tracks #for personal reasons and for AMOUNT reasons #aaaaanygays #long post

85 notes · View notes

plainsimpletaylor · 1 year

Text

Taylor Swift’s single era on Midnights, a lyric analysis

Here’s the thing: I think Taylor Swift has been in her single era for the past few months and she’s already told us about it on Midnights. Here’s an exploration of this theme on the album. (This is a long post but worth it.)

Dear Reader

Let’s start with Dear Reader because the outro is screaming that she’s single. The way Taylor Swift uses her own motifs that she’s been building across her entire career to really hammer this message home that she is alone just destroys me.

To Taylor, going home is going home to a lover. It’s the physical act of making a house a home. It is this gentle, comforting, cozy kind of love. Her specifying that she’s going a house instead of a home underlines that she’s alone. She is physically in a house, but she is not emotionally at home. And no one would take her word for it because her being alone is counter to the public narrative of her six-year relationship.

And just in case she wasn’t clear enough already, she emphasizes that she’s alone yet again by bringing in another of her motifs: that love is a game.

She is no longer playing a two-player game. She’s playing solitaire, which says in the name of the game itself how solitary it is. And then, to underscore this even further, absolutely no one is watching and seeing her play this game. (I have so many more thoughts on this lyric alone, but to avoid tangents here, I’ll write a different post to discuss that further at some point.)

So, with these two lyrics, she has established and emphasized several different ways that she’s alone. She’s single.

Now, let’s look at the lyric in between the two above. This is describing her feeling trapped in her own house. Here’s where Eras Tour visuals come in to align with this song.

‼️ Spoiler warning for eras tour visuals

Going “home” to Taylor has a specific meaning but so does a “house” because of the Lover House that represents her entire body of work so far. The Lover House is the house that Taylor built (or bought with the songs she wrote as she says in the Miss Americana documentary). It’s very significant that she is literally burning down the Lover House every single night at tour, and this lyric in Dear Reader gives more context to this visual.

In Dear Reader, the house is trapping her. Across all her work, Taylor has written over and over about cages and fences and boxes to evoke the feeling of being trapped. I find the use of the word “pen” here to be a very specific choice. "Pen” both means a physical pen locking something away as well as a writing instrument. She feels trapped inside this house that she built with her own writing.

I don’t think she resents her past work — but the narrative the public has created for her from it. Her early work is characterized by fairytale romances and idealizing the idea of marriage as a happy ending. And now, so many people keep expecting her to get married and have kids and retire so she can live out that narrative in real life. But as seen in other songs on Midnights like Lavender Haze, she’s decided that life isn’t for her.

So, she is burning down the Lover House, which represents the pen she feels trapped in, in order to be freed of the expectations the public has for her and have more control of her own public image and narrative.

Lavender Haze

The idea of feeling boxed in or trapped by societal roles and the public’s expectations is exemplified in Lavender Haze.

Her history is the Lover House and her career and the muses people assign to all of those songs. This is also her history of having written about an idealized version of marriage as a picture perfect happy ending. That is the standard to which a lot of the public is holding her to well over a decade later.

And now, she’s telling the public that she no longer wants that idea of marriage or that kind of happy ending. The lyric above is a critique of the entire societal standard that still categorizes women into two distinct boxes: either you’re the femme fatale temptress or the doting housewife. And she’d rather talk about anything else than whether or not she’ll get married.

She’s damned, or trapped, if she cares about the public’s expectations. She’ll be shoved into one of those two boxes: the temptress that can’t ever hold down a man or a doting housewife that’s expected to retire from her highly successful career in order to have children and that perfect happy ending.

And she especially does not want to be the housewife type figure. She directly says that doesn’t want that 1950s shit. It’s clear to me from this song that she wants to be successful in her career and just be herself without having all these expectations and gender roles forced upon her.

Lavender Haze is all about rejecting the traditional idea of marriage and charting her own path in life that’s outside of the public’s expectations. And the music video’s visuals support this, especially when the last shot is of her alone and seemingly happy without a lover.

This theme of rejecting the narrative that the public wants for her exists throughout Midnights because the album is about nights across her life, and her entire life has been shaped by her relationship with fame.

Midnight Rain

Obviously, the song that most directly echoes Lavender Haze in terms of rejecting the idea of marriage is Midnight Rain.

I don’t think Midnight Rain is about a recent time in her life, but she still chose to include a song about this on the album to further contribute to this theme of taking her narrative into her own hands. Midnight Rain positions Taylor as a complete opposite to the lover in the song — and by extension her career as opposite to that idealized fairytale happy ending type of romance.

Bejeweled

The entirety of Bejeweled sounds like it’s reflecting on a break up and getting back out there afterward. But for being in her single era, this one lyric stands out. And if you change the punctuation in “I don’t remember,” it can have two different meanings.

“I don’t remember” = whether or not she has a man is so unimportant she doesn’t remember for sure if she does or not

“I don’t, remember?” = I don’t have a man, why don’t you remember that?

The Bejeweled music video is also directly countering the fairytale happy ending romance. It’s a retelling of Cinderella where she ends up happy and alone. She literally turns down a proposal from the prince so that she can have her castle she won with her talent all to herself with her dragons/cats. That’s very single era to me.

You’re On Your Own, Kid

YOYOK is basically a pep talk she’s giving to her self about how she’s always been alone and how she can still be okay being alone. (cw: ed mention)

This specific lyric gets me because it’s once again a rejection of that idealized fairytale happy ending. Romance isn’t going to suddenly heal her like in the stories because real life isn’t a fairytale. Perfect magical kisses don’t exist.

At the end of the song, she realizes she’s always been alone and that’s a source of comfort. She’s always had the tools to handle whatever life throws at her all on her own.

Taylor Swift is in her single era, and that’s okay!

I realize after writing all this out that it sounds like she’s sad in being single, but I don’t think she is. Every single one of these songs, aside from Dear Reader, has an upbeat note to it in the production and melody as well as some of the lyrics. Dear Reader can come back around to being upbeat with the Eras Tour visuals of her burning down the Lover House and being freed from everyone’s expectations.

Each and every piece of this is an example of her reclaiming her narrative for herself — and working to define her career not by any of her relationships or the public’s expectations, but by what she wants and her talent and her artistry. She wants to stand alone and proud on her own. That is definitely a happy thing.

#taylor swift lyric analysis #eras tour spoilers #cw: ed mention #taylor swift lyrics #taylor swift analysis #midnights #dear reader #lavender haze #lover house #taylor swift #bejewled music video #Taylor swift is a poet goddamnit #tswift motif: home #tswift motif: love is a game #I’m personally so ready for her single era

23 notes · View notes

cleric4vampire · 4 months

Note

21, 22 and 30 for your durge c:

thank you so much!! <3

21. What are 2-3 songs that your Dark Urge would relate to?

You are a hero to me for asking this hahaha I already answered it but this is the perfect excuse to ramble on about more songs 😌 When theorizing or writing about durge!Aune, I choose to characterize the Dark Urge as a mostly seperate entity that exists within her. (I love how there are so many different ways for different players to envision the Urge itself, whether it's an external being or synonymous with your character.) Since waking on the beach, Aune is pretty damn traumatized by her violent thoughts and desires. Her method of coping with it is to seperate her conscious thought from this entity. (Of course, that comes with a whole host of problems as well.) She spends the journey constantly questioning if there really is this malign force inside of her, or if it's just been her the entire time. When she's really lost in the sauce (so to speak lol; sauce in this case being blood), the two internal voices merge together as one. It's interesting because it seems "healthier" in a lot of ways; there's less discord and disconnect going on in her brain, at least until the ecstasy of the moment wears off. (An interesting conversation to be had about responsibility & guilt & exactly how much Durge is bound to their darker desires.) ANYWAAAYS here are some songs that I think encapsulate the above very well:

Honeywell by Clem Turner is what I imagine the Urge telling Aune soon after waking; an introduction of sorts, and a seductive pleading to let the Urge fully integrate with Aune. Mm, here I am to bring Psychosomatic freedom to your head May I be of service, newlywed? See me as a host to all your greatest dreams [...] I may not be of great design but I can offer some advice Keep yourself inside the ride or else you'll lose your mind [...] I may not be of stable mind But I can promise that you're mine Trust my voice inside your head Take me with you instead [...] May I be of use? May I creep into your open hand And bid you take me to the grave? [...] Get it through your pretty head Take me with you instead Forget her, she's gone Forgive me, dear stranger Now, turn me back on

The Culling by Chelsea Wolfe is when the border between Aune and the Urge are less discernible; I picture this as a conversation between the two except you don't know who is talking at any given time. (It's also a pretty good representation of how the Urge talks about/to Astarion.) Dead eyes, I only call you when you’re in my dreams Died too young, the culling then, it was obscene I am depleted by love I am depleted by love I’ll never tell the secrets of my family Bled out, a cult of anonymity The kettle is wheeling, my love Riding on the back of a hell they caused One ear to the ground One eye on the room My tongue on your pulse My finger in your wound Sweet dead eyes, I long to hear you again Sweet dead eyes, I long to see your face Sweet dead eyes, I long for that illustrious hiss Sweet dead eyes, I know you feel it No turning back, only God knows what we're headed for The flowers bloom, the sun rises

All Things Devour by aeseaes is Aune reflecting on the destruction the Urge leaves in its wake. Drying, dusty / Heart beside me Dead streets carving / Bitter bright wings Worms and spiders / Spin inside her Like the story / Make me holy This thing all things devours This thing all things devours Devours This thing, taker / Pollinator Starving flowers / Hear them howling (Yes, this song references Gollum's riddle on time!) I really like this one because it speaks on the inevitability of time, of death and decay — forces that are significant to Aune as a spore druid. But there's an ominous or gloomy quality to the song (to me, anyway). The repetition of "devours"; the significance of "taker"; the mention of "pollinator" is perhaps uplifting, but it is immediately replaced by the image of "'starving' flowers 'howling'". Aune is a servant to life, death, decay, and rebirth, meaning she has a unique outlook on things that others might find upsetting. But the Urge takes and takes and takes and gives nothing in return. There is no rebirth. It's unnatural and disruptive. She doesn't want to be the champion of wanton violence or the bringer of perverse death.

22. What first impression does your Dark Urge give off to strangers?

Scary, off-putting, intimidating, dark, sad. She's always wearing dark, muted colors, if not an outfit of all black. Aune's neutral expression is a scowl or a frown and she doesn't smile or laugh in public (at first, because she doesn't remember how; later, because she thinks it's too vulnerable). She's also got an aura about her that is just straight up unsettling (it's the spores). Most people are either intimidated or frightened of her, but if you move past that and spend five minutes around her, it doesn't take much to realize she's just a sad person/clearly suffering through something. (Aune is our precious little edgelord who is not really an edgelord; she doesn't know how to deal with her BIG feelings is all.)

30. What are your Dark Urge’s intentions/goals after the end of the game?

I'm still in Act Two so I have no idea! 😅 Hopefully there's some peace and happiness in her future...

#laughing at myself because I could just post the names of the songs and go #like a normal person #but lyric analysis is a beloved hobby of mine so unfortunately I gotta take it to 100 every time #oc: durge!aune

4 notes · View notes