Great song, but I always felt it had kind of a pedophile vibe to it. I mean there's a kind of underlying...sinisterness.. about it, like its sung by an older guy walking past a kids playground. I think it would suit that film "Lolita" very well. Maybe it's just me.
This song does and always will mean a great deal to me. Whenever I hear it, I feel as though I'm in a trance. bittersweet.
I'm pretty convinced that it's about being in an extremely intense sexual relationship at a very young age and just becoming so completely powerless and rapt in those feelings of lust and admiration for the other person. it perfectly captures that unique and adventurous stage in some teen's lives when things are really heating up with their "high school lover" to the point that any inhibitions about losing one's virginity melts away. Suddenly, the main priority is being with that person by any means possible, and it doesn't matter where or when you hook up so long as you get your physical fix. "playground love" is about some hardcore chemistry that many people can only dream about.
and sure, adults of all ages can form romantic relations, but I think there's a reason for the specificity in the lyrics leaning towards youth. There is something to be said for that first time and the first person you ever get close to (like that). It's like some sort of unreal dream world and those experiences will always stands out and stay with you.
It just isn't the same when you get older.
I think this song just perfectly illustrates a seemingly slow-motioned moment where you see the person you love and all they mean to you. It reminds me of Royal Tenenbaums when Gwyneth Paltrow steps off the bus. It just relates the dreamy, hazy, astonishingly deep feeling of yearning and satisfaction and nostalgia and love.
Playground Love by Air is one of that songs which gives me the chills even after a few years. It's that creepy, slow, mindbreaking song which i wont get tired of.
Very well done song.
Am I the only one who feels really sad, even depressed by this song?
Memories/feelings of unrequited love and desperate shyness i suffered through in school.
It gives me goosebumps, but in a kind of bad way. I just want to cry when I hear it. (especially the lyrics "yet my hand are shaking...")
Reminds me of trying to talk to my crush in 4th grade.
My first girlfriend also loved Virgin Suicides and Air (which I originally showed to her.) and we had a pretty rough relationship + break up.
I know I'm sappy. But only a few songs effect this part of me so strongly.
This song will always remind me of my husband because when we first got together, he was 16 and in high school and I was 22. He was my high school lover and now, 7 yrs later we are married with a child and every time I hear this song, it's so nostalgic for me because I listened to the Virgin Suicides Soundtrack over and over when we first got together. It reminds me of smoking lots of hash and making love to my high school lover long ago.
Playground love.
A metaphor for naive love, like the first time you had a crush on someone or kissed a girl. The excitement of a person whose thrall makes you feel helpless in their presence. The kind of love where you have no reservations, you believe in it, you're not afraid of being hurt, just living in the moment.
Alternatively, playground, as in, a place to act out without care. A sandbox within which your actions will remain confined. A woman you keep on the side, a fling, some sort of passionate but probably short lived romance. Think Las Vegas.
The song is obviously about being young, dumb, irresponsible and in love for the first time. Ya know...everybody remembers their first crush, first date, or first kiss, first real relationship etc no matter how short, silly or brief it was... for some reason the first is always the one you remember the most. The song catches the spirit and mood of this perfectly, the whole puppy love phase you go through in your early to late teens. And the melancholy and even painful feeling of accepting you must grow up and move on in life and knowing the reality that nothing last forever no matter how strong it was. That's what this song is talking about... And possibly even about the first person you lost your Virginity to as well and the magical feeling it can be. Everybody has that one person who is and will forever be their "Playground Love" even if you no longer have anything to do with that person and have gone your separate ways in life and love...still you catch yourself filled with the nostalgia of thinking about that person as the years go by...
it's my song with my ex LJ,and it's funny coz we met again after separated for so many years and we've been friends since childhood and fell in love when we're adult.And I really love the movie Virgin Suicides,I think it's simply fantastic.
