Even in the Shadows

While this song is clearly about grief ("Wonder why this love is over"), and most likely a break-up ("I turn around to find you walk away"), it's an eerily peppy tune for it. So I think the emphasis is meant to be on the word "could" in the chorus. The singer COULD just keep falling in love or falling over themselves over this person they know they need to let go of, but they realize they have the choice. To me, this is a song of empowerment. You COULD be overwhelmed by the grief, and it is SO tempting to do so, to envelope yourself in the sense of love you once had, the sorrow in it's loss, the confusion in how it could end... but that also means you have the choice Not To. Sometimes in grief you find yourself plagued with highs and lows, and the highs can be just as bad because you feel guilt for them, as if they mean you didn't care as much as you thought you did, or that you're letting go just as easily as the other person who you feel abandoned you, as if that's justifying them. You COULD look at it that way and stay stuck in the lows if you choose to. This song says to me that you COULD choose to accept the lows, the grief, AS WELL AS the love that you felt and that it wasn't your choice that things ended, or that if it was you can do so with the confidence you're doing the right thing. You CAN give yourself peace. And even then you can still look back with love and sadness, guilt, or whatever feelings you may have.

I appreciate that the song doesn't say it explicitly, doesn't resolve anything, just repeats over and over that the choice is yours. It's a judgement-free empowerment. You can even choose to be overwhelmed with grief right now, and that's okay, too. As many times as you need to until you're ready, if you're ever ready. It's your choice. Yours. You COULD choose to move on, but you COULD choose to carry your grief with you always. And there's peace in that, too.

Enya told Hot Press in 2015: "Ah, that's a breakup song. I've never done a breakup song before."

I think that's really all it is - Enya's interpretation of something we've all been through. "I could fall and keep on falling...I could call and keep on calling..." It's almost odd to think about Enya breaking up with someone since she's so private, but I'm sure it's happened to her. We can all be stupid in love; she's probably no different.

As with 99% of her other songs, I really enjoy that Roma Ryan (her lyricist) leaves the words so open ended, that way you can insert your own story into them. But this one is pretty straight forward.

Why did this love not work out? Will I be able to get over it? Does time really heal everything? Will there be another great love?

This is also easily one of the best tracks of Enya's career and a big fan favorite.