There is a twist to this song that is not readily apparent unless you take the song as a whole. In the first lines, for example, she says she has found love many times before, and so it is not a surprise that she has found it again. What is such a line doing in a song about the endurance of love? In fact she is not speaking about other lovers, but about the cycles of one particular relationship. When she says 'And I am making an effort to stay with you here / It has been easy to say that I could never lose sight of what my heart truly is', she may be speaking to the difficulty of maintaining their bond even though there have been plenty of times that the truth of her heart - their love - is perfectly clear. The song then proceeds in two parts, naming the conditions ('when you step away') in which they find themselves as separate people.
Here Angel Olsen gestures towards what Judith Butler has said so eloquently about loss, even if she doesn't draw out the implications as Butler has done:
"...when we undergo what we do, something about who we are is revealed, something that delineates the ties we have to others, that shows us that these ties constitute what we are, ties or bonds that compose us. It is not as if an 'I' exists independently over here and then simply loses a 'you' over there, especially if the attachment to 'you' is part of what composes who 'I' am. If I lose you, under these conditions, then I not only mourn the loss, but I become inscrutable to myself. Who 'am' I, without you?" (from Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence)
We must also ask about silence. The lovers are now estranged. It appears that in the past they have spoken to each other through song. Perhaps they sang to each other; perhaps they opened each other's worlds through music. So tightly does the experience of music bind them to one another that even in silence, even with the distance that separates them, even then...There is song.
@hearsong came here hoping someone had a take on this track as it's speaking so loudly to me, currently. so thank you for taking the time to share your interpretation. I'd like to add my 2 cents if you ever find yourself back here to read.
@hearsong came here hoping someone had a take on this track as it's speaking so loudly to me, currently. so thank you for taking the time to share your interpretation. I'd like to add my 2 cents if you ever find yourself back here to read.
First, I don't find her unsurprised to have found love again.. she states pretty clearly that she was sure she wouldn't.. as I do feel the song as a whole speaks about one relationship, she could definitely have had love before this specific relationship and didn't think she'd find it again.
First, I don't find her unsurprised to have found love again.. she states pretty clearly that she was sure she wouldn't.. as I do feel the song as a whole speaks about one relationship, she could definitely have had love before this specific relationship and didn't think she'd find it again.
Agree with you on...
Agree with you on the rest, and your additional comment about the truth of her heart being not necessarily about the love between them but moreso something shameful/dark.. I find that extremely haunting and resonant. This song is speaking so directly to something strange that I'm experiencing. I can feel a guilt residing in my lover's heart likely about a past trauma that our love covered up for many months and being long distance, when we part, it's right back to facing the often dark inner realities of her current world. I'm over here doing the same but it can all so easily get convoluted when communication isn't a priority (usually due to subconscious avoidance in my experience). We share a ton of music and song has very much so been a love language for us. It remains an important communication tool especially now when the words aren't as easy to come by as they were. I also think the track's final lines about not being home and knowing where you belong bring a hopeful tone to things. It's that knowing, that deep soul level certainty of knowing that home lays in the arms of your truest lover, that can help you keep clawing out of your own darkness and back to love.
There is a twist to this song that is not readily apparent unless you take the song as a whole. In the first lines, for example, she says she has found love many times before, and so it is not a surprise that she has found it again. What is such a line doing in a song about the endurance of love? In fact she is not speaking about other lovers, but about the cycles of one particular relationship. When she says 'And I am making an effort to stay with you here / It has been easy to say that I could never lose sight of what my heart truly is', she may be speaking to the difficulty of maintaining their bond even though there have been plenty of times that the truth of her heart - their love - is perfectly clear. The song then proceeds in two parts, naming the conditions ('when you step away') in which they find themselves as separate people.
Here Angel Olsen gestures towards what Judith Butler has said so eloquently about loss, even if she doesn't draw out the implications as Butler has done:
"...when we undergo what we do, something about who we are is revealed, something that delineates the ties we have to others, that shows us that these ties constitute what we are, ties or bonds that compose us. It is not as if an 'I' exists independently over here and then simply loses a 'you' over there, especially if the attachment to 'you' is part of what composes who 'I' am. If I lose you, under these conditions, then I not only mourn the loss, but I become inscrutable to myself. Who 'am' I, without you?" (from Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence)
We must also ask about silence. The lovers are now estranged. It appears that in the past they have spoken to each other through song. Perhaps they sang to each other; perhaps they opened each other's worlds through music. So tightly does the experience of music bind them to one another that even in silence, even with the distance that separates them, even then...There is song.
Can you hear me?
@hearsong came here hoping someone had a take on this track as it's speaking so loudly to me, currently. so thank you for taking the time to share your interpretation. I'd like to add my 2 cents if you ever find yourself back here to read.
@hearsong came here hoping someone had a take on this track as it's speaking so loudly to me, currently. so thank you for taking the time to share your interpretation. I'd like to add my 2 cents if you ever find yourself back here to read.
First, I don't find her unsurprised to have found love again.. she states pretty clearly that she was sure she wouldn't.. as I do feel the song as a whole speaks about one relationship, she could definitely have had love before this specific relationship and didn't think she'd find it again.
First, I don't find her unsurprised to have found love again.. she states pretty clearly that she was sure she wouldn't.. as I do feel the song as a whole speaks about one relationship, she could definitely have had love before this specific relationship and didn't think she'd find it again.
Agree with you on...
Agree with you on the rest, and your additional comment about the truth of her heart being not necessarily about the love between them but moreso something shameful/dark.. I find that extremely haunting and resonant. This song is speaking so directly to something strange that I'm experiencing. I can feel a guilt residing in my lover's heart likely about a past trauma that our love covered up for many months and being long distance, when we part, it's right back to facing the often dark inner realities of her current world. I'm over here doing the same but it can all so easily get convoluted when communication isn't a priority (usually due to subconscious avoidance in my experience). We share a ton of music and song has very much so been a love language for us. It remains an important communication tool especially now when the words aren't as easy to come by as they were. I also think the track's final lines about not being home and knowing where you belong bring a hopeful tone to things. It's that knowing, that deep soul level certainty of knowing that home lays in the arms of your truest lover, that can help you keep clawing out of your own darkness and back to love.