Final

     The six songs I have chosen are in relation to the themes of heartbreak and breakups. All have a slightly different way of conveying their meaning, as some are about being heartbroken while others are about breaking the other person’s heart. While there are many songs that I know of that are about or are related to heartbreak, I chose the six songs that speak to me the most. The genres of the songs I chose are indie, pop-punk, alternative, acoustic, and metal.

     (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Q2Ytdyf2Q) Starting with my personal favorite, “Tiny Vessels” by Death Cab for Cutie. This song has a hidden meaning, which requires you to delve deeper into the song to get the perspective of the narrator. Basically, he had met this girl when he was staying at Silver Lake in California who he was not connected to emotionally. His feelings for her are purely physical, nothing else. They spent a lot of time together, and he even told her that he loved her when he didn’t. He thinks he should love her though; she is very beautiful. Because of this he tries to force love. Yet, no matter how beautiful she was, there was no part of him that wanted her emotionally. He even says and repeats lines such as “Yeah, she is beautiful but she don't mean a thing to me”. He says their relationship was “vile” and “cheap”, and they meet once more before he leaves her. “Tiny vessels oozed into your neck and formed the bruises that you said you didn’t want to fade, but they did and so did I that day” is comparing the hickeys he gave her to him leaving. Bruises fade, and so did he.

     (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1LKE7kJN88) Next, the song “The Old Gospel Choir” by Modern Baseball also conveys heartbreak, but in a completely different way than the previous song. While “Tiny Vessels” was about the narrator hurting someone else, this song shows the narrator being involved in a breakup in which he takes harshly. He reflects on their relationship and wonders if maybe only his heart was broken during the breakup and his ex never cared from the start. The lines “Breaking up never felt so cruel. And now I'm tired, and now I'm dead to me” shows how much of a toll this situation had on him, and how sick and tired his is of wondering what was and what wasn’t. “You sure ain't dead to me” goes to show that no matter how mad or upset he is at this girl, he doesn’t hate her. He wants to, but he doesn’t. In this song, the narrator ends up in heartbreak.

     (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21YJcWdiNfI) A Day To Remember’s song “If It Means A Lot To You” is probably their most famous song. It’s an acoustic song, which differs from their usual alternative-rock style. This song speaks to a lot of people who have been through a similar situation relating to being far away from someone you love. In this song, the narrator is in a long distance relationship because he’s always on tours and doing things for his music career. No matter how much they’re in love with each other, his girlfriend decides that she can’t live on like this, and that they need to call off the relationship in order to move on with their lives. Obviously the narrator is devastated, and he pretty much begs her to wait for him. The lines “You know you can't give me what I need. And even though you mean so much to me, I can't wait through everything” is in the perspective of his girlfriend, which shows that even though it hurts her to leave him, it’s what is best. Though both reluctant and confident, she calls it off with him.

     (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BKWMSdRZmM) In “Deathbeds” by Bring Me the Horizon, it’s a completely different genre than what they normally play. Metal-based songs are their forte, which is pretty much the opposite of this slow, soft song. Basically, the narrator is in love with someone he doesn’t want to be in love with. There’s this weird hatred in his words as he sings lines such as “I watch you like a hawk, I watch you like I'm gonna tear you limb from limb”, which shows how he looks at her almost as prey, and he’s becoming obsessed. But then, there is pain and sadness in the lines “And on my deathbed, all I'll see is you. The life may leave my lungs, but my heart will stay with you”. This stanza represents that even when he’s on his deathbed, she’s all that will matter to him. And if he does die, he will continue loving her in his afterlife. He doesn’t want to feel this way though; the narrator is torn between love and hatred and pain, and wishes that he could feel differently about this person. But he wants and craves her, making it impossible to get her off of his mind for even a split-second. He’s in love and heartbroken at the same time.

     (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVcfPSFdcVk&index=9&list=PL63FC68CEF1696533) The song “Quick Fix” by The Daylights pertains to the concept of unrequited love. The narrator feels himself falling in love with this girl, and wants to spend his life with her. Unfortunately, she does not share the same feelings, as she only wants a hook up. This is shown in the stanzas “I want something that'll last forever, you just want a quick fix”, which is repeated several times throughout the song. She lives her life almost scared of reality, so she puts off this character that is a lot different than her usual self. She relies on drugs and sex to cover up her pain, hence the lines “So throw away your cheap champagne, sleeping pills, fake friends, cocaine. Light a match in kerosene and let it burn”. Unfortunately, the narrator has fallen for whom she really is, but she’s scared of the commitment. It’s sad on both parts, and no matter how badly he wishes she would throw away her fake life, she won’t do so. He ends up giving up on her, though distraught and reluctant to do so.

     (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KJKTvbk_Us) Lastly, I chose “Navy Blue” by The Story So Far. This song is from their acoustic album, “Songs Of”. The song is about a break up in which the narrator cannot seem to get over. He can’t move on, despite the fact that his ex-girlfriend has already done so, and he doesn’t know what he should do to get the thoughts of her out of his head. He turns to alcohol, presented in the stanza “Now I just abuse substances to drown out your accomplishments, however few”. All of this frustrates me bad, cause I can't stay mad at you or change anything that I had” which says that no matter all of the pain that she’s caused him, he can’t seem to stay mad at her. He tries his best to remove her from all of his memories and to forget about her, but all of his attempts end in failure. If it’s something serious then hit me up, but until then the door is shut, forget my room” basically means that if there is something seriously wrong, then he’ll be there for her. But as an attempt to move on, he tells her he doesn’t want to see or talk to her until then. It’s quite a depressing song, but it portrays his feelings perfectly.

     All of these six songs fall into the category of heartbreak in some shape or form. Whether the narrator ends up getting hurt or vice versa, these songs are all similar to each other in a way. For example, “Navy Blue” and “The Old Gospel Choir” both pertain to being dumped and taking it harshly. They’re not able to get over their ex, and they’re affected immensely by the toll the break-up has had on them. It shows that no matter what may happen to two people, love can still exist, even if it’s in the form of unrequited love. Those two songs are the most similar out of the six. “If It Means A Lot To You” is similar to “Navy Blue”, “The Old Gospel Choir”, and “Quick Fix” in the sense that in all of those songs, the narrator ends up in heartbreak. On the other hand, “Tiny Vessels” is a song in which the narrator ends up hurting the other person. “Deathbeds” is probably the song least related to the others, as it refers to not wanting to be in love and hating himself in the process. In conclusion, all of these songs are similar to each other in the sense that heartbreak is present in each song.