#I really like this song | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shadowetienne · 10 months ago

Text

OnlyOneOf "gravity" Lyrical and Thematic Analysis

This follows after my post on "O" (which also links back to previous posts in this set). Like I've mentioned previously, there's a few things to keep in mind with the lens through which I'm examining the songs in the Things I Can't Say LOve album.

I am viewing the songs in this album as a story progression, so if you’ve not read my other thematic thoughts up to now, might be worth going back to them for some context.

Like I mentioned in my previous analyses, I am looking at this through a queer lens, if you want to do a non queer reading, good for you, that’s not what I’m discussing here.

"gravity" is probably my second favorite song on the album (after "O"), and it's definitely a song that I find interesting in that I feel like it has a lot of possible, open ended interpretations. That's an interesting place to end an album!

If you've not listened to the song yet, here's the official version:

youtube

And here is the wonderful translation done by Imbabey on YouTube that I used for reference:

youtube

I will note here, that there is one specific place that I disagreed with this translation upon consultation with @redeim, and I will be substituting. I will make sure to clearly notate that in my analysis.

As always, I really appreciate hearing other people's thoughts on the song, whether we agree or not! Like I said above, this song has a lot of potential interpretations, and I'm only going to touch on a few of them.

The rest is under the cut for length:

SONG STRUCTURE

This is another song with an interesting structure. My breakdown of the structure of this song goes as follows:

Verse 1 (part 1 & 2) > Chorus 1 > Verse 2 (part 1 & 2) > Chorus 2 > Post-Chorus 1 > Verse 3 > Chorus 3 > Post-Chorus 2

I don't know entirely if a post-chorus is the correct term here, but I'm trying to echo the idea of a prechorus except it comes after the chorus. Basically it's sort of a secondary chorus, also repeated lines.

It seems fitting that the conclusion song sort of reverses the normal order of things to wrap up the ideas. Those repeated lines of the Chorus and Post-Chorus carry a lot of the overall idea of the song, while the Verses show the story progression.

VERSE 1

This verse sets up the structure of the relationship between the narrator and his object of affection.

I go to you before I know it No need to say it, I'll probably keep getting attracted to you again and again Somehow it became so The relationship between you and me I wonder, can something like this work?

Throughout this song, there are notions of inevitability and the attraction, like gravity is natural, or perhaps an instinct. It's not something that the narrator was seeking out. And the narrator is scared of this on some level. He's uncertain that it will be alright, and he's questions "can something like this work?"

As part of the queer reading of this album, can the narrator, who has slowly tried to accept himself in a society that doesn't want him to be the way he is, be in a relationship with lasting power and comfort? He keeps getting drawn to this person, it feels like there is the potential for something between them, but he doesn't have a good answer to whether it would be OK. He's also scared of taking an active role in forming a relationship.

I look around It was as if something pulled me by the edge Just like that Gradually While I wondered what to do

The narrator keeps putting emphasis on the fact that he was drawn into this, he didn't actively pursue it. It happened "gradually" and it sort of happened to him. It's interesting that at first here, he's removing his own agency from the situation. He doesn't want to be blamed for this relationship (that he's not quite in yet).

He's still really uncertain about what he should do at this point, but he definitely has realized that he's been drawn to the object of his affection, despite perhaps trying to hold himself away from relationships.

CHORUS

I'm drawn to you like gravity, gravity yea I tried to avoid it Don't be like that, let me go I'm drawn to you like gravity, gravity yea You who doesn't fall easily I'm getting it nice up space oh yea

The big idea portrayed to me in this chorus is a feeling of inevitability. The narrator doesn't intend to fall for the person he is addressing here. He is just drawn towards them, attracted whether he wants to be or not.

Looking back at the themes in the album, this definitely does mirror some of the ideas of figuring out queer attraction for the first time. He wasn't expecting it at first, and with the position that society puts him in, he's not sure that he wants this, but it's there.

If the chorus ended at "let me go," it would feel like he was still fighting the idea of being queer, but the chorus continues. At this point, a lot of his concerns seem to go towards "You who doesn't fall easily." He's more worried about not having his affections potentially returned than who it is he's developed feelings for.

I will admit, the last line of the chorus absolutely baffles me. If I interpret it as missing at least one key word for sense, I could read it as "I'm getting it, nice up [in] space," which still is a little baffling, but gives me something to work with, especially because OnlyOneOf has had so many lyrics having to do with space in general, and it brings to mind the mentions of quasars in some of their lyrics, so something with pretty much inevitable gravitational pull.

If I'm parsing that final line, as the narrator is drawn to the object of his affection, maybe he realizes that that feeling of inevitable gravitational pull is actually leading him to something, he's actually able to "get it," what he desires.

However, I feel like, especially with the hard to understand final line that is very open to interpretation because of it, the chorus is left with an open ended message. Is being drawn to this person going to lead to something good? Can it? I don't know for sure if the narrator knows throughout the course of the song.

VERSE 2

During this verse, we see the narrator trying to hide from his own feelings a bit, and also bringing my mind back to the album title.

How about expressing it with a picture? Something random comes to mind I follow you like this As I'm pulled by gravity

The narrator doesn't have the words for what he's feeling, or is at least afraid of putting words to it. This brings me back to that theme throughout the album of "things I can't say [about] love." All the narrator feels that he can do is try to find some way to show his feelings that keeps the plausible deniability of not having specific words attached to it. He's just drawn in, and he's trying to show that with imagery (also "drawn" as a double meaning, making a picture versus pulled towards).

Don't bother looking for me Well hidden but I won't be able to run You know it What do I do? **

[** this is the line that I have changed from the translation I am referencing. "Ottoke" was translated as "Oh my" in the translation above, but after conferencing with Redeim about this, I feel like this is a stronger translation for conveying the meaning of the song.]

The narrator is trying to hide from the possibility of this relationship, but he also says, "You know it." He might be hiding from society, trying to be safe. Looking back at "O" we know that the narrator had tried to isolate himself, and this hiding feels like it might be a continuation of that.

That "What do I do?" is such an important question to this song. The narrator is trying to decide how to handle his attraction, how to handle this feeling that he's not really allowed to talk about and feels he has to hid. It starts to bring back his agency in the song as well. He may not have decided yet, but he's now thinking about his own actions in this situation.

VERSE 3

This verse really brings me to the idea of the narrator being scared. He's realized that he's feeling inevitably drawn towards the object of his affections, his feelings are getting deeper throughout the Chorus, and the first iteration of the Pre-Chorus, no matter what he tries.

I count you and get broken Without being able to run away like this, still Oh I'm slowly straying away from you

It's very interesting because if this was where things ended, it would feel like he'd decided to actually leave, to take the effort to get out and away from those feelings of being drawn in, but because this is followed by another Chorus and Post-Chorus, to me it reads like the narrator tries to pull away because he's afraid. He's been broken by failing relationships, and his relationship with attraction and society before. He's scared this will be no different, and he's trying to slowly back away, but we go right back into the Chorus and know that he is drawn in again, no matter what.

POST-CHORUS

Na, na, na, na, na yea Na, na, na, na, na yea I let myself loose As I'm pulled by gravity Na, na, na, na, na yea Na, na, na, na, na yea It's not like I'm reaching towards you I'm just pulled by gravity [to you*]

[* "to you" is only included in the second Post-Chorus, ending the song]

The Post-Chorus appears after the second and third Choruses, it is almost identical, however, the addition of "to you" on the second Post-Chorus adds a little bit of finality to the narrator being drawn to the object of his affections that he's speaking to. I makes me think that at the end of the song, he's indeed ending up together with that person that he's been drawn to.

The Post-Chorus is only introduced after Verse 2, so in a way, it feels like a response to the question of "What do I do?" posed at the end of Verse 2. And following Verse 3, it seems to bring back the inevitability of this connection, how it just seems meant to be. Even when the narrator attempts to look elsewhere, he is just drawn back.

In some ways, this seems almost like an idea of soulmates. Of someone who is just such a good fit that the narrator is just naturally drawn to that person. That they were always going to end up together, it just took some time with that slow pull and also with the narrator needing to figure himself out over the course of the previous songs. This is the opposite of "dOpamine" where the narrator is making decisions in a sudden rush, it's not broken or falling apart or trying to be anything other than what feels natural. It's comfort and security that builds slowly in a relationship that develops naturally, perhaps between friends.

However, this could also be read in a way as being reeled back in over and over to a relationship that maybe isn't a great but is secure on some level, that even if the narrator tries to leave, it's too much work to get out of the gravity well of the relationship. I personally like the reading of slowly falling into the meant to be relationship better just because I like the hopeful option, but I can see this take too.

Some interesting notes about the lyrics specifically:

"I let myself loose" in contrast to the ideas of "let me go" (Chorus) or "slowly straying away from you" (Verse 3) -- when the narrator lets himself loose from constraints he's put on himself, he's "pulled by gravity"

"It's not like I'm reaching towards you" gives me a distinct feeling that the narrator on some level doesn't want to acknowledge, at least outwardly that he's drawn to his object of affection. He's drawn back in and drawn back in, but he's not sure if it is safe for him. Considering the fear of loneliness that is present in the album moving up to here, the fear of rejection, maybe it's frightening to seem to be actively seeking a queer relationship

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Is this song romantic? Is this song about a relationship with the potential to be good and healthy?

I don't know honestly.

I do feel like I've got a little bit of a personal tie between this song and Rie and Junji's cover of "Betelgeuse"

youtube

It's also a song that talks about the inevitability of being drawn together by gravity (if you look in the comments on that video, you will find an English translation of the lyrics).

Both songs are not about big romantic declarations, but are about a subtle inevitability of a relationship that feels right and you are drawn into. I feel like the fact that these two connect for me is a really strong point for "gravity" being a song about slowly falling into a connection that will be good for the narrator, but he has to be strong enough, bold enough to accept it.

This song is really about the opposite end of the relationship spectrum from "dOpamine" though. Where "dOpamine" is all about building excitement and new relationships and the discovery of potential without much necessary stability for staying power, "gravity" focuses on a much calmer, more comfortable place, where a stable relationship could grow.

Again, I feel like there are much more negative interpretations of this song that make sense, but I like the hopeful one, the one where the narrator can have his happy ending that he thought society's expectations had taken away from him, except it's not an ending, it's a life.

As always, I'd love to hear your takes on this song! I'd love to hear what you noticed in the lyrics!

#OnlyOneOf #gravity lyrical analysis #Things I Can't Say LOve album #I really like this song #and I do like that there's a soft sweetness to it #even if the lyrics are open to so many different interpretations #Youtube

6 notes · View notes

quibbs126 · 2 years ago

Text

*sigh*

I’m pretty sure I’m only going to pass a single class this semester. I mean thankfully it’s the one that’s worth the most credit hours, about equal to the other two combined, but still. I dropped the other two classes I knew I wasn’t going to do good in, and I’m going to do them during the summer

They say freshman year is the most important year, and I wasted it. I wasted it all. Especially this semester

And it’s all because I’m so lazy. Like, for example, for that one class, we need to read books, and even though I didn’t really read the books for the last two exams and still did well, just following the notes, I had a much harder time following the professor this round, given he was just blazing through the stuff faster than I could write, so I need to get them to fully understand the books. And they aren’t public domain or anything, so I can’t just read them for free online. Anyways, so I can’t find them in the library (or at least ones that aren’t already checked out), and so I was going to check out book stores for them. There’s one close by (I say that, but it’s a 30 minute walk), and it probably has the books, and I told myself Tuesday that I would go get them. It’s Thursday night and I still haven’t bothered to go get them. It’s not hard, I just can’t be bothered to get up and do it

And honestly, it’s been getting harder to do just basic things. It takes so much effort for me to leave my room for something other than classes, even for food. It takes so much effort to do my laundry, only doing it once my sink ledge gets too piled up because I only have one place to put it. It takes so much effort to clean my floors, despite me wanting to do so. It takes so much effort to take a shower, despite knowing I need one. I won’t call my parents because it’s just too much effort. At first it was because I just didn’t want to address me not doing my driving training, but then it just became that I couldn’t be bothered. It takes so much effort to get out of bed. Last semester, I really liked taking walks, and I’d go around 6, my alarm waking me up at 5:30 to give me plenty of time. Now, I don’t get out of my bed until at least 6:30. At first, I didn’t take them because it was winter and all I had was a not particularly thick sweater, and I’d rather not spend an hour in the cold. As time went on though, I just couldn’t be bothered. And when I go up to my bed, mostly because it’s the most comfortable area in my dorm, it takes so much effort for me to just get down

And it takes far too much effort for me to just do my homework. At first this semester, it was just that I forgot, but no big deal, it’s the first week or two, I’ll do it the rest of the semester. And then more weeks pass. And more weeks. And I’m sitting here, having done almost no homework this semester, the only ones I’ve done being countable on one hand, not counting group projects or the like. And I hate being like this

And those two classes I’m pretty sure I’m failing? One of which I already failed last semester and am having to do again this semester, are both lab classes. Essentially you show up, do your work, then you have two weeks to submit work related to it, like the lab reports or just an analysis of your data, with the engineering one also having lectures with homework and quizzes, not too difficult. Like, these classes aren’t hard. It’s just that I refuse to do the work, the simple bare minimum to pass these easy classes. And I’m probably going to have to do them again now

That’s the thing, these classes aren’t hard, I just refuse to be bothered to do even the simplest things, no matter how beneficial they are to me

I haven’t applied for any scholarships, despite me having plenty of opportunities, and the fact that I’m gonna lose my current one for high grades (I need I believe a 3.6, my GPA is close to a 2.1, and is probably going to stay around that, if not drop further), and I can’t be bothered to go and get a job, despite saying for years that I plan on getting one. I can’t be bothered to do a simple few hours of an online driving course to get a learner’s permit

What do I do instead? Watch videos on YouTube, mostly ones I’ve already seen. Constantly search the “cookie run” tag on here for any new posts. Listen to music while coming up with inane plots that I’ve already cycled through several times. Play Cookie Run, mostly Ovenbreak. On occasion do art

I’d rather do inane things than do things that are actually beneficial to my life. And I have so many opportunities to do these things, I have so many opportunities to seek out help for my issues. My university has this counseling and psychological services program that I’ve been suggested multiple times I should book an appointment with. There’s an academic success center in which I could go and try and figure out my problems when it comes to my understanding of my classes’s material, or my time management skills. I’m practically presented opportunities on a silver platter to improve. But I just can’t be bothered

And here I am, sitting for like half an hour, writing about my woes instead of doing something about them. But it’s too late in the day to do anything, and goddamn it, I don’t want to go back to pacing around my room, feeling restless and anxious about my failures. This has at least distracted my brain into focusing on something related to the problem, in the form of writing it down. Let me have this

I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to just be a waste of space and money. But I’m too goddamn lazy to do anything of value, and so I just sit here, wallowing in my misery but not being bothered to do anything about it

And it’s too late into the semester to do anything. Finals are in the next two weeks. I was first told to go to CAPS in mid February. And here I sit, 2 and a half months later, still having not done that. And I suffer all the more for it. It’s too late to make up all that lost work. It’s too late to look for scholarships for next semester, or even the summer, since I’m going to take summer classes

I don’t know how I’m going to feel over the summer, when everything’s said and done. But probably, I’ll forget my woes, and this will all repeat again, with increasingly disastrous results. That’s how it always goes, every day, every week, every month. I go to sleep, knowing I wasted the day, only to wake up, forgetting my lesson, until the day’s gone and it happens again

I don’t know what the point of me writing this was. I think I lost whatever point I was trying to make. But do you get me?

#every time I make a post I’m tempted to tag in “cookie run”#I’ve been making too many posts on it I tell you #but now back to that horrible misery #real life stuff #what do I normally tag these?#I’m listening to Skyfall right now #I really like this song #I dunno

21 notes · View notes