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Cornelia Street

Can I ever walk on this street without you?

This song is the 9th track on Taylor Swift’s 7th studio album “Lover.” She mentioned on the Elvis Duran show, “It’s about the things that took place and the memories that took place on that street… all the nostalgia. Sometimes, we bond our memories to the places that they happen.” Basically, this song is about Taylor renting a place on Cornelia Street in some city where she made beautiful memories with her significant other while residing in that town. Their memories on that place were so happy and sweet that if they ever broke up, she would not be able to walk on it again. It would be too painful and heartbreaking because all the moments they shared in that place will linger on her head, but the person she once spent so much time with would not be there anymore.

We all have our own ‘Cornelia Street.’ It could be our home, the street that we live in, a park, a mall, or anywhere we created memories with the important ones in our lives. Personally, my ‘Cornelia Street’ is the street that I live in right now, and the one that I dedicate this song to is my pet named Bully. I know that this is a romantic song that is mostly used or dedicated to couples. But every time I hear this song, Bully always comes to my mind first because we have created so many memories on this street.

Bully is a 7-year-old dog. He was given to us by my sister’s ex-boyfriend on her 18th birthday. Since then, I’ve become too attached to him and even if he has a natural stinky odor and he shreds a lot, I always like to make him sleep beside me. I am allergic to furry animals, but surprisingly, I don’t get any allergies when I’m with him. Well, I would actually cry if I were allergic to him because that would mean that I would not be able to hold him and carry him like a baby.

Bully and I share too many memories with each other. When he was still a puppy, we always got to walk on our street every morning for his potty training. Thankfully, he’s a fast learner and it was easy for us to train him to do his business outside our house. Aside from that, Bully really liked to escape from our house and go outside without any person to guide him. So, no matter how fast he could run, I would always chase him and carry him home. These are just some of the memories I could recall with my favorite pet.

Now, Bully is getting older and older. Even if it is hard to accept that dogs cannot live longer than I want, I have to understand that someday, I’ll walk this street without him.

As Taylor Swift said in her song, “That’s the kind of heartbreak time could never mend.”

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VikHHWrgb4Y

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/12M5uqx0ZuwkpLp5rJim1a?si=29f8f658a07241a7

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Dear Parents

I’ve always wondered how it feels to have a privilege to be taught what love should be because growing up, all I’ve ever learned is what love should not be.

“Dear Parents” is a song made by Sundial, a group consisting of pop-duo Jisu Kim and Dorothy Chan. This song features the singers’ fear of not being able to keep their relationship happy and healthy because of the painful situations that they’ve witnessed from their parents’ bad marriage. The singers tell their stories from their childhood where they saw how their parents fought at dinner and how Christmas was never the same after it. It is also evident in the line “You didn’t talk to each other, I was scared that you might separate,” that their parents are not on good terms and are about to split up. Because of the trauma of seeing their parents’ unhealthy relationship, the singers imply that they are scared to love like how they do because they do not want to end up losing the ones they love too.

I was just creating a playlist when I found this song on Spotify’s recommendations. I immediately clicked it since the title is interesting and it is just a two-minute song. After hearing even just the first lines of the song, I literally stared blankly because it exactly tells the feelings and thoughts I cannot express and put into words.

I was never familiar with love. I grew up witnessing my parents’ unhealthy relationship. It has been a typical belief that children first learn and feel love from them. I deeply disagree with that notion because for me, being introduced to love by your parents is a privilege that not everybody can acquire, including me. Growing up, I never actually understood what love is supposed to look like. I matured in a household that never cared about it, not even my own parents whom I expected to teach me more about love. I’ve seen them fight over petty things. I’ve seen them at their lowest. I’ve seen them at the part where they do not want each other anymore and where I could not see and feel their love for each other anymore. It was exhausting and confusing how they portrayed ‘love’ to me when I was a child. But now that I am an adult, I understand it better, and I’m scared to love like they do.

This song is really relatable for me because just like the singers, I’m terrified. I’m scared to love like they do because it might ruin my relationships with the people I love too. I don’t want to treat special people in my life the way my parents treated each other. I’m afraid to lose them because the love I give might not be enough to make them stay in my life.

So, no, I don’t want to love like they do.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLANX6D2fLg

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/79ZC7mOJCR4YjJ24wuaunx?si=d3fca929714a4ead

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Long Live

“I had the time of my life with you.”

“Long Live” is the last track on Taylor Swift’s third studio album “Speak Now.” The singer-songwriter said, “This song is about my band, and my producer, and all the people who have helped us build this brick by brick. The fans, the people who I feel that we are all in this together, this song talks about the triumphant moments that we’ve had in the last two years.” The lyrical content of this song basically describes the moments when Taylor had her ups and downs, her losses and wins, and how she had the best people surrounding, helping, and supporting her to get through every challenge and milestone in her life. She is simply implying that no matter what happens along her journey, no matter how life turns out to be, she wants everyone she loves to remember the good moments they’ve shared and to remember her name.

This song is definitely one of my favorites. Whenever I want to look back on some memories that remain significant to me, this is the exact song I’ll play on repeat to make me feel nostalgic. Specifically, I would like to dedicate this song to my high school friends and batchmates. They are the ones who have witnessed my highs and lows, and they are also the ones who have always helped me overcome every obstacle that’s hindering me to step further into my journey of life. Now that we are onto our last step of our high school lives, and we are almost bidding our goodbyes to one another, I’d like to tell them to always remember every moment we’ve shared, no matter how wondrous or terrible it is. I want them to reminisce about our sleepless sleepovers, our difficult yet fulfilling presentations, and our countless random get-togethers that took too long to happen. I want each and every one of us to be remembered and to never be forgotten.

As this school year is passing by swiftly and college is getting near, I know that most of us will become too distant to each other. We’ll take different paths and plans towards our own goals, and our high school lives will just be a memory to look back on. It’s a bittersweet feeling to say goodbye to each other and to continue on with our lives in a new environment with new people we’d spend our lives with, but we all know that this end will take us to a new beginning that we will surely enjoy as well.

As Taylor Swift said, “It was the end of a decade, but the start of an age.”

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFglkZVPBY0

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4ewAfHYpDTzpW1GKO44CVP?si=f1bd059e8b2a4ff2

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When It Happens

Do you fear death? Well, I don’t. I fear the things that might happen to the people I’ll leave behind when I die. I am terrified by the fact that they will weep and mourn for me. I am afraid that they will grieve for me for the rest of their lives. I am scared that they might not be able to forget me. I actually like the idea of death — bidding goodbye to this cruel world, putting an end to the problems I am suffering from — but the thought that my loved ones would feel the same sorrow I’ve witnessed at funerals haunt me tremendously.

This song literally summarizes everything I want to tell the people surrounding me. It’s the 5th track of the album Playing Pretend in the Interim by Reese Lansangan, a Filipino musician who is best known for her debut album "Arigato." This is a song about death and how people mourn for a week or a month and how they continue on with their lives afterwards. It describes how funerals usually go — people wearing black shirts, crying, grieving, and reminiscing.

“So weep for me my darling dear,

Tomorrow you’ll move on.

I will leave my body here,

But you’ve got miles to go,

In a life I’ll never know.

So, move on.”

These lines say exactly what I want to tell everyone before I die. They are allowed to cry, to grieve, and to recall every memory I’ve embedded in their minds and hearts, but I don’t want them to be miserable because of my death. I want them to move on, to still see the beauty of the world, and to be fine without me. After I die, there would still be amazing things ahead of them, and I would just want them to embrace my death and go on with their lives. Of course, I would still want them to relive their memories with me, to look at my photo album my mom created, to visit the cemetery and place the most beautiful and fragrant flowers on my tomb, but I wouldn’t want them to cry again and be woeful because after all, it wouldn’t bring me back.

So, when it happens, grieve for me, put on my best picture in a frame, and tell your heartwarming stories about me to my visitors. But just like what Reese said in her song, when my bones are laid to rest, please go on as you were before.

When it happens, please move on along.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/9eQbou93SXc

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5JSvVJemFOb6OdTxH9YBb8?si=07cdbac5753842ae

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You’re On Your Own, Kid

This is my most favorite song from Taylor Swift’s new album. It has profound and meaningful statements that are actually hard to understand but when I dug deeper into the lyrics of this song, I found out that it can have a lot of interpretations depending on how one sees and relates himself to the song.

“You’re On Your Own, Kid” is the 5th track on "Midnights." It features Taylor’s journey of growing up and wanting to be loved and accepted by her peers and a guy she likes. Some parts of the song mainly focus on romance and how Taylor seeks attention from a guy she likes in her town. Clearly, it is a one-sided love as she mentioned that they are the best of friends, but she wishes to be more than just a friend of his.

Apart from romance, this song also tells Taylor’s story about discovering her talents as a songwriter and a performer, and how she has grown to be a successful person in the music industry because of her hard work. She sacrificed a lot to become the person she is today. She realized that she could become a big person just by herself, just on her own.

“I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this,” is one of the lines that made this song relatable for me. Just like Taylor, every accomplishment I achieved in my life was because of my sacrifices and perseverance to succeed and become the person I want myself to be. There were times I sought attention from the people surrounding me, but eventually, I’ve learned that I can achieve anything I want on my own. 

Even when Taylor did not end up with the guy she liked, something else that was more important and bigger came in her life, and this is what makes the line “Everything you lose is a step you take,” more beautiful. I should not be afraid of losing or not getting something that I want, because as I step further and look into the significant things in life, I can reach even the farthest star in the galaxy by myself.

I can be on my own, and I’ve got no reason to be afraid.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gbg6Z70J7E&ab_channel=TaylorSwiftVEVO

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4D7BCuvgdJlYvlX5WlN54t?si=7cd827dd379141b5