Now and Then I Think Of When We Were Together

Recently I have been particularly drawn to a few songs that are popular on the "pop" radio stations.

I am just a few weeks shy of 7 months of married life.  I love being married, and I am in awe of my partner more every day.  I think of marriage now in a way that I never used to, and I am not sure I can eloquently communicate or illustrate my thoughts quite yet.  I think, though, that it is safe to say that I am now more acutely aware of other couples' marriages and the decisions and choices that they make.  Whenever I hear of breakups or divorces, it creates an emotional quaking in me as I bring my own relationship into sharp focus.  It makes me realize, more intensely and strongly, that if I want to maintain and improve upon my relationship, I need to be willing to listen, to respond, and to learn.  Individuals who do not do this inevitably create tremors and tears in the fabric of their relationships.

The songs that I am, for whatever reason, really drawn to are:

Goyte, "Somebody That I Used to Know"

Fun, "We Are Young"

I think what originally drew me to these had more to do with the pacing, the voices, and the crescendos.  But what has kept me listening is the utter pain, real or imagined, you can hear when they are singing about relationships.  The first, dealing with the after effects of a breakup and the pain caused by moving on, and the second, the realization that their relationship is merely a reflection of past history, and only now maintaining a facade with the secrets and the ambiguities inherent in a troubled relationship.  They are both equally sad, though in different respects.  I think why I am so enamored with listening to them is because it reminds me that there is a world outside of my own relationship that I have not experienced, and would never want to.  Listening to the death of a relationship brings into sharp contrast the vibrancy of my feelings in my own, and how happy I feel being committed to someone as fantastic as my partner.  It makes me want to be an even better version of myself.

Hello, internet.  Didn't think you were coming here for sappy prose, now were you?