Khalid “The American Teen” wrote the songs: Another Sad Love Song, Cold Blooded, Saved, and Love Lies, as a form of therapy for him. His music that he writes is all based off feelings and moods such as whether or not he feels like he wants to be loved or he isn’t being loved at all . Khalid’s music stood out for me in many ways, his music is very relatable to my generation in ways that older generations such as our parents may not understand, older generations had young love whereas our age has social media which can put a detrimental influence on the way we love and how our relationships work. Older generations may not understand us as we have both grown in different ages and the way everything was done and taught has completely changed overtime. All of the songs that I have chosen above all revolve around a main idea of “Love”. Even though these stories definitely contain love, is it the favorable or hateful side of love that Khalid is wanting to show? Whether it is the destructive side of love from the song “Another Sad Love Song” or is it the uncertainty of love from the song “Saved”. Through these four songs, Khalid may suggest to us that Love can confuse us, excite us, scare us, satisfy us, bore us and fail us. But deep down, as humans, we may never truly understand what love really does to us.
Destructive Side of Love:
Love can be the difference between life and death. In “Another Sad Love Song” Khalid uses the classic image of ‘turning tables’ and ‘burning bridges’, you can gain a sense of the disintegration of the relationship that Khalid is in. He outlines that fact that he may be at fault because of it. He links the lyrics back to how emotionally unstable he was and how that may have caused the relationship to end. He got his feelings hurt and that is how he came up with the title. He tweeted “I guess it’s time to write another sad love song”. Another sad love song links to the theme of the Destructive side of love as it shows how detrimental love can be on the human body, not only physically but mentally as well. This song shows how relationships can change over time. Love can make everyone emotionally unstable. Khalid wanted people to gain the sense of that not every love story can last forever, and how some love stories turn for the worst and the love of your life can come crashing down and it can burn into nothing right in front of your eyes. This song also shows the theme of the Destructive side of love as it puts what some people cannot say into words and the feelings that they have never been able to express are now being sung to them by someone who has been through the exact same thing but they do not know each other one bit. “Bridges they are burning. Lover, I am worried. Tables they are turning.” The song Another Sad Love Song can remind everyone who has been through a break up the car ride you have after you get your heart broken for the first time. The lyrics above show some type of grief. It is like the relationship is dead. This is evident in the imagery because the bridge can show the connection between the two sides of the relationship and the burning of the bridges can show how destructive a relationship can really be. That the person is in pain. The pain of things going back to themselves and how things will not be the same now. That everything is falling apart and that the person doesn’t know how to be alone. Once you’re in a relationship you think it is going to last forever. We grow up with only seeing this through fairy tales of princesses But in reality, it only lasts as hard as you are working for it. So if one person in the relationship stops working for it, it falls apart. “Tables they are turning” It shows that a table has four legs and if you have one leg that is not as strong as the others then it is going to fall apart. It also may show that the relationship has turned from being something positive to maybe being something negative as they got to know each other. Burning bridges in a relationship means that both of the people in this relationship are destroying each others paths, connections, reputation, opportunities intentionally as a result of being hurt.
“Burning burning burning, dadadadada. Turning turning turning turning, dadadadada. Burning burning burning, dadadadada. Turning turning turning turning, dadadadada” The repetition of these words are representative of the downwards spiral in which the relationship is heading towards. This person's relationship may of had a cheerful front which everyone else saw but deep down is really a negative spiral which both of them are facing. These lyrics being the chorus reflect the fact that it is a relatively cheerful melody with a sadder meaning. The repetition of the B and T sounds bring attention to the idea of burning and turning that the relationship may bring.
Personally, this song affected in ways only I can describe. I can relate to certain lyrics that he has stated in this song as I was in a relationship for a year and then I experienced heartbreak. After my heartbreak I was emotionally unstable and how I thought I was at fault for the reason that my relationship ended. All my feelings that I had put into the relationship had been hurt and how I was in so much pain. Everything for me was falling apart and I did not have anyone I could go to as my support person was now gone and I was alone and didn’t know what to do.
Similarly, in the song “Cold Blooded” it is about someone being heartbroken. The guy has given his heart a girl who has in return treated it poorly, but he is unwilling to take it back. While he is wanting an explanation from her, he is also wanting the girl just as much as he did before the heartbreak occured. The guy in this song is cold blooded without his heart. He needs the contact not only physically but mentally to be able to sustain his life and be himself. Without touching each other, he is lost. Cold Blooded links to the theme of the Destructive side of love as it shows how you may feel when you are being heartbroken. Khalid may have had many things that he wanted readers and listeners to take away from the song. One main thing I gained from listening to this song is the fact that he is wanting an explanation for something that happened. He wants the girl back for something that he should not be taking her back for. The Destructive side of love can be very harmful on someone as it can not only mentally but also physically hurt someone in ways that they may of never been hurt before if they had not fallen in love in the first place. Love can damage you and you may get treated so poorly that you think you cannot love again. “I gave you my heart and it melted in your arms” This lyric takes heartbreak to a whole nother level. This guy gave a girl his heart and instead of dropping it she made it melt. This may have occurred due to the heat and pressure within the relationship. They could have been fighting continuously or she may have even cheated on him, hence he feels like he no longer belongs. The adjective of “cold blooded” in the title is used to correlate coldness as a temperature with apathy in a relationship. Her coldness makes her deliberately cruel and shows the longing for her. Consequently, making his “heart melt in her arms”. Cold blooded creatures take on the temperature of their surroundings, but in this case she is indifferent in the sense that even an emotive gesture as him offering his heart. “Ooh, and cold blooded, cold blooded. You want what I’m giving up. But my love is not enough. Cold Blooded, cold blooded. And I can’t feel my fingertips. But you feel better when we touch” In this set of lyrics, the need of cold blooded animals for a constant heart source. They do not give back to or refuel which shows how his lover accepts and shows need for his love. She is still ungrateful and/ or unsatisfied when he gives all that he can give to her. He is aware of this non-mutual relationship from which he is constantly being drained of all that he can give. He has not walked away yet because he feels that she needs his love or that he is actually helping her mend herself.
This song is very close to my heart, not only have I been mentally hurt by losing someone that I am close to and love but also the fact that I have had my heartbroken. I was treated like a princess at the start of the relationship when we were both first getting to know each other but then as time went on things started to change and the way I got treated became worse and then I made the decision to leave the toxic relationship I was in. I was treated so poorly. The guy I was with made me so happy, not only physically but mentally as well. I was so lost without him. But the only reason I was lost was because I didn’t have the company of someone that I had been used to for not only months but years.
Uncertainty of Love:
‘Saved’ came to Khalid after he moved from New York to El Paso. He was in a relationship at the time the song was written and the whole relationship was very rocky because of the distance in between the two. They did not see each other face to face anymore. They soon decided after Khalid moved that the relationship was not necessary as they thought at first it may have been. Saved is a song about losing a relationship because of the distance between two people. Uncertainty of Love can definitely be shown throughout the song as Khalid faces uncertainty of whether or not to continue the relationship between the girl he is with and himself. He has to make a decision on if he should continue the relationship even though there is 7 hour plane ride between the two. The Uncertainty of Love can be linked back to the song because they aren’t seeing each other face to face anymore and things can become very hard and confusing when this happens. “Cause I hope one day you’ll get the sense to call me. I’m hoping that you’ll say. You’re missing me the way I’m missing you. So I’ll keep your number saved…To tell you that no one else. Is gonna hold you down the way I do.” For Khalid, this was a sense of comfort. Just by having her number, he felt like he could be there for her and support her. He is reminiscing about a real life past relationship.
“Deep down in my heart, I hope you’re doing alright. But from time to time I often think of why you aren’t mine” It seems like they were still in a relationship because everytime Khalid would look through his phone, he would see her name at the top of it. He may also be thinking about why they ended the relationship and how something must of clicked in both of their minds that was like we cannot be together, even if they feel very strongly together. But even though they have broken up, deep down Khalid knows he does care for her and always will. And the fact that even after relationships have ended that both people in the relationship will cherish the memories that came with them even if they disapprove of the other person.
I can relate to this song as I was in a long distance relationship. I was dating someone for 2 years who moved from hamilton to hastings. We both thought that the relationship would work but we were wrong in every way. The communication stopped between us and we were both saddened by the fact that we could no longer see each other face to face. Both of us came to a mutual agreement that the relationship was going to last and that ending it would be better for both parties.
The Uncertainty of Love can also be seen in the song “Love Lies”, it is a love song about two people who have difficulty trusting a new person presumably from a previous relationship where the love was not real. “Love Lies” first interpretation of the title) The two people in the relationship are communicating through the verses with the second verse being almost an answer to Khalid's verse showing they are catching each others attention. And then when they say “Tell me where your love lies” it could be interpreted as them asking each other where their love hides so they can have it or they are so infatuated and awestruck by each other that they’re sure it cannot be real so they are asking each other where the love is and if it is true. The duet in the chorus also shows the two of them coming together. “You’ve got some shit to say and I’m here to listen” This hints at the fact that again the previous failed relationships. The title has multiple meanings depending on what part of the song you focus on.