Only When You Let It Go

The song, "Let Her Go" by Passenger is a song that I have listened to throughout high school and I believe that it can be regarded as poetry. This song is one of my favorite songs and one that I constantly go back and listen to when I am feeling down or want to get away. The songs central idea is that you never really understand how much you actually have until it is gone. People in society tend to take a lot of things for granted and they begin to desire these things only when they are lost. In particular, the song "Let Her Go' references a man who lost his love and he doesn't know this until it is to late to get her back. Right off the bat in the chorus of the song, it says,

Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go...

These two lines by Passenger are both very multidimensional. On a literal level, he is simply letting go of his true love and they are going their separate ways. By this, he means that once he has let her go and lost her, he will realize the love that they shared and the great times they had together. This line could also mean that by letting go of her, he is beginning to trust her and she is becoming more independant. Once he is able to trust his love enough to the point where she is free, he sees the true love that they have both shared together. This line can either represent a man losing a girl and regretting it or a man letting a girl go free and realizing all the great times that they had together. Later on in the second stanza of the song, he says

Staring at the bottom of your glass
Hoping one day you will make a dream last
But dreams come slow and they go so fast

On a literal level, these lines serve as imagery. They put you into this person shoes staring down a glass in despair. You also can only see the bottom of a glass once your drink is gone which shows that this man is reminiscing about his girl in a depressed state of mind. To me, these lines seem very gloomy and dark leading me to believe that this man is probably drinking alcohol in a bar, alone. Many people in today's society have drinking problems and use alcohol as a way to escape their feelings. The last line is a metaphor because he is saying that dreams come and go as if they are actual physical things coming and going. In reality, dream are all in your mind and something that only come and go if you let them. Later on in that same stanza, he says,

Maybe one day you will understand why
Everything you touch surely dies

First off, when I heard him sing this part of the song for the first time, I was like wow. These lines really show the depression and sadness going on in the head of this man who has lost his one true love. On a deeper level, they represent how scary a relationships is because everybody fears that not matter how much effort and time they put into a relationship, it will eventually fail. I think that this happens to everybody and it isn't just with relationships, it can be with your grades, work, family. It might now be right after but at some point later on you will wish that you had never done that. Lastly, this happens to everybody in society and this is why I think that this song is very powerful. No matter how you try to succeed in life, there will always be a point in your life when you are disappointed and regret making a decision. Towards the end of the song, he says,

Staring at the ceiling in the dark
Same old empty feeling in your heart
Cause love comes so slow and it goes so fast

On a literal level, this part of the song represents someone who is empty inside with a dark feeling in their heart going through a breakup and struggling to get through it. It also represents not knowing how good you have it or understanding that you do have something great until is escapes you. I think the last line represents everything, not just love, in society. When you are having a great time and in love, you are enjoying it and not thinking about anything else, but when it goes away you are left feeling like it happened to fast to even contemplate.

"Let Her Go" by Passenger doesn't just talk about relationships and how you only miss someone until they are gone. The central idea of taking things for granted and not caring about them until they are gone can be applied to every aspect of your life. In sports, schools, and vacations you will never truly understand how much you miss it until it is gone. There is no way to cope with this because no matter how hard to try to soak in every moment, you will be upset once it has left you for good.