It Will Not Be Me

As I was shamelessly scrolling through YouTube recently, a notification came out of the blue, stating that I had to listen to Kygo’s new song ‘It Ain’t Me’ featuring Selena Gomez.

Now, I’m not exactly a Selenator or whatever her fans are called, but I like Kygo so I decided to give it a chance.

That song has over 200 million views and I thought ‘hey, this might not be that bad’.

But my problem is mainstream songs are overhyped and totally abused to a point you’d want to figuratively pull your hair out (like Bruno Mars’ ’24K Magic’. I cannot stress enough how much that song irritates me now).

Nonetheless, I gave this song a chance and my world was changed. It hit me right from the start, even I couldn’t believe it. Here are the lyrics of the chorus: “Who’s gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning? Who’s gonna rock you when the sun won’t let you sleep? Who’s waking up to drive you home when you’re drunk and all alone? Who’s gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning? It ain’t me.”

Thus, sparked the idea of break ups, especially in your teens. Now for those of us who are in our 20s, it’s an experience to look back and think about who you were, who you liked, what you were doing, etc.

And now you’ve pretty much figured out that nothing is like it once was. It all seemed so easy back then: promising each other things, going on secret but romantic adventures, dreaming about getting married and even believing that soulmates exist. But then reality hits you and you realise that maybe dates at the movies and romantic strolls are pointless all because you went through so much pain, tears, days when life just seemed so dull, and it turned you into someone who no longer believes in love.

As I thought about this for quite some time, the video for ‘It Ain’t Me’ was released a few weeks ago and when I watched it, I thought about how powerful the storyline was. A couple were on a bike together, but they got into an accident. The guy went into a coma and found himself in a fantasy world where the girl appeases him with her company. But in reality, she’s also there, holding his hand, wiping his sweat and sleeping on his hospital bed, hoping and praying that he’ll get better. After endless scans and medical check-ups, the man is pulled back to the real world, leaving his love behind, and he opens his eyes. But she’s not there any more. So did she die? Or did they decide to part ways for good? And then the next question hit me, particularly about death. If your ex ever passed away, how would you react? Did you fix things with them? Are there questions that you still have? Would you be lost because you didn’t clear things up?

It’s true what the song says. Just because you’re not interested in where they’re going or who they’ll be with doesn’t mean that it’s wrong to end things officially on better terms, especially if you wronged them in the relationship.

An apology can save lives. A shake of the hand can do wonders. Your journey through life doesn’t have to be a heavy weight because of the bad times. Take along the happy memories and smile about them. You won’t be there to love them any more, but at least you know you did your part.

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