An indie pop rock track, “Love Me Always” by Tamsin Otway is sonically unique, switching between ambient, desperate vocals in the verses and quick, brazen lines in the choruses.
Otway begs their partner: “don’t leave me today.” You can hear the desperation of this plea in the long notes and the impassioned vocals. The detail of asking this person not to leave “today” shows Otway’s awareness that this love might not be sustainable. The end may be inevitable, but they need this person to at least wait one more day to leave.
In the verses, Otway sings of “all the girls” and “all the boys” running away. They feel a sense of abandonment from everyone they’ve been involved with, which explains why they are so desperate to keep this current partner close.
With many apologies and lines like “I’m ashamed” and “I’m so insane” throughout the song, it seems Otway themself might be the problem in all these relationships. Especially with the line “all I do is run away,” Otway is owning up to their commitment issues. Fear of being abandoned and fear of commitment are not exactly complimentary, but all too often are experienced together.
The repetition of lyrics in each section is a clever way to show that Otway feels stuck in their ways. They fear being left while they fear the permanence of someone never leaving. You can vividly feel this inner conflict through the vulnerable vocals and distinctive production style of “Love Me Always.”
Written by Emily Cushing
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