Sara Bareilles - Gravity Lyrics Meaning

May 2024 · 2 minute read
anonymous

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Mar 19th 2020 !⃝

I'm not surprised that so many are moved by this song -- it pairs rich, revealing language with achingly beautifully music. I associate the feelings in this song with college love -- relationships driven by curiosity, sexuality and self-discovery, but also shrouded in confusion and loneliness as only young love can be. Bareilles perfectly captures the self-doubt in her sense of powerlessness, not sure whether the "gravity" emanates from him or from her, but knowing that it weakens her. The song toys with victimhood without surrendering to it. She fears the young man's "reign" over her, but senses that her own compulsions may be behind it. There is sadness either way: it's painful to think of a young man so unfeeling that, sensing a woman's vulnerability, he exploits her rather than reaching out as a friend; and it's sad to see a young woman unable to hold her own in a relationship, and fully aware of this weakness even while it's happening. Yet the magic of the song is that, being sung from the woman's side of the relationship, she projects power by speaking so honestly about her powerlessness. It's a paradox, as is true of much great art. In any case, the good news about relationships like the one that Bareilles is sketching is they happen when you're 19 or 20 (she wrote it when she was 20 -- what an amazing artist!) -- and if you pay attention to your own life, you'll grow out of this vulnerability (or callousness, if you're the man in this story). If you're 40 and you still feel like you're in a relationship like this -- get some help! Powerlessness, whether self-inflicted or imposed by an abuser, is no way to live your whole life.

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