If it's not luv, what is it?
If there was one skill I could master immediately, it would be songwriting. As I'm getting older, I'm realizing that it's becoming harder and harder to connect my thoughts and feelings with actual words. Whether it's me trying to describe something orally, or noting down words on a piece of paper, I'm finding it strenuous to actually express how I feel about myself and my relationship with the world.
I have a hunch, though, that songwriting could fill that gap between my mind and my words. Last summer, Juan Wauters's new album, MVD LUV, came up as a suggestion in my discovery feed. Most of the songs on the album are quite uncomplicated and, for the most part, forgettable. But I fell in love with it immediately. It's raw, and it conveys genuine happiness and excitement with life. In particular, I was completely taken aback by the first proper song of the album, "If It's Not Luv." It is an incredibly straightforward song about the feeling of falling in love. And you know what? He nailed it. When I listen to it, I can feel the butterflies rushing to my chest as if it's me, not him, who's singing the song. He expressed a feeling that I could never describe in words through the sound of music. It's beautiful.
And this is what makes songwriting such a magical skill. The times I was in love in the past, I would feel emotions that were very similar to the ones that Wauters expresses in his composition. When I was heartbroken, I would struggle to communicate my pain, but Alvvays's Molly Rankin spoke for me through their songs. I have never been able to properly describe to my friends what I feel and, if I fell in love again, I am not sure I could either. But I wish I could.