Our Love

Album: Are We There (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is a track from Are We There, which centers on the ending of Sharon Van Etten's on-off relationship with a DJ named Christian. "I had no idea I was writing a breakup record when I was writing this, but that's what I ended up doing," she admitted to Mojo magazine. "Most of the tracking was done by the time it happened. It's kind of heavy when you look at it in those terms; I'd been writing these songs for two years and everything just came to fruition. It's kind of dark."
  • The video, directed by Karen Collins, sees Van Etten, eyes shut, torn by her love. Speaking about the clip, Van Etten said: "Working with Karen was a dream. We sat together and talked about imagery and feeling and distance versus connection. Lightness versus darkness. Referencing directors like Tarkovsky to articulate the beauty in the understatement and slowness."

    "'Our Love' is about someone acknowledging that having loved and letting it be over can be just as beautiful as being in love," she added. "It can also be a form of rebirth and renewal and inspiring and uplifting, even in the darkness and sadness. I think Karen captured that really well."
  • Asked on Reddit about her songwriting process, Van Etten replied: "I'm usually going through a really dark time. I pick up my recorder and my guitar or sit at the piano and sing stream of conscious for about ten minutes or so. Then I set it aside and don't listen to it for days. When I have a bit more distance from it, I listen to it and try to understand what it is I was going through and what I was feeling... Then I listen to see if there is a melody or a line that I can (and other people can) relate to and learn from. If I can't find any of that I don't share it. IF there is something to it, I work on it from there."

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