Circles, Cycles and Growth (Album Analysis - Part 2)

             (Narrated Version of the Article)

            Chapter 4 – Lift You Up & Moonlight
            Chapter 5 – Circles, Wildest Dreams, & The Beach
            Chapter 6 - Conclusion

 

Lift You Up (Track 7) & Moonlight (Track 8)

            Before I begin my analysis for this section, I want to mention that Lift You Up was the song I heard on the radio that night. If you are going to listen to any song off this album, this would be the song I’d tell you to listen to. It has that ethereal feel of Tracks 1 and 4 and you’ll notice the accentuation of the music I highlighted earlier. This is the track that I originally heard it on; then I realized it happens in different ways on all of them. This song applies this lifting of melody near the end when the song finishes its lyrics and becomes instrumental. It is a beautiful conclusion to the song and fits the meaning well.

            What does the song stand for in the larger context of the album, and the themes we’ve been trailing so far? That’s where I’m stumped. Similar to Tracks 5 and 6, it isn't easy to discern a connection between the rest of what I’ve analyzed and this song. In a way, I almost want to argue that this song is from you, as the Dancer, aimed at you and what you’ve been through. It is a form of self-love and a rich embrace of your struggles and growth.

             I want to give this song a chance to vocalize this idea. This intense form of self-love after repression and numerous painful instances while in love. If we look at this song as a form of self-love, it is evident in the continual emphasis on lifting yourself, the positive affirmations, and, above all else, the cold truth about love. The love we share with others is finite and tangible—to a degree. We can tamper with, alter, lose, and develop love, among other things. However, the only form of love that truly lives forever is a genuine appreciation for oneself. After all you, as the Dancer, have been through, I suppose this song is not entirely out of place in its message. You’ve embraced that change, lifted yourself, and seen it through. You’ve altered this cycle again and found something new to love: yourself.

            Moonlight implies the other angle we could’ve looked at Track 7, the possibility of a new, positive experience in love. A new introduction to the cycle, a healthy choice of love. Moonlight indicates a closeness to this person but a lack of self-fulfillment and loneliness even in this connection.

            As someone who loves hard and falls quickly, this is an attestable experience. I know that sensation of being so deeply in love with someone but still suffering that loneliness inside; like a circle hole and a square peg, nothing fills that void. It’s so easy to get caught up in that cycle of intense “I love you” moments, and even easier to get caught up in our own heads thinking, “I still need something else; I feel empty.”

            On my first listen-through, this song revealed a switch in this continual growth and cyclical nature we’ve been following thus far. Stick with me on this one; every song is a new cycle, not interlinked to the same story. Think of it this way: we’ve highlighted so many unique themes on this album so far: self-love, toxic love, healthy love, growth and self-improvement, change or a lack of it… all of these themes can follow cyclical patterns, leading to a continuance of the habit(s)/behavior(s).

            In addition, Moonlight’s cycle of “I love you, but I still feel empty” is one that I’ve experienced personally. It is a touching message just as much as a call for help. As the Dancer, you are continually looking for something to change you or help you grow, and it can almost feel as though your search for continual growth and change through these different cycles is wearing on you. Like with Track 5, this cycle folds into our larger pattern and continues to trail forward. The music, remaining acoustic and exploratory, details a story of self-discovery and continual experimenting, like making a new song.

Circles (Track 9), Wildest Dreams (Track 10), The Beach (Track 11)

            On the decline towards the album's end, are some of the most profound songs we’ve gotten so far. Circles is a great loop back to this idea of the cyclical nature of love. You are trying so desperately to change and grow past these experiences in love, but you end up coming back to the same person who caused you so much hurt; like a toxic and abusive love, it pulls you back in.

            It’s so easy to get lost in the comfort of the moment, not realizing the long-term effects it will have on you. Circles, to me, highlights the cyclical nature of toxic love; even the music sounds like it is running in circles, going back and forth, trying to break and escape the toxic cycle you’ve built so far. You feel that empty feeling has corrupted you, and you’ve started seeking your past connections to try and fill it. You derived some sense of self-fulfillment from those old relationships and crave it again, hoping it will be what fixes you.

            Ultimately, you know that you will end up back where you started. Those previous moments of self-love and change/growth mean little to you now. You’re going back to try and fix the scraps of what once was, trying to hold on to something that just isn't going to work. You know you can't give them all of you, so you feel as though you're leaving them out in the cold. Deep down inside though, you know things will never be the same. Calmly repeating like the music, you’ve started a new path for yourself. A path where you fall deeper into the cycle, forgetting what you’re doing all of this for.

            Wildest Dreams is another personal favorite on this album. Bucking the trend (again), this song describes feelings of seeing yourself differently in the face of a realization. At the same time, it focuses on being haunted by the idea that things could’ve worked. It feels like a wild dream to believe things could work, but again, you still carry that cyclical nature of self-love into reminiscing about what once was. I find it interesting how the word “haunted” appears repeatedly in the chorus and the verses. You, the Dancer, are very obviously being “haunted” by something from your past, trying to dig itself up again.

 
            This is reinforced by hearing the echo ringing and leaving a mark on your skin. All of these things indicate past instances of occurrence. Wildest Dreams is you, as the Dancer, going back into the past and realizing that it is okay to move past it, ending that cycle.

            Lastly, we have The Beach, another personal favorite of mine. In Track 1, where those positive emotions washed over you, as the Dancer, we stand on the beach's edge, looking out at the sea. We’re feeling lost but confident that everything will be okay.

            In this song, the music explodes once the bridge delivers, as if a wave has crashed down over the beach. A moment of intensity and realization explodes in a deepened sense of understanding. As the Dancer, this is your defining moment. Here, on the beach, you realize that everything will be okay. Regardless of those cycles that repeat and injure us, it will come to a close in the end and will be okay.

 

 Conclusion & Final Thoughts

            So what do you think? I’ve analyzed and pushed many questions into this space, many of which I don’t have answers for.

            I feel like I’ve been sloppy, leaving many things open. You’ll have to pardon me if this feels grossly simplistic—I’m not used to looking at things this analytically outside of school.

            I feel as though it’s cleared something up for me. The idea of circles applies uniquely to every song. Indeed, growth is part of it; certainly, it’s a theme in every song. However, I think each song should be looked at separately. I think it’s too challenging to combine such diverse music pieces with a straightforward commonality.

            In the end, I am thankful for this album. Thankful that it inspired me enough to write this analysis (as sloppy as it may be), and thankful that I could create something thanks to someone else’s work.

            In one way or another, we’re all the Dancer. We’re all processing and working through various forms of grief, anxiety, toxicity, and love. Everyone’s experience with these subjects is different. Still, depending on how we handle it, we can either perpetuate something positive or ignite a flame of something negative that lingers and never blows out. What is the thing I love about that, though? It all depends on our response to growth and change while remaining willing to relinquish that negativity in exchange for a sincere form of self-love.

            We’re all constantly changing and growing. It’s a given for going through life. I believe LÉON captured this phenomenally. Love changes all of us—in good and bad ways—and in ways we’ll never really understand. However, we should never sacrifice a love of ourselves and give up that sense of self-preservation for a cycle of negativity that will only pull us further down. We have to continue changing for ourselves, living to be better versions of ourselves constantly. We are the only ones who can make that decision for us. We have to be smart about our actions, and break the cycles that force feed us negativity, so that one day, we can see that growth in the circle, break the cycle, and enjoy a more positive life.