Song Meaning

The narrator grapples with a manufactured, diminutive version of love, one they actively "made small" and "blind." This self-imposed limitation, driven by a misguided adherence to "heart," leads to a stark realization: what they pursued wasn't genuine love at all. The repetition of "It wasn't love" underscores this profound disappointment and the emptiness of their creation. The lyrics then contrast this personal failure with idealized, fictional portrayals of love found "of songs in pen" and "movie endings." These romanticized notions are criticized for their unrealistic simplicity, conveniently "takes out the break" and "leaves out the bend," thereby "misses love" in its true, complex form. This suggests a critique of how popular culture distorts our understanding of what love actually entails. The core tension emerges in the plea, "Love not of you / Love not of me / Come hold us up / Come set us free." This isn't a call for a love defined by specific individuals, but a higher, perhaps more abstract, ideal. The narrator seeks a love that transcends personal limitations and existing circumstances, aiming for "as it can be" rather than "as we know it." This pursuit of an elevated love is further defined by its "reality," which "holds out hope / Beyond what's seen." It's presented not as a fleeting act of "passing bravery," but as a persistent, enduring force. The repeated refrain emphasizes the desire for this transcendent, hopeful love to intervene and transform the current, flawed understanding into something more profound and real.