This Love

Song Meaning

Sarah Brightman's "This Love" isn't a soaring declaration of romance, but a stark examination of its absence. The song strips love down to its barest, most unsettling elements. It’s a love devoid of the expected hallmarks: no grand pronouncements, no necessary presence, and ultimately, no inherent meaning. Instead, we find a "faded kind of day love," a love that exists perhaps only in the subdued light of routine and resignation. The repetition of "This love" acts as a mantra, almost a desperate attempt to define something that resolutely refuses definition. It's the sound of someone circling a void, trying to map its contours without ever falling in. The lyrical simplicity is deceptive. The phrase "even when you held my hand, it didn't mean a thing" cuts with a precision that belies the otherwise ethereal quality of Brightman's delivery. It speaks to a fundamental disconnect, a physical intimacy devoid of emotional resonance. This isn't just a love gone wrong; it's a love that seemingly never had the capacity to be right. The starkness forces us to confront the possibility of love as a mere construct, a word applied to arrangements that lack genuine feeling. Ultimately, the song meaning of "This Love" resides in its exploration of love's potential emptiness. It's a courageous, if bleak, assessment of those relationships where the motions are present, but the vital spark is absent. The “strange love” refrain emphasizes the unsettling nature of this void. It's a love that confounds expectations, a love that perhaps shouldn't even be called love at all. The beauty of the song lies in Brightman's ability to capture this unsettling paradox with such haunting grace.