Love Me Like That: Lyrics Analysis (22 July 21)

NB looks down, nervous. A beat, and JE, who had his eyes fixed on her the whole time, raises his hand, in sync to the first strain of Love Me Like That. When this song is used and how, gives us a better sense of whom it’s for. 

In 5 eps, LMLT was used 5 times, and  never during the times when they are “officially” together. 1st is when JE appears at school, NB notices him walking past. Then, it plays when he invites her to go get ice-cream with him, a time when they can get closer. 

In Ep 2, LMLT plays after he gives her the jacket,  and they start texting – again, they get closer. LMLT is then never played again till 5, after a time of brief separation, when JE approaches her once again.

A theme surfaces in all this – the theme of possibility, of beginnings and re-beginnings. It echoes the tentative nature of the song lyrics – can you love me like that? It’s a question, an exploration. 

LMLT is used almost exclusively for NB/JE with one exception. That is when NB meets DH in the bus – their first meeting. It’s the instrumental that plays, again, it confirms that it is about the start of something new. 

But the choice of the instrumental suggests that the lyrics are not about them. LMLT is not a song that, as far as we can see in 5 eps, is about DH. Not about his pov or NB’s thoughts about him. In fact, NB/DH have their own song. 

Songs serve many purposes, some can be the theme of one character, others it could be for particular relationships, or places. For LMLT, it seems it speaks both of NB and JE. Of the few lyrics that we know, we can see how it speaks of not wanting to be hurt. 

The song speaks of being fractured and fragile, and is very much NB when she first meets JE. Fresh off a toxic relationship where she was constantly put down, NB is broken. She is tentative, but is nonetheless attracted to JE, his smiles, his touch, his words. 

NB has walls, as the lyrics suggest, she tries to protect herself by never truly trusting JE. Being insecure, NB listens to what everyone says and takes their words as a way to warn herself, never mind if those people truly have her best interests at heart. 

NB finds that JE and her are compatible in many ways, at times they feel like lovers, and she questions why he can’t be her boyfriend (she doesn’t ask). It all circles back – could he possibly love her instead of just play with her? Would that be ok? 

JE reveals small details of his life to NB. It’s discomforting, and he hides from further probing. He asks if NB would trust him if he tried to earn her trust, but it also seems that trusting her with his life story is difficult – he draws the line. 

He’s anxious when he senses an end with NB, he wants to keep meeting. He's hurt but whenever he gets jealous or hurt he covers more difficult feelings with cold words – those are his walls, that’s him being defensive. 

He resolves to change, feeling sick of himself. You get a sense that he is, as the song says, burning himself to the ground. And as LMLT plays as he raises his hand, it is again a question – could you please accept me? 

NB’s sculpture is, in a sense, quite thematically close toLMLT. Like the sculpture, the lyrics of LMLT hints of brokenness, of crumbling down. Yet at the same time, it seeks of something being made, created, it speaks of tentatively drawing close. 

Can you treat me soft and tender, love me hard and true? - It's the tinge of hope that always lingers with NB/JE. It's the open-ended question that remains yet unanswered. 

doramaticbites

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