in memory

Track One in the series Disaster Preparedness

Growing up, I distinctly remember the overnight tsunami watches, where my family would gather our emergency stockpile of 14 days worth of food and water. every time, we’d meet at a safe place inland and wait for Hawaii News Now to give us an update. thankfully, we never had to pop open the raw spam, but we always kept our supplies waiting in the wings. My papa used to say we must hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

In many ways, I think disasters facilitate a very human experience, and they can result from more than just natural causes. We deal with disasters on a daily basis: we face loss, grief, love, heartbreak, pain, and the growth in between. Disasters carry the power to unite or divide us. they scare us. They break us. They force us to build back. But they remind us we’re alive. You know what I mean. 

I want you to feel the sweat on your fingertips, the weight of your tongue in a deep conversation, the sand wiggled between your toes. Feel alive. To me, this series paints these sensations. These songs demonstrate the very human way in which I simultaneously hope for the best and prepare for the worst. In everything I do.

This is disaster preparedness.


The Meaning

Literal

The narrator tells the story of a first date that gave them roses and reveals why it never worked out. lol.

Personal

In many ways, a first date gives us a first impression of someone’s character, and, in this case, the date was genuinely a giver. It didn’t work out for two reasons: the narrator was trying to 1. save themself from the same heartbreak they’d just experienced (VERSE 1) and also to 2. protect the other person, this selfless giver of a person, from getting their heart broken by the narrator’s own carelessness because they still miss their previous lover (VERSE 2).


The Lyrics

VERSE 1

meeting you there instead of

letting you pick me up

cause i remember what

makes me fall in love

it was just the first date but

you were early and dressed up

the roses tugged at my gut

i smiled right through the hug


PRE-CHORUS 1

i’m sure you mean well

but i’ve been through hell

your bouquet has that smell

i won’t let myself

CHORUS

cause he walked away

when he promised he’d stay 

i know you’re not the same

but i can guess what you’ll say,,,

and if i let myself love

but we fall out of touch

the flowers were too much

i’ll press them in memory of us

VERSE 2

maybe i’ve been using you

to forget and just 

for attention cause honestly 

you’re taller than him

and you’re one to listen

you care and ask questions

but i still miss his scent

when you and i are talking

PRE-CHORUS 2

don’t get your hopes up

walls down but i’m tough 

i fell into a love

that i fell right out of

CHORUS


BRIDGE

and i’d like to hope this ends

with calling me your friend

a flowered chapter of text

to remind me of when

CHORUS

Liv Medeiros-Sakimoto

Liv is currently a sophomore studying Philosophy + Film and Media Studies. She enjoys brunch, photography, Doc Martens, and hot cocoa.

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