By ISABELLA BURCIAGA
Staff Writer
John Legend´s debut album Get Lifted (2004), an album that focused on the evolution of a relationship suffering betrayal and growth, has a magnetic pull to listeners. The song I chose to analyze is the 5th track, ¨She Don’t Have to Know¨, detailing a growing affair between two individuals in different relationships. This song was a pivotal point in not only the narrator´s moral code, as well as his viewpoint on who he loves. There are three main excerpts from the song posted below
When I meet you
I got my shades on to cover up my eyes
I’m hoping that nobody sees me passing by
Through my disguise
I still know, you recognize
I know you got a little secret of your own
You sneaking out with me while your man’s at home
You know your wrong
But it’s so strong, still carrying on
This verse can be interpreted in different ways. Obviously, one way is he is literally describing their encounters in public, but another can also be how the narrator believes their connection runs deep. That while everyone else takes him at face value, she knows the real him. He acknowledges that she´s in an existing relationship like himself, but they form a bond of two people in relationships they don’t feel fully fulfilled in and find that in each other. ¨But it’s so strong, still carrying on¨ is about the thrill of having this ¨secret life¨ that only they are aware of.
Then you ask me
To sneak out of town for just a day or three
Go to DC and hold hands publicly
All through the streets
Cause they don’t know you and they don’t know me
This point in the lyrics is when the audience gets to see the shift in the narrator and his mystery woman´s affair. While for other couples holding hands in public is considered a positive affection, in this case holding hands is a paranoid prevention and a line that crosses from just a fling to something close to real. Their relationship is a hidden fixture in their lives but together, the rules are thrown out and forgotten. Despite all the stress and secrecy of their relationship, the narrator sounds like his defenses are being lowered by this woman, the same way most people feel when they do something for someone they love or have care for.
I don’t want to hurt my baby
And I know it’s supposed to be the last time for you and I
But let’s not end this way
Wait another day
The narrator is becoming dedicated to both women. While acknowledging his primary relationship will be hurt, and more than likely destroyed, he bargains to postpone their pending ending while implying his love is no longer for just one woman. Throughout the duration of the song, the narrator uses ¨you¨, ¨we¨,¨ let´s¨, etc. which insights that the song was written for his mistress, while airing out their dirty laundry he begs her to stay in their arrangement and sees no harm as they have continued with this lie thus far. The message of the song is darker than most love songs would suggest, but love is not the center of their relationship, as they both have found themselves in a relationship that is no longer fulfilling and use this new relationship as an outlet. This song is not about love or even necessarily a long term future, but about filling voids and falling unexpectedly at the worst time. These are the disadvantages of a relationship built on a foundation of mutual dishonesty and lost love.