Young Love
“Only In My Dreams” by The Marias captures the intensity of young, toxic love portrayed in T.C Boyle's “The Love Of My Life.” China and Jeremy were young lovers who were certain they would be together for the rest of their lives. When they weren't with each other, they were thinking about each other. This dramatically changed when China unexpectedly became pregnant. Jermey distanced himself because the flame he had once felt for China had diminished. All he could picture is what they had done to their baby. Whereas China wanted Jeremy regardless of what had happened to them. “Only in my dreams” is about a deep longing for that one person's affection. For a love that only exists in dreams, something intense and eternal. This song expresses China's desire for Jeremy. The beginning lyrics “baby stay with me” and “you're everything I need to bare this fear” reflects China's emotional and physical separation from the love of her life. All she wanted was to be engulfed by his love, but reality swiftly wrecked her dream. Both the story and the song emphasize the harsh reality that love is not just being in a dream like trance, but rather destructive.
Looking At The Past
The MVP of the readings given over the semester is “The Love of My Life” by T.C Boyle. This story shows the passion and extent to which young people will go to keep their romance alive. It shows that love can be so surreal that it is almost dreamlike and how it can quickly be changed. Reality always sets in, no matter the situation, and knocks people back into their senses. In this case, China and Jeremy, the protagonists, rapidly get knocked out of their love bubble when they face trouble with the law for what they had done to their newborn child. This unwanted pregnancy created tension between the couple. They both did not want to have a child to raise because they selfishly thought about themselves. For instance, Jeremy only thought about his life at Brown University. “He couldn’t have a life. Couldn’t be a freshman. Couldn’t wake up in the morning and tumble into the slow steady current of the world. All he could think of was her. Or not simply her—her and him, and what had come between them.” China throughout this narrative fights for Jeremy and his affection. She wanted them to go back to how they were when they first met. Unfortunately, that is not how life works. We as humans must face the consequences of our actions. As much as we want to avoid them and go back to the past, we cannot. This idea was what set this passage apart from the rest of the readings. It emphasizes how actions not only affect the people involved but also those around them. Being young you naturally make unwise choices, however, it is how you deal with them afterward that shows your morality and character.
The Perfect Option
“Only In My Dreams” by The Marias emphasizes the trancelike state people enter when they are in love. Thomas Coraghessan Boyle shows this in “The Love of My Life.” “Only In My Dreams” was created by a band called The Marias. I have been a fan of this band for a few years now. I have seen them live twice since I started listening to them. The Marias consists of four members. María Zardoya, Josh Conway, Jesse Perlman, and Edward James. This band formed when Conway saw Zardoya performing at a show in Los Angeles. They immediately created music together and even started a romantic relationship. “I wasn't looking for love, but it found me,” said Zardoya. This band felt like the perfect option because they write and make songs about the intensity of love and heartbreaks. Which is even more impactful since the members are writing about each other and how they feel when they are with them. Every song they have released gives a whimsical effect that makes you daydream about being in love. These strong feelings describe how China and Jeremy feel towards each other.
Dreams Versus Reality
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"Only in My Dreams" by The Marias |
"The Love of My Life" by T.C Boyle |
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"Baby stay with me." |
"He’d never been so purely sick at heart and terrified in all his life, but he tried to be there for her, tried to do his best." |
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"You're everything I need To bare this fear." |
"All she wanted—and she didn’t care what they did to her, beat her, torture her, drag her weeping through the streets in a dirty white dress with 'Baby Killer' stitched over her breast in scarlet letters—was to see Jeremy." |
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"It's only just a dream Babe I'd rather stay inside your dream." |
"And she was remembering a night, summer before last, just after she and Jeremy started going together... She moved into his arms and they kissed...He was Jeremy. He was the love of her life. And she closed her eyes and clung to him as if that were all that mattered." |
Consequences For Our Desires
This I believe: love is not eternal. When you are in love, all your senses are out of the ordinary. You become so infatuated with that special person who has captured your attention that every decision made is poor. You become so love struck that you become blind to what is good and right. As shown in “The Love Of My Life," China is consumed by Jeremy. Every decision she made, she only thought about herself and Jeremy. She did not care about what the law says, what is morally right or wrong, or what is good for her well-being. The love she felt for Jeremy quickly became toxic because she could not live without him. When she was separated from him, she only thought about how he was doing. She only cared about him. As illustrated in the track “Only In My Dreams” by The Marias, being in love seems like a fantasy. Love brings strong emotions of passion and connection. It is as if the world has faded, and it is just you and your lover. However, this world eventually fades and reality hits. Whether it is because of a particular situation, or your love just simply diminished, love changes. And we get put back in the real world, where what you do and say has repercussions.
Works Cited
Nast, Condé. “The Love of My Life.” The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2000, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/03/06/the-love-of-my-lifeLinks to an external site..
The Marías – Only In My Dreams. (2017). Genius. https://genius.com/The-marias-only-in-my-dreams-lyricsLinks to an external site.
My, In. “The Marías - Only in My Dreams.” YouTube, 21 Nov. 2017, youtu.be/qrqywuDWz_Q?si=5MrW8Bc9xZmaZg9O.
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