Posted by Mitski released two new singles on August 23, both parts of the new album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, set for release in September: Heaven (you can find it in full streaming here) and Star. Both songs are about love, with lyrics that are not always easy to interpret. In this article, we will explore the meaning of the single Star. You will also find the song streaming and the complete lyrics at the end of the article.
Star: the song lyrics & their meaning
Star is a song about a love that faded out. In the lyrics, Mitski compares the love story with a star that already disappeared. However, as often happens, we still see its light traveling through space from the moments it was still shining. Similarly, Mitski is still living the feelings of love, although its intensity is already over.
The lyrics in Star begin with a celebration of the first days of love. When both parts are profoundly involved and would do anything to stay together:
Remember when we met
We acted like two fools
We were so glad
So glad to have found it
But quickly, the song reveals its sad side. This love is gone. It’s just the memory of it guiding the relationship: two individuals still trying to make it work even if the feelings are over, just because they once decided they should be together. The star is a poetic metaphor for this situation: you can see it and still enjoy its light, even though it’s already dead. What you are seeing is only the luminosity of its past life.
That love is like a star
It’s gone, we just see it shinin’
It’s traveled very far, I’ll
Keep a leftover light
Burnin’ so you can keep lookin’ up
Isn’t that worth holdin’ on?
While describing this love in these terms, Mitski wonders if it’s still worth believing in it. It’s a question that many of us had in our lives: sometimes our feelings are gone, but we are so used to being with that person that we are tempted to continue that relationship no matter what. We are no longer guided by love, probably just by the force of habit and the safety of how we know each other.
In the second part of Star lyrics, Mitski seems to answer this question:
I’m yours no matter
With this simple statement, Mitski admits she’s connected to her partner even if she has run out of love. It can be seen as an admission of weakness: although I don’t love you any longer, I’m unable to move on and end our relationship. Or maybe Star has a more philosophical meaning, and that’s what the lyrics want to explain: the choices we made in the first days, out of that love, can still define us today. Even now that love is over, maybe the intensity and memory of what it was in the beginning are still a reason to go on together. This way, Star becomes a song about awareness and present: a poetic perspective on how to make a long-term relationship survive.
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The song streaming and the complete lyrics
Remember when we met
We acted like two fools
We were so glad
So glad to have found it
That love is like a star
It’s gone, we just see it shinin’
It’s traveled very far, I’ll
Keep a leftover light
Burnin’ so you can keep lookin’ up
Isn’t that worth holdin’ on?
You know I’d always been alone
‘Till you taught me
To live for somebody
That love is like a star
It’s gone, we just see it shinin’
’Cause it’s traveled very far, I’ll
Keep a leftover light
Burnin’ so you can keep lookin’ up
I’m yours no matter
That love’s gone
We just see it shinin’
We’ve travеled very far, I’ll
Keep a leftovеr light
Burnin’ so you can keep lookin’ up
Isn’t that worth holdin’ on?
