the first Mitski love song dedicated to the self
a song analysis from a bitch who thinks she knows everything...
I started listening to Mitski as a way to cope with my family’s generational trauma and my complicated mommy issues, but I ended up opening another wound— finding comfort in an artist who like me, also obtains an immeasurable amount of love and a longing for a love that could not compare to my own.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Japanese American artist, she has quite the reputation for composing complex, melancholic tunes that resonate in the hearts of many people who grew up struggling with their identity, feeling disconnected between themselves and a parent, and finding too many excuses to make up for the lack of love they received from the world.
Mitski has a few songs about love, but her single "My Love Mine All Mine" from her new album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We is not like most love songs. With heavy traffic social media apps like Instagram and Tiktok, we often see music being used as a way to communicate a message by simply adding it to a collection of photos or videos. Certain songs flow in and out of rotation for the consistent visuals of people sharing their life on the internet. On Tiktok, sure, there’s always a Taylor Swift song for every other significant other dedication. Sometimes its Sade, Mac Demarco, Faye Webster, or Daniel Caesar just to name a few. But I’m having a hard time seeing the usage of Mitski’s songs as a way to show off your lover— especially “My Love Mine All Mine.” Like, bitch. Did you even fucking listen to the song?
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Mitski’s songs being misused on the internet. A while back I saw her song “I Bet on Losing Dogs” being used in the same way.
My baby, my baby
You're my baby, say it to me
Baby, my baby
Tell your baby that I'm your baby
It is 100% understandable that the catchy verses often stick out more prominently to listeners, but in a perfect world we would break the habit of taking a few lines out of a passage of writing and completely rejecting the rest of the words, thus changing the entire meaning of the quote. I think if Tiktok users understood that “I Bet on Losing Dogs” is about being in love and knowing its destined to end badly, having to beg this lover to say that they love you, and feeling abused, tired, and unsatisfied while loving this person and being aware of these feelings and not wanting to do anything about it…if they knew this would they still use it to post pictures of their dearly beloved?
We use lyrics from songs and listen to music casually without understanding the underlying message behind the art quite frequently, and I think that at times this could be dangerous for music nerds like me. Its like you’re basically asking for someone to lecture you. I love Mitski and her work so much that I can no longer silence the fire burning in the pits of my soul every time I witness her music not being appreciated inside and out like the masterpiece it is. If I see another bitch use “My Love Mine All Mine” to show off her sickly looking boyfriend I am actually going to have an aneurysm. Its not about me being a hater for people being happy in love. Its about me being a hater for people using this song incorrectly.
I’m aware that all art is subjective but I’m declaring that this song is not. I don’t care. You’re all wrong. “My Love Mine All Mine” is a love song for yourself. Its really not up for discussion. Like it could be, but after this it won’t be because I would have said my peace and if you’re intelligent enough you’ll realize that I’m right and no one else’s opinion on this song matters.
“My Love Mine All Mine” – it starts off like this:
Verse 1
Moon, a hole of light
Through the big top tent up high
Here before and after me
Shinin' down on me
Moon, tell me if I could
Send up my heart to you?
So, when I die, which I must do
Could it shine down here with you?
It’s so Mitski to reference the Moon in her lyrics when she talks about love. The Moon, for most people, most intuitive and sexy people, is not just a celestial body tied to us in orbit. She, which is the correct gender pronoun for the moon, obviously, is referred to as an ancient hole of light ever shining for us day and night. Her consistent illumination can symbolize Mitski’s endless abundance of love. When you have a love so strong and infinite, it only makes sense that you request that the Moon reflects that energy back on the earth after you pass— for we humans are not created to last forever and our love might be the only thing that can withstand time.
I love the second half of the first verse so much. I can imagine Mitski looking at the Moon as she sings those lyrics. I too, sometimes look at the Moon and say meaningful things, and when I do, I feel like I can hear them echo to the Moon and back— my words whispering right back to me in my ear. The Moon is often used in metaphors about reflection. I like to imagine that in this song the Moon embodies some greater version of Mitski. Maybe all her past lives and future selves. She’s looking at the Moon, a big, beautiful thing and seeing parts of herself. What kind of love is coming from this person and is bright enough to blend with moonlight itself?
Chorus
'Cause my love is mine, all mine
I love, my, my, mine
Nothing in the world belongs to me
But my love, mine, all mine, all mine
GOD not even Shakespeare could make this shit up. Mitski’s convincing the Moon to let her love shine down here on earth because even though nothing in the world belongs to her, her love persists through that limit. To have nothing— to know that you have nothing but your love, is a beautiful conclusion to come to. The possibilities of what you can do with your love is endless, but for those that insist on using that love only to love one other shelters themselves from the unimaginable. If nothing in the world belongs to you except for your love, why wouldn’t you choose to love yourself first before all other things that do not belong to you?
Mitski has enough songs about feeling alone that could warrant a wellness check, but “My Love Mine All Mine” might be the first song where she’s making peace with her loneliness. I think its difficult for people to wrap their mind around the fact that at the end of the day, all we truly have is ourselves. We are the ones who wake ourselves up in the morning and put ourselves to bed. We feed ourselves, take care of ourselves, hold ourselves accountable. There are truths we can only come to terms with by ourselves and challenges we must overcome by ourselves. This song celebrates the most valuable gift we can give ourselves that no other ever could— the ability to love fully and freely in a way that is most true to you. There’s nothing in the world that equates to your love. Release it, bathe in it, let it consume you, become it, then allow it to echo to the Moon and back.
Verse 2
My baby here on earth
Showed me what my heart was worth
So, when it comes to be my turn
Could you shine it down here for her?
There’s a reddit post about what Mitski listeners believe this song is about and I agree with the main discourse that this song does not center any type of specific relationship, if any at all. But when it comes to the second verse, this claim has been perceived as “homophobic” since Mitski is referring to another woman as her “baby” that she request her love be shined down for after she dies. I think that’s a little intense, and I would also like to say that I think that the people who are saying shit like this missed the entire point of the song.
Her baby here on earth… showed her what her heart was worth. Did her baby show her a love so great that it made her realize what her heart was also capable of? Or did her baby treat her like shit to the point where Mitski understood that her heart deserved better? Who is this baby she speaks so fondly of? Is it a lover? A friend? A pet? Is it even something with a beating heart? Could it not be her career or her dreams that she tends to like a baby? It doesn’t really matter who this baby is because it’s not the point. The point is that she refers to this baby not as the subject of her love, but the turning point of her love and in return she wishes for it to be sent back down to her baby— not in a way where she believes that her love is elite compared to her baby’s love, but in a way where her baby could be reminded of the nobility of their own love.
Considering the previous, I can see why people may feel the need to dedicate this song to someone who showed them the value of their own love, but it’s not the main focus. That’s all I’m really here to say. I want to make that so clear. This aspect seems like such a small feature of the song that somehow became the star of the show. But idk. Maybe it would be different if people were using the song as a dedication to the person they became post relationship. But it seems kinda weird when they use it while they are happily together. Perhaps I’m just not entirely convinced that you can fully understand how meaningful your love is and how it can transform you while you’re in a relationship, but this just might be an unpopular opinion. How are you able to clearly perceive your own love when it is constantly in comparison to your partner's love?
Chorus
'Cause my love is mine, all mine
I love, my, my, mine
Nothing in the world belongs to me
But my love, mine, all mine
Nothing in the world is mine for free
But my love, mine, all mine, all mine
This song arrived at the most perfect time for me. After getting out of a two-year long relationship, I spent a lot of time trying to come back to myself. This process consisted of spending time with my family, reconnecting with friends, and taking care of myself inside and out. While doing just about everything to heal from the breakup, it still felt like something was missing. I tried to fill this hole in my sky with temporary people and complicated feelings but this song suddenly made everything so clear to me.
There is only so much in this life that you can control. I am not responsible for deaths, heartbreaks, rejection, and closed doors. However, I am responsible for persevering and choosing to love in the end anyway. My favorite thing Mitski said about this song is how out of all the things she’s ever done, choosing to love has been her best decision ever. When you learn that your love is more than enough and that you are a vessel with an endless supply of unconditional love, you become an unstoppable force of nature. You can choose what to do with this love. If you want to feed it to your community, to your career, to your family and friends, or to a lover— it’s up to you. I just hope that you feel guided to give yourself some of that love because no one in the world deserves it more than you.
☆ j from north of space
