10/20
Roses are Red
I’ve been doing a lot of music listening this last week or so while studying and I happened to re listen to a song I used to play constantly and thought it was reminiscent of Gatsby if he were to look back on his relationship with Daisy.
The song ‘Roses are Red (Violets are Blue)’ by Jon Caryl is about the speaker reflecting on his relationship and how he let his significant other leave him. I think this song could be reflective of Jay Gatsby if he were to finally leave his delusion and look at his situation from a rational stand point.
The speaker says that he “doesn’t sleep at night ’cause I’m thinking of you/alone with my thoughts trapped in this bed/know I’d give the world just to see you again.” Before Gatsby realizes that Daisy will inevitably choose Tom, it would be easy to see him laying awake plotting and planning how to see her again. He then says “it seems you’ve lost your sympathy/event though just two weeks ago you were happy” which can be assumed that Gatsby would be reflecting on his downfall after he is left alone. If Jay had realized that Daisy wasn’t his end game, he would have been hurt by the aftermath but inevitably bounce back and move on if he left his delusion behind.
He continues to say “but I was a fool to this you were in love/ so roses are red violets are blue/ it’s all in my head no matter what I do.” He could have become aware of his unrealistic beliefs and realized that what him and Daisy had wasn’t true love and it truly was his imagination running wild.
Sometimes I wish that Jay Gatsby had realized the truth of what was happening and learned to let go, but at the same time I’m glad he never went through learning what was real so he could have died holding on to his dream.
