Abdul Aleem

Mr. A

Fidelity song analysis

12/12/16

The song Fidelity was written by Regina Spektor. Regina Spektor was born on
February 18th, 1980 in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. She
began to record herself in 2001. The song Fidelity came from her first professionally produced
album which was launched in 2006. The genre for Fidelity is Anti-Folk, a branch off of Indi Pop.
Fidelity came out during the same time period and fits into the same genre as the song Your ex-
lover is dead. The main idea of the song is about how Regina was socially private and never
held any relationships until she met a man who she began to love.
The song starts off by playing synthetic noises at the beginning. Throughout the entire
song a low base noise plays which has the same beat as a heartbeat, which probably resembles
Reginas heart. The first verse is all about how she protects herself from the outside world and
its relationships. In the song, the phrase One foot on the ground means that Regina is never
letting her guard down. She never loved anyone which prevented her heart from breaking.
Regina abstained from holding any relationships in order to protect herself, which is the opposite
of What Lips My Lips Have Kissed and Where and Why, by Edna St. Vincent Milay. Edna St.
Vincent Milay was having an affair with a different guy every four days or so, hoping that she
would find a true lover. But one day, she met this one man who apparently changed her. She
loved him and let her guard down. She says she hears music in her head. That music is some of
the romantic music that she listens to. She says I hear in my mind all of this music, and it
breaks my heart. It makes her sad because it reminds her of the love that she doesnt have, and it
makes her think about how both partners in the song are happy. All she can think about is the
guy.
In verse two, she thinks about what would keep happening if she never met the guy. She
would keep listening to love songs to distract her from the reality of her not having a lover and
not knowing the guy that she loves. This is pointed out when Regina says Suppose I kept on
singing love songs just to break my own fall. If Regina never met the guy, she would keep
listening to romantic music, but at the same time, the romantic music would end up making her
sad at the same time. Reginas voice keeps breaking throughout the song and it sounds like she
needs to drink water or clear her throat, which is probably on purpose to resemble her heart
breaking.
After that, Regina says All my friends say that of course its gonna get better Her
friends are telling Regina that her life is going to get better and that she should stay optimistic.
Her friends are probably saying this just to make Regina feel better about herself and that so
shell stop being so down. She repeats the word better 8 times in a row which is probably
referring to how her friends keep telling her that her life will get better over and over again.
There is a half chorus around the end of the song where she just talks about how she
hears all the music and songs in her head. The music around this part of the song turns
aggressive. The drums that were playing increase the distance between the symbols in order to
make a distinct clashing noise when the symbols are hit with the drumsticks. At the same time,
Regina begins to speak louder, as if shes trying to make a point.
In conclusion, Regina used to be all boxed up and she used to stay away from
relationships until she met a man. She talks about what she would do if they never me. She also
talks about how she uses love music to distract herself from her loveless life, but ironically, the
music ends up making her sadder. Fidelity is still relative today as many people follow her path
and abstain from relationships, as they view relationships as a weakness.