“Let Her Go” by Passenger was one of the first songs I remember my dad showing me. A lot of my songs are taken from him, and so most of the songs I listen to know are also songs I listened to a kid. This song reminds me of driving along the Sea to Sky highway around midday, just looking out towards the water. 

Something I try to remember every day is not to take anything for granted. One day you might have it, the next it may be gone. Appreciate everything you have every day because one day it might be taken away. While I was looking through my favourite childhood songs, this was actually a common train of thought, so it was only fitting that I include one in my playlist. “Let Her Go” does an exceptional job in explaining this feeling of regret after losing something you took for granted. It does so in the chorus when it says “you only need the light when it’s burning low, only miss the sun when it starts to snow, only know you love her when you let her go”(0:25). You don’t truly appreciate what you have until you have lived without it. These lines use juxtaposition and contrast quite well to show this. How could you appreciate the warmth of the sun until you experience the chills of snow? This simple idea can be applied to so many subjects in real life; it really makes the song much more enjoyable to listen to, knowing that it can be applied to other things in your life, rather than just a lost love. 

This song uses repetition and alliteration to create a pleasing melody and rhythm. Of the two verses in the song, the beat and general structure of each line is identical. The only change is the words in the line, and even then most of them have the same meaning. During the chorus, each line begins with the same word: only. You ONLY miss the sun… ONLY need the light… ONLY hate the road. This repetition of the same word creates a pleasing tune to listen to. Another good example of alliteration in this song is in the line “only know you love her when you let her go”(0:45). The repetition of the L sound and the word her creates a line that very easily slides off your tongue. All in all, this song might be one of my favourite songs to listen to, purely because of the melody.