this might be like such a niche but I am literally obsessed with thérèse by maya hawke. it just feels so important and so relatable and so true (not to mention it’s just such a pretty song and her lyricism is so beautiful) like it’s about the male gaze, and how people sexualize young girls, and somehow that’s viewed as *their* fault (like the call to take the painting down) even when the intent is not sexual, because people will view it like that, and that sexualization just makes it so hard to be a young girl sometimes. like as maya hawke sings, “it’s just thérèse.” it’s not some sort of sexual painting made to cater to the male gaze. it’s just a young girl lost in her own head. it’s just thérèse.
the song is also so much about looking at a piece of art and just getting it and relating to it, which is something that is just so beautiful to me, that we can look at art and make up stories, and emotions, and feel so attached to something that is just paint, or words on paper. also that almost-heartbreak when you feel so attached to a piece of art, other look at it and just don’t see it, at least not in the way you do, and that certain ownership you feel over it. “i guess thérèse was just for me” feels so relatable to me. sometimes it does feel like that. like a piece of art is so much made for you, and you don’t want other people to have it, because they will ruin it.
anyways go listen to maya hawke ❤️ she may be a nepo baby but her music slays