Music Review: Gavin Rossdale "Love Remains The Same"

Gavin Rossdale

Love Remains the Same

Album: WANDERlust

Year: 2008

          Wondering about a lost love has broken Gavin Rossdale in the tearful  “Love Remains The Same.”

           A restless guitar opens the single, setting a doleful tone.  He turns his head, watching the flash of a person walk by. Her height, length and color of hair stops her heart. He sees her walk across the street, finally getting a good look at her face. It’s not her. He puts his head down, all the air releasing out of his body. He immediately wants to find a computer and google her. Maybe he’ll find a clue. Then, he’ll finally get his moment with her. (“A thousand times I've seen you standing/Gravity like a lunar landing/Make me want to run till I find you/Shut the world away from here, drift to you, you're all I hear/Everything we know fades to black.”)

             In the pre-chorus, he can no longer bury his feelings. He has made enough excuses over the years. (“Half the time the world is ending, truth is I am done pretending.”)

            In the chorus, she made him believe he was worth something. The belief has gotten him through a lot. He hopes to meet up with her one day and talk over drinks. (“I never thought that I had any more to give/Pushing me so far here I am without you/Drink to all that we have lost, mistakes that we have made/Everything will change, love remains the same.”)

               He has the day planned out. They’ll walk through the city, exchanging memories. The years will disappear. No one has been as real to him, other than hazy images that don’t make sense. (“Find a place where we escape/Take you with me for a space/A city bus that sounds just like a fridge/Walk the streets through seven bars/I had to find just out where you are/The faces seen to blur they're all the same.”)

                The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

                In the bridge, he finally sees her after many years. He believes reality screwed them over. Now, they can only repair the damage. (“So much more to say, so much to be done/Don't you trick me out, we shall overcome/Cause our love stays ablaze/We should have had the sun/Could have been inside/Instead we're over here.”)

             In the second pre-chorus, he tells her the truth. They will no longer hide from what they were afraid of knowing. (“Half the time the world is ending, truth is I am done pretending/Too much time to love defending, you and I are done pretending.”)

              An extended chorus ends the single. (“I never thought that i had any more to give…everything will change, everything will change/oh, I/This could last forever/Oh, I

we could last forever/Love remains the same/Love remains the same.”)

                 Rossdale, with his heartbroken vocals, are gutting. He wants to make it right so badly. It’s notable that at this point, social media was just starting to take off. Finding someone actually took work. There was just Google and some other websites but nothing really substantial.

             The grieving  “Love Remains the Same” nails the the aching, knowing there is nothing can be done.