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Hannah Kuntz

Sandra Riley

English Composition 2

13 Feb. 2021

One Song, Two Meanings

One song can have two meanings. For instance, “Wolves” by Selena Gomez means one

thing to her and another to cover artist, Tiffany Alvord. Selena brings her fans into her journey of

love as she faces difficult circumstances to be with her man again, while Tiffany created her

video for the enjoyment of herself and her audience. Selena’s audience of fans and others

experiencing relationship difficulties can relate to this song and understand what she is going

through, and Tiffany’s audience of fans and music lovers can enjoy the beauty of nature and

lyrics when watching her video. "Wolves" has two different purposes.

Selena’s music video begins as she holds a flower and picks off the petals one by one. In

this, she is playing the “he loves me, he loves me not” game, meaning she has a love interest.

The song’s DJ, Marshmello, does the same behind Selena as he’s looking at her. From this, the

audience can tell that her love interest has feelings for her as well. Marshmello represents the

love interest in this music video.

The first line of the song is, “In your eyes, there’s a heavy blue.” These words imply that

the love interest in the story has baggage that is probably associated with sadness. The next line

says, “One to love, and one to lose.” This means that Selena may be able to handle the baggage,

but it could be toxic. A wolf then appears for a split second, which foreshadows the chorus.

Selena and Marshmello are next seen communicating with each other on their phones. Constant

communication is one of the beginning steps in a relationship, and that is where their relationship
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stands in that moment. “A heavy truth,” states that Selena knows that there will be baggage.

“Water or wine don’t make me choose,” these lyrics take the song into a deeper meaning. Water

and wine symbolize the good and bad that can come from being with this guy, and she wants to

be with him even though he could bring something toxic into her life. “I wanna feel the way that

we did that summer night,” she’s referencing good memories that she wants to relive with him.

“Drunk on a feeling,” tells the audience that her desire to be with him is based on a feeling she

can’t get rid of, which is stronger than the baggage in the moment. A wolf appears again to

foreshadow the chorus a second time.

The chorus says, “'I’ve been running through the jungle/I've been running with the

wolves/To get to you, to get to you/I've been down the darkest alleys/Saw the dark side of the

moon/To get to you, to get to you/I've looked for love in every stranger/Took too much to ease

the anger/All for you, yeah, all for you/I've been running through the jungle/I've been crying with

the wolves/To get to you, to get to you (oh to get to you).” This means that Selena has gone

through a lot to be with her love interest. She shares that she looked for love in others, but

couldn’t find it because she still had feelings for him. In the video, pictures are shown of Selena

and Marshmello enjoying different experiences together. However, in the middle of their pictures

together, there are images of each of them alone. This symbolizes how they were together, then

separate, then together again.

The song ends with the chorus to express Selena’s journey and love for her man. The

video concludes the same way it began: spending time together, the wolf, communicating on

phones, “loves me, loves me not” game. This means that Selena and her love interest are back to

where they started.

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Although “Wolves” has a deep and relatable meaning, it isn’t the main focus in Tiffany

Alvord’s music video. This film opens with different scenes from nature including leaves, a

creek, and trees. She sings the first part of the song as she’s seated on a rock in the forest.

Viewers can tell the video was filmed in the fall because of the attention to fall colors, clothing,

and nature. Tiffany feels the lyrics she sings as the camera catches her face from different angles.

Nature clips continue to be shown throughout the video.

As Tiffany continues to sing, she walks her audience through different settings in nature.

Through this, she further showcases the beauty of fall. When she sings, “drunk on a feeling,” she

looks into the camera with a sad expression, which shows that she relates to that specific lyric.

This music video concludes as she lies on the ground and closes her eyes, symbolizing the long

and exhausting journey of love. Although Tiffany relates to this song, the video’s purpose is to

illuminate the beauty of fall and to entertain her audience.

One song can be portrayed differently through separate music videos. These two artists

express the different outlooks they have on the same song. Selena Gomez expresses her

challenge of love to fans and viewers who can relate and understand her experience, yet Tiffany

Alvord showcases the beauty of nature as she entertains her viewers with her passion for music.

“Wolves” has two different purposes.

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Works Cited

Performance by Selena Gomez, and Marshmello, Selena Gomez, Marshmello – Wolves

(Music Video), 2 Nov. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsaDQJkS9N0.

Gomez, Selena, and Marshmello. Wolves - Selena Gomez (Tiffany Alvord Cover).
Performance by Tiffany Alvord, Wolves - Selena Gomez (Tiffany Alvord Cover), 11 Nov.
2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=We7M14jeYVM.