Another Love  Sings of Another War

In early March 2022, Tom Odell’s song Another Love became viral on TikTok, a social media platform, in connection to videos from the war devastating Ukraine. The track quickly became a solidarity anthem for the current struggles of Ukrainian people. Despite the artist releasing several new songs in the past years, his older 2012 hit, Another Love, has been his top track over the past months, according to Chartmetric (see last page of Appendix III). Tom Odell’s overall popularity as an artist has also increased over the past few months, with circa 500 000 new followers gained from the beginning of April until the end of July, according to Soundcharts (see Appendix III).

Shortly after the war started, the musician came to Bucharest and performed the song for Ukrainian refugees at the central train station, event closely followed by the We Are One humanitarian concert in the same city and other similar occasions. These types of performances add a new meaning to a love song that is in no way explicitly about warfare. Tom Odell dedicated his top charting track to all Ukrainians, even adding a donation link to the official video on YouTube, with the encouragement to “please give generously to the Ukraine Crisis Fundraiser at Choose Love.” Every individual listener or  and every group has their own ways of perceiving the lyrics and melody of this song. Given the contexts in which it was performed, however, the song gives rise to similar impressions in the collective memory of those participating in the solidarity movement for Ukraine. 

Lyrics, Tunes, and Contexts

Parallels between war and love are as old as these concepts’ origins. To take a more recent example, the expression “Make Love, Not War” was coined in the US protests against the armed conflict in Vietnam, another time in which these two opposing concepts were associated. Even though there is an obvious contrast between the notions, some people also draw similarities between war and love, considering the saying that “all’s fair in love and war.” Furthermore, love can be a source of peace, but also a conflict that instead of involving tanks or shotguns is armed with emotions and too many expectations.

Tom Odell’s song is about someone who wants to love another, but at the same time senses the impossibility of this desire. The lyrics and melody can suggest a feeling of hopelessness, which fits in the spectrum of opinions brought by the war in Ukraine. Building on the message of the song, many supporters of the solidarity movement for this country would like to have the power to make everything “feel alright” again for the people of Ukraine. They might instead  share the impressions created and evoked by Another Love, singing of the “used up” tears of someone broken-hearted who tries in vain to care again, as the chorus repeats.  

Other recent global affairs as well, for example the COVID-19 pandemic or the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, or further back, the World Wars of the previous century, have also arguably drained the energies of those witnessing “another war”. These events are represented in the collective memory of nations and other collectives all across the world, and listeners can be reminded of them as well when listening to a song that is associated with a current event with worldwide effects. Furthermore, since Russia is the other combatant power in this armed conflict with Ukraine, it is extremely difficult to confront it and to stop Vladimir Putin from carrying out what he calls his “special military operation.”

Turning to the second verse, the lines referring to how a lover would fight against those threatening their potential partner also make an interesting comparison to the people defending Ukraine. If Stefania associated patriotism with the love found in caring families, Tom Odell’s song connects national devotion with the affection found in romantic relationships. The last half of the second verse is also repeated in the bridge of the track, making a reference to music tied to interpersonal relations. Another Love is arguably the “song that’d be just ours” in the context of the solidarity movement for Ukraine.
Like the lyrics of the song, its melody seems bittersweet as well. The vocals are in the key G major, while the piano instrumental is in the key E minor, telling of the mixture of uplifting feelings that a love could bring and of hopelessness that the impossibility of reaching these confers if one is to consider the traditional high and low emotional valence of major and minor keys, respectively.

The Dangers of One-sidedness

One should also be wary when listening to the “soundtrack of solidarity” for Ukraine, as in most of the cases it narrates a one-sided perspective on Russia’s 2022 invasion. Music can become a “weapon in an ideological battle,”(127) manipulating the emotions of the public. The song by Tom Odell arguably glorifies Ukraine, comparing the country’s suffering to that of a potential lover. The idyllic image of motherhood that parallels Ukraine's struggle in the song by Kalush Orchestra also plays on the opinions of collectives, gathered in solidarity. The space created by these kinds of songs can initially seem peaceful, an ideal worth striving for. The better world that they perform about, however, would also involve killing and fighting Russians, who are not taken into account as much as they probably should in trying to paint a more nuanced picture of this ongoing war. Not necessarily with bad intentions, or on purpose, music simplifies war-related narratives and can become a tool of propaganda. The songs from the solidarity movement for Ukraine risk becoming too eulogizing for the Ukrainian cause, while this country is not actually the perfect motherland. What one should keep in mind is that suffering and injustice exist on both sides of the war, and that “Russians love their children too.”

Already in March, the famed artist Sting performed an online statement in support of those affected by the war. Reacting to the escalating violence on the battlefield and in city bombardments, he played his 1985 top-charting song entitled Russians, saying a short dedication before the music begins:

I’ve only rarely sang this song in the many years since it was written, because I never thought it would be relevant again, but in the light of one man’s bloody and woefully misguided decision to invade a peaceful, unthreatening neighbor, the song is, once again, a plea for our common humanity. For the brave Ukrainians fighting against this brutal tyranny, and also the many Russians who are protesting this outrage despite the threat of arrest and imprisonment, we all of us love our children.

This track was composed during the Cold War, and criticized the rhetoric from the United States that portrayed the Russians as an evil enemy. In the more recent March 2022 context, one can think of the international tendency of solely supporting Ukrainians, protecting their cause as if they are the only ones who suffer from the war. Even though the lyrics and chords of this composition are not part of a detailed case study, mentioning the lines “Russians love their children too” and “we share the same biology” remind of the hardship that is found on the other side of the war as well. There is not, however, any wide solidarity movement for Russia, since this is the country that started the invasion, mainly due to Vladimir Putin’s decision, the “tyrannical” ruler that Sting refers to. The songs from the solidarity movement for Ukraine might make it seem as if only this country is to be supported.