camren analysis

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Bad Kind of Butterflies is the sixth song out of Romance and it’s the most controversial one because it’s supposedly about the Ewmila/ Shitmila love triangle. Or is it?

Come here and sit next to me Don’t look at me while I’m breaking After what I’m gonna say I understand if you hate me

So, Camila is meeting this person and wants to tell them something important. People immediately associated it with Camila telling Matthew about Shawn, but that isn’t the case here.

Camila will understand if they hate her once they hear the news. But when it comes to cheating, the first reaction would be hurt. Hate might be a secondary reaction, but it’s not always the case since some couples try to work it out and sometimes they do.

So what is Camila telling them? There are two possibilities:

Camila is telling her parents about Lauren and her sexuality. She is afraid they will hate her because some parents don’t accept their kids’ sexualities.

Camila is confessing her feelings to Lauren. She is afraid L will hate her because, well, Lauren swears she’s straight.

I’m going with the first one, since it fits more the timeline presented in Romance.

What do I do when I love you and want somebody else? What do I lose if I don’t choose and keep it to myself?

Well, the simple debunk here: if you love someone, you won’t cheat on them. Period. And, if you want somebody else and don’t get out of your current relationship, you’re holding of your life, your SO’s, and your crush’s. So those might not be the smartest lyrics at all.

But… if you apply the correct context:

Camila loves her parents, but she’s not who they expect her to be and she’s wondering if it’s worth telling them.

Camila loves Lauren as a friend, but she wants more. So she wonders if she should keep it quiet and just enjoy the ride.

Both interpretations fit here. But the symbols evoked in these lines are often related to Camila’s sexuality.Hesitation and Secret also come in Only Told the Moon (silence, too loud, say it, not now) and Shameless (Don’t speak, no, don’t try, it’s been a secret for the longest time). 

I got bad, bad, bad kind of butterflies Like when you got something to hide Lies, tellin’ you that I’m alright Tonight, tonight Bad, bad butterflies in my chest There’s something I gotta confess Yes, somebody’s stuck in my head And I, and I

Camila’s got the bad kind of butterflies because she’s anxious about what she has to say to this person. Her anxiety might have played a role in here, but that’s not explicit within the song. And what does she want to say? That someone is stuck in her head.

Again, saying that someone is stuck in your head isn’t the way of breaking up with your bf/gf. You usually say: I like someone else. Or you don’t even go into that detail. So the fake love triangle doesn’t fit here. 

The “somebody’s stuck in my head” implies a certain distance from the subject and the person you’re talking to. It could be because she’s not talking to Lauren, but about Lauren. Or it could be a structure she found to conceal the true meaning of the song.

I know I said we were friends And when I said that, I meant it (swear, I meant it) Somewhere between now and then It became more than just a friendship

This is supposed to allude to Shitmila, but it doesn’t make sense because the timeline is just too short. Plus, them bonding over Cenorita means that Cenorita isn’t about them, which contradicts their overall timeline. As Lauren would say: loop hole!

It doesn’t make much sense for her to be telling Lauren that it became more than a friendship because, well, Lauren knows it.

But what if Sinu had already questioned Camila about Camren because she felt the girls were too close for just friendship? And Camila denied it at the time, but now she’s confessing that it was more than just a friendship! 

Either way, this line fits Camren’s FWB relationship back then, as shown in Señorita (you say we’re just friends, but friends don’t know the way you taste) and in My Oh My (I don’t be kissing on little shawty, she don’t be kissing on me either). More interestingly, it means that Sinu already suspected of them.

Come here and sit next to me You tell me: Baby, just say it (say it, say it) Warnin’ me it’s a mistake I just know I gotta make it

Sinu and Ale are waiting for Camila to finally spill the beans and, well, she does! And how does that resolve?

It seems like Camila’s parents had nothing against her sexuality, but they were wary of Lauren. In My Oh My, it is revealed that Sinu “didn’t trust” L and Ale “didn’t love her”. Also, in Havana, Camila mentioned that Papa C had said that Lauren’s got “malo in her”. Yup, not a very good impression, Lauren.

Well, Sinu and Ale might have told Camila that she deserved better and that there were healthier forms of relationship out there. And that’s exactly what Camila sought before Lauren came running back.

Conclusion

Bad Kind of Butterflies sure gives room for interpretation. But, within the narrative of Romance, it fits right after Shameless, when Camila decides to come out to her parents, and right before My Oh My.

Next on Romance… Easy!

basically everything. lauren and camila are both obsessed with the sun and moon as a trope and have at this point self identified with it. the sun and the moon are never seen together except for on the odd occasion when they eclipse—— this basically camren’s love story, especially after the end of 2016. “the sun loved the moon so much he died every night to let her breathe”.

🤠

So I know most of the songs off romance is about Lauren

No Shawmila

But people who have doubts that used to this is about Shawn or whatever(lmao I can’t believe people believe it is)

There is a smart Camren shipper who figured this out

Off Twitter

Credits given.

So go to Twitter:

https://twitter.com/waakemee_up/status/1203670996810493953?s=19

i wrote this with a bad headache last night instead of being more productive so um 🗿

oh, i’m scared if i look in your eyes, i might see your soul

it starts off right away with a kind of obvious reference to fifth harmony’s no way, aka the song lauren broke down while singing at a 7/27 tour concert. the song lauren and dinah fought so hard for to be on 7/27 because it meant something to lauren. it was recorded in 2014/15, as it was intended for reflection.

i know love is the loneliest place when you fall alone

nothing much to say here. camila is talking about how when she first fell for lauren, she was falling alone, because lauren didn’t feel the way she did yet.

sitting by the phone, holding onto hope spending all night wondering why you let me go (you let me go) i wish you had felt how you’re feeling two years ago

lauren was dealing with a lot of internal homophobia when she was younger. because of this, she pushed camila away and broke up with her. fast forward and she regrets her decision greatly. she wants camila back, but camila doesn’t (for reasons i’ll explain in the next part), and only wishes lauren had felt the same way sooner.

hurts me to hurt you, baby lying awake and everything has changed keeping our distance lately kills me to kill you when i tell you that I felt it once, i can’t feel it twice it’s more than i can take, baby hurts me to tell you I don’t feel the same

camila just wants to protect herself because last time it seemed to her that lauren was ashamed of her, which made her feel like shit. however, even though camila thought she was protecting herself, she winds up hurting herself instead by rejecting lauren and seeing her sad. it kills her. notice how camila said “i *can’t* feel it again” and not “i *don’t* feel it again”. she’d not saying she doesn’t love lauren anymore, she’s saying she doesn’t want to risk being put through what she was last time because it’s more than she can take. she *tells* lauren that she doesn’t feel the same anymore, but it’s not what she really means.

i can feel you still staring at me when i look away

definitely not much to say here. lauren stares at camila a lot. the end.

can’t imagine the pain that you feel when i kiss his face 

with the context of the song, i think this might be about a fling of camila’s (with a girl, the pronouns were switched for obvious reasons) in an attempt to move on from lauren (and failing miserably), and lauren was unfortunately aware of it. i briefly wondered if this was about austin (depending on the timing) but considering him and camila never really did anything that wasn’t publicized since they were fake, i don’t think it fits the song well enough.

that’s when you said “how can i be your friend when i know the way you taste? it’s almost 2 AM and i can’t ask you to stay”

pretty straightforward here. lauren and camila spent a lot of time together whether they wanted to or not. until camila left four and half years into fifth harmony, they spent every waking moment together, therefore they *had* to be friends. but lauren knows how camila tastes (if you catch my drift) and she misses her, and being just friends is hard.

i don’t know what’s worse, getting broken or making it break

lauren broke them up the first time, and camila is rejecting her, or breaking it, now.

feels like there’s nothing i can say

camila loves lauren, but she’s not letting herself half her. there’s nothing she can say.

Shameless is one of the first songs out of Romance. Lyrically, it’s about Camila’s coming out.

Don’t speak No, don’t try It’s been a secret for the longest time Don’t run No, don’t hide Been running from it for the longest time

In the first verse, Camila seems conflicted about something. A secret that has lasted for a while. This may be related to her sexuality or to her relationship with Lauren. They’re likely connected.

The first symbol here is hesitation. Camila wonders if she should come out or not. We had the first hint of that in Only Told The Moon (Silence, too loud. Say it, not now) and it also showed on BKOB (What do I lose if I don’t choose and keep it to myself?).

We also have secrecy. First because Camila felt like there was no one she could talk to about her sexuality, as shown in Only Told The Moon (I only told the Moon, tonight upon the roof. I told her that I’m scared that all my thoughts they look like you). Secondly, because as Lauren wasn’t comfortable with her sexuality as well, they ended up on the FWB spectrum, which meant they didn’t share the details of their relationship to anyone, as shown in Liar (But what if you kiss me? And what if I like it? And no one sees it?)

But Camila is having none of it anymore

So many mornings I woke up confused In my dreams I do anything I want to you My emotions are naked, they’re taking me out of my mind

Camila is confused, either by her sexuality or because of Lauren. But when she dreams with L, she does everything she wants. When she comes to that realization, Camila finally takes a hold of her feelings. Yes, she’s attracted to women. Yes, she has feelings for Lauren.

Dreaming is also a theme in Only Told the Moon (Lately I wonder how it feels to taste your lips), which implies distance from what Camila really wants (to love Lauren) and her reality (Lauren rejecting her feelings). Later on, this symbol was given a twist on Dream of You.

Eiter way, now Camila wants to make her dreams come true.

Right now I’m shameless Screamin’ my lungs out for ya Not afraid to face it I need you more than I want to Need you more than I want to

Then, whoops, Camila comes out and she’s not afraid of her sexuality anymore or of the consequences she might face coming out. Shame is a symbol of them holding back on their sexuality, as shown in Burning (I’ll take all of your shame). Lauren feels it too on Inside (Scared thoughts and twisted feelings you left behind).

Show me you’re shameless Write it on my neck, why don’t ya? And I won’t erase it I need you more than I want to Need you more than I want to

At the same time, Camila wants Lauren to come out as well and claim her as her girlfriend. The label seems like a huge thing for her. We have a write on me reference as well, which can also be found on Living Proof (When you touch me, paint me like a Van Gogh).

So we’re there Now it’s real Now that you have me, do you want me still? My kisses are history, they go back a long time And I’m tired of loving somebody that’s not mine

Then Lauren and Camila are back at it again, but it seems that Lauren still won’t take her as her girlfriend. Camila is growing tired of it and eventually moves on, as told by Should’ve Said It and Feel It Twice. The inconsistency is a big Camren symbol, especially on earlier songs. It can be found on Señorita, Who Are You, Liar, Going Nowhere and No Way, for example.

There’s just inches in between us I want you to give in, I want you to give in There is tension in between us I just wanna give in And I don’t care if I’m forgiven

Camila feels that they are close to each other and that Lauren has feelings for her. But Lauren still won’t accept her feelings. It doesn’t matter to Camila, because she’s past that point now. And if Lauren doesn’t want to be her girlfriend, she’s gonna find a girl that will want to be.

Conclusion

Shameless narrates how Camila fought against her own insecurities and came out. By doing so, she set herself free, in the sense that Lauren won’t be able to play with her feelings anymore. If Lauren doesn’t want to be her girlfriend, Camila will find a girl that would want to.