my learning curve is a horizontal line

the first three are tentative but there’s more and more good proof the farther along you get, so just bear with me

1- debut: aaron

aaron gets debut mainly because of the longing-for-things-you-can’t-have and i’m-absolutely-in-love-with-you vibes, but also partly because of the slightly judgemental aspect of the album

lyrics that remind me of him: 

- i’m only me when i’m with you, from “i’m only me when i’m with you”

- and i don’t try to hide my tears/ my secrets or my deepest fears/ through it all nobody gets me like you do, from “i’m only me when i’m with you”

2- fearless: dan

first off, just because of the name of the album lmao. the love songs are also great for her and matt, discovering yourself and ending up better off than you were when you were a teenager, and the underlying theme of friendship, loyalty, and desperate love all fit dan. 

lyrics that remind me of her:

- don’t forget to look before you fall/ but i’ve found time can heal most anything/ and you just might find out who you’re supposed to be, from “fifteen”

- this love is difficult/ but it’s real, from love story

3- speak now: matt

he’s so in love with dan and that’s the driving reason behind this placement, but also the standing up for yourself bits are very fitting

lyrics that remind me of him: 

- you’re the kind of reckless that should send me running/ but i kinda know that i won’t get far, from “sparks fly”

- long live the walls we crashed through/ how the kingdom lights shine just for me and you, from “long live”

4- red: allison

my beloved. the whole reason i even thought of this post in the first place. i was listening to starlight and it fit so well and then i listened to the rest of the album (for the millionth time) and it all clicked into place for her. this one is very much about glamour (and its beauty and struggles), off-and-on-again relationships, and the highs and lows of being a (beautiful) young adult. allison vibes all around

lyrics that remind me of her: 

- the whole place was dressed to the nines/ and we were dancing, dancing/ like we’re made of starlight, from “starlight”

- and they still tell the legend of how you disappeared/ how you took the money and your dignity and got the hell out, from “lucky one” 

- the entirety of “i knew you were trouble” and “we are never ever getting back together”

5- reputation: andrew

i have no doubt in my mind that this is andrew’s album. for a second i did consider neil, but he actively avoided having a reputation whereas andrew’s is all people think of when they hear about him. also i think he’d appreciate the beat drops

lyrics that remind me of him:

- i don’t regret it one bit/ ‘cause he had it coming, from “i did something bad”

- maybe i got mine/ but you’ll all get yours, from “look what you made me do”

- for you i would cross the line and don’t blame me, love made me crazy/ if it doesn’t you ain’t doing it right, from “don’t blame me”

6- 1989: neil

debated this for about 2 seconds, at which point i remembered the song “i know places” exists. the overall album atmosphere of big cities and hiding and faded memories fits neil to a t. 

lyrics that remind me of him:

- they are the hunters, we are the foxes/ and we run/ baby, i know places we won’t be found and/ they’ll be chasing their tails trying to track us down, from “i know places”

- nothing lasts forever/ but this is gonna take me down, from “wildest dreams”

- but when the sun came up, i was looking at you, from “out of the woods”

7- lover: nicky

it’s an album about loving someone from abroad, with a mix of euphoric songs and hopeless songs and honestly i think this is just perfect for nicky. it was one of the easiest ones to place

lyrics that remind me of him: 

- i like shiny things but i’d marry you with paper rings, from “paper rings”

- have i known you twenty seconds or twenty years?, from “lover”

- something gave you the nerve/ to touch my hand/ it’s nice to have a friend, from “it’s nice to have a friend”

8- folklore: renee

literally listen to any song and you’ll know what i mean

lyrics that remind me of her:

- i just wanted you to know/ that this is me trying, from “this is me trying”

- only twenty minutes to sleep/ but you dream of some epiphany/ just one single glimpse of relief/ to make some sense of what you’ve seen, from “epiphany”

9- evermore: kevin

unholy-goddess and i both actually originally thought fearless for kevin, but some of the songs in evermore are just too perfect of a fit to ignore, so he gets my favourite album. what is most reminiscent of kevin in this album is the exhaustion and the discovery of one’s own worth. it’s best related to him if you listen to it thinking of him looking back on his time with the ravens. also it’s literally called evermore 

lyrics that remind me of him: 

- i know my love should be celebrated/ but you tolerate it, from “tolerate it”

- there’ll be happiness after you/ but there was happiness because of you too/ both of these things can be true/ there is happiness/ past the blood and bruise, from “happiness”

- tell me, when did your winning smile/ begin to look like a smirk?/ when did all our lessons start to look like weapons pointed at my deepest hurt, from “happiness”

- i don’t need your “closure”/ your “closure”/ don’t treat me like some situation that needs to be handled/ i’m fine with my spite/ and my tears/ and my beers and my candles, from “closure”

- and i fell from the pedestal/ right down the rabbit hole/ long story short, it was a bad time, from “long story short”