Tegan and Sara: So Jealous

When you first think of Tegan and Sara, you may think of the song “Closer” that the show Glee butchered in one of their final seasons. If you are a die heart fan like myself, you may think of their earlier, more punk-folk albums. Tegan and Sara released their fourth album “So Jealous” in 2004 and at the time was named “Their most satisfying album yet” (Q&A). 

At first glance, the album cover is just red hearts with a black background. Your first thought is most likely to be “great, another heartthrob album” but, when you listen to it, you see there is so much more! These songs are not just about their girlfriends cheating on them and them being a little sad about it. The songs on this album are about the true emotions, pain, jealousy, and anger that everyone truly feels when he or she is hard-core dumped.

If you try to look up the meaning of the album cover, all you will get is information about the band and the release date.  To really understand the meaning of the art, you have to take the time to sit in a room and listen to the full album. That two hour time period will really hit the spot. Throughout life you will have crushes and possibly love a few people, which may explain the multiple red hearts, but you will never know when your heart will be broken. It could be interpreted that there is always darkness around the corner, surrounding you and your feelings. When Sara first sent Tegan the demo for some of her songs like “I Can’t Take It”, Tegan told Rachel Brodsky “It was so dark… She was obsessed with the idea that we were outcast” (Tegan and Sara). Sara recently had her heart broken by multiple people and felt darkness around her. 

In an interview, Sara was asked to explain the song “So Jealous” that was the basis for the album. She explained that the song was written in the heat of her big love mess. She explained, “It was a weird triangle of people and then my ex-girlfriend started dating this guy and I felt worse, and then he felt jealous, and it was just like ‘fuck!’ and I was just consumed” (Song Meanings). Listening to the lyrics of that one song, anyone can see where the artist was coming from.

Each song has its own emotion and its own personal story to tell. Through each ballad and up-tempo rock song you can hear and feel what Tegan and Sara were feeling at the time each was written. Even if you are not a fan of Tegan and Sara, you will be able to admit that you can relate to any song on this album. You are not just listening to some person sing about what the other person in the relationship did wrong; you are listening to the true emotion of the broken hearted. You feel the pain, sadness, and the darkness that these two talented singers feel.

Tegan and Sara. "AllMusic Review." Online interview.

"Q&A: Tegan Quin on ‘So Jealous’ and Tearing People’s Hearts Out | SPIN." Spin. 22 Dec. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

"Song Meanings." Tegan and Sara Fans (). Web. 14 Oct. 2015.