Have been thinking maybe this song is about trying to love yourself, coming to peace with who you are.

Opinions?

Oliver,

That is an interesting interpretation. Because I know a bit about the songwriter, Beth Nielesen Chapman, I got strong sense of it being about a parent/child relationship. I also get a sense of loving someone with an addiction. (How's that for varying interpretation?)

The amazing thing about music, and art in general, is its ability to elicit so many variant associations and emotions. This is the mark of great art, the arousal and reflection of human experience. Art succeeds when it stimulates response. The broad range of interpretations makes it fascinating.

JTH

and I think it is about every mature, adult relationship....you may be "in love" with someone but you have to "try to love" them everyday to make it last...

I love art that makes you think

I absolutely LOVE this song! It really sescribes my recent situation. I fell for someone and "tried" to love them but it wasn't really returned. Even though they recently got married, I'll always have a place for them in my heart. The funny thing is that I would not be who I am today without having been around that person. I love the "i've lost and found myself in who you are" line...so true...lost the old self, found the new self...and in the process found out who I really was.

I love how as I've gotten older, Trisha's music has begun to touch me in different ways. When I was younger I didn't really understand it all but now I see it all differently. For example, "Hearts in Armor" came on my ipod the other day in the car...and almost made me cry...I kind of felt like a goober! She's serisouly awesome and will ALWAYS be my favorite - even if I don't listen to her music all of the time.

And of course, I babble...LOL

First song I fell in love with on Jasper County, so it's probably my sentimental favorite.

For me it's a romantic relationship, about how hard and how easy it is to love someone. Brilliant lyrics, as always, by BNC. I keep trying to pick a favorite part, but all of it just resonates with me. Who hasn't been there?

And I can't say enough about the video...Trisha made the song come to life.

Like Sandi, this song always felt like it was about a romantic relationship, and how hard it is to keep "love" fresh and alive. To me, it was about the work involved in most relationships, and how it changes who we are - for the rest of our lives. It brings out the "best" and "worst" in most of us, if we let our walls down and our whole being be in the relationship. I guess that's why this was the song I first fell in love with when I bought the cd. I hit the repeat button and played it over and over again. It was and is - my favorite on Jasper County.

A funny story about this song, we were taking our grandbabies home yesterday (we had them for the week-end) and I asked the girls (Zachy is too young to have a vote) what tape they wanted me to play and they picked Jasper County. So it was playing along and the girls were dancing to the music when this song came on. Both girls sat and listened to the song, and that's when Ted looked over at me and said: "I just don't understand why this song didn't do better - it is such a powerful and beautiful song!" I hadn't even realized he felt that way about the song! But he and the girls agree with me - it's one of the most beautiful songs on the cd. Although they sure do love to sing along with xxx's and ooo's! lol! (I think they like the American Girl part of it!)

I don't disagree with what anyone has said so far. But as far as interpreting any type of art, be it music, literature, whatever: as I think Stanley Fish (?) has taught, whenever one tries to critique something, they often can't help but bring their own bias/perspective into it, and ultimately the critic finds (or not) what the critic is looking for in the work. In other words, someone who enjoys cooking would be more likely to remember that--in the book "Dracula", for example--the character of Jonathon Harker tastes many paprika-laden dishes as he travels toward Castle Dracula. To bring this back to the subject of the post, whether or not it is about self-acceptance: I can't really say...I wasn't looking for that, so it never occurred to me.

I totally agree with everything you all have said. From the the very first time I listened to this song on Jasper county i fell in love with it. It can be interpreted a hundred different ways, it is a gorgeous song and I agree with you Sandi about the video, Trisha just brought that song to life

I love that someone else see's the lyrics of "Trying To Love You" as a song to oneself...I have always heard that song like that, which is what makes it so special to me. It's funny, till reading this thread, I had not ever considered the lyric about trying to love someone else...loving oneself is the hardest thing for many to do, and I found the song "Trying To Love You" right away after buying Jasper County. It stuck right out the first play...and it fit the Jukebox that was playing in my head at that time. That was the time I really started to think about loving myself. At 40, I was getting tired of beating myself up for not being the person I thought I should be, or wished that I had become. I am who I am, falts and all. When you love someone, you love them through the bad, like you do through good. Its much harder to do that for yourself than it is to do it for someone else, or at least it is for me.

I very much agree with that--it *is* harder to love yourself.

I'll have to listen to the song with this perspective in mind, and see if it changes how I feel about it. To me it was just always so clear that it was about loving someone else, that it never crossed my mind to think of it this way. Thanks for sharing this.

Love the song! I think all of you are right too. Sounds like a complicated relationship and getting to know someone and loving them very deeply. The music in the song is fantastic too. Love it! Trisha's video on this is so cute, her turning around and looking frustrated, etc.