“Hope” by The Chainsmokers (featuring Winona Oak)
“Hope” is the title of song by the American electropop and EDM duo The Chainsmokers. The song features the vocals of Swedish singer Winona Oak.
Put succinctly, “Hope” is a track about youthful infatuation and the negative results that came from the narrator getting into a deep relationship based on such. The song is sung primarily from the perspective of the female in the romance.
VERSE 1
In the first verse, Winona Oak painfully reminisces on the previously-mentioned relationship. In the past she was overwhelmingly enamored by the object of her affection and other character in the duet. But now she has reached a point where she basically wishes she could scrub all memories of him out of her consciousness.
PRE-CHORUS
Here Winona recounts the pain she experienced due to mistreatment by her lover and how the whole union was built on “a bed full of lies”. Apparently she was unaware of such at the actual time it was occurring. But with increased age she has come to realize just how negative the romance was. It is also during the pre-chorus that “hard and heavy whiskey” is first mentioned, as abuse of alcohol is a recurring theme throughout the song.
CHORUS
It is in the chorus that Winona’s infatuation becomes clear, as she states, “I only wanted you ‘cause I couldn’t have you.” But now she realizes she was not actually in love. Rather she was just ‘hoping’ for something, apparently a love that not only disappointed her but even had a detrimental effect on her personal development.
VERSE 2
Now Andrew Taggart, who plays the role of the male in this doomed affair, chimes in. He admits that he mistreated his partner and that such was largely due to issues he has with alcohol consumption. He also took for granted that he would have another opportunity to make things right. However, now in retrospect, he realizes that the girl was never really in love with him. In other words, he also recognizes that she was just infatuated.
CONCLUSION
The song climaxes with the duo singing a few choruses together, which are basically reiterations of the previously-mentioned ones. Ultimately, they both acknowledge that they expected something positive from the relationship that never came to be. Instead they are left with feelings of remorse under the impression that the other person wasted their time which ultimately they are indebted to replace.
