Within this article, let’s explore the complex mother-daughter relationship with the context of the song called “Catch Me in the Air” by Rina Sawayama.
About the song
The song “Catch Me in the Air” is the 4th track of the Hold the Girl album by the singer. In this song, she talks about her mother-daughter relationship, which contains the mother’s perspective and hers. Moreover, the song shows the ups and downs of their relationship, and concluded by how she feels about the relationship now. Other than that, here’s what Rina has said about the song:
This song I wrote about my mum who’s a single mum, you know how intense that relationship is. They feel like your sister, a brother, or even your child sometimes. I felt throughout my life my mum and I have caught each other when we’re falling. That’s what the songs about.
– Source from Genius Lyrics
Mother-daughter Relationship
Mother’s Perspectives
The song starts with the perspective of her mother as the opening:
Hey there, little girl, don’t you wanna see the world?
Don’t be scared
Well, hey there, little world, are you ready for this girl?
Do you dare?
Only took nine months and a lot of love
Carried all our dreams and she’s ready now, ooh
Hey there, little girl, don’t you wanna see the world? (Now let’s go!)
Here, it shows that the mother views the daughter with hopeful and positive feelings, also with a reassuring statement. This might represent the feelings of how her mother loves her, ready to show her to the world.
Daughter’s Perspectives
On the other hand, here’s the daughter’s perspective of the relationship from the second verse of the song:
Twenty years all alone, bound together to the phone
Was it fate?
Watched you decorating all the walls
Made a prison of our home
No escape
Somehow, from the perspective of the daughter, there’s a hint of negative feelings, which is a contrast to the mother’s perspectives. In the verse, the daughter feels trapped and restricted. Hence, the use of the word ‘prison’.
Commentary on mother-daughter relationship from the song
Overall, the mother-daughter perspective shows a complicated relationship. The mother views the daughter positively, yet the daughter might view things negatively. I think this also represents on how we as a daughter have a complicated relationship with our mothers. It shows how sometimes, our mothers might mean well, but we take it as a restriction or limitation. What our mother views as positive, might not transfer as a positive for us as daughters. For example, when our mother said we should do this, not to do that, etc., we view it as she’s trapping us in a ‘prison‘.
In addition, since the mother-daughter relationship is complex, there’s a push and pull. At some point, we feel like we want to escape our mother’s grasp, but we can’t. The lyrics also hint at how the mother was supposed to give her ‘home’, but turned it into ‘prison’. It shows that as a daughter, there’s an automatic belief that family, or our mother, is our home. But with time, at some point the supposed home feels like a prison, mixed up with expectations or the restrictions.
Nevertheless, switching perspectives, the mother views the daughter as her hope, bringing her and the daughter’s dreams come true. Along with that, the mother indicates that she will show her daughter the world: trying to prepare her for the world, protecting her, and supporting her journey. Because, at the end, the mother loves her daughter, even in a way that she (the daughter) doesn’t understand.
Along with time, throughout the song, the daughter begins to cherish and develop a stronger bond with her mother, as shown in the pre-chorus for verse one and two.
The mother-daughter relationship improvement
From the mother’s perspective on verse one, the lyric goes:
I ran away where clouds kiss the mountain peaks
I was afraid but you put the wings on me
Feet on the edge
Feet on the edge
Alternatively, here’s the daughter perspective on for the pre-chorus of verse two:
When you ran away where clouds kiss the mountain peaks
I was afraid but you left your wings on me
Feet on the edge
Feet on the edge
Somehow, the above verses show that the mother and daughter rely on each other. When they are in a hard place, they search for each other. Consistent with verse one, where the mother feels like the daughter is her hope, this also shows that she is indeed her hope. In hard times, the mother views her daughter as her light, her ‘wings’. Likewise, when the daughter feels afraid, her mother gives her ‘wings’ as well. This also adds on how mother-daughter relationship is a push and pull. Maybe somehow we want to escape each other, but somehow we still return to each other.
Realization of mother-daughter relationship improvement
With the realization that the mother and daughter depends on each other, comes along the chorus of the song, from the daughter’s perspective:
So catch me in the air, the air, the air, the air, the air, the air
(Mama, look at me now)
Catch me in the air, the air, the air, the air, the air, the air
(Mama, look at me now, I’m flying, I’m flying)
Catching up to that, the improvement of the relationship also builds up in the bridge of the song, also from the perspective of the daughter:
And they will never know
The fear of making a mistake
The risk you take, the pain you create
But mama look at us now
High above the clouds
Yeah, I hope that you’re, hope that you’re proud
(Air, air, air, air, air, air)
Even with the previous negative feelings, somehow the daughter has seen the mother’s perspective but still acknowledging how her mother caused her pain. The daughter understands how hard and scary it is if she’s in her mother’s shoes. Additionally, this also shows that the daughter still wants her mother to be proud of her, for what she’s been through, surviving the world, flying.
Conclusion of the mother-daughter relationship from the song
Concluding on how the daughter relationship with her mother now, the song’s outro sums it all:
Save each other in every way, yeah
Feel the fears as we float in the sea, yeah
Look at us now, way past the clouds that haunted your dreams
I hope that you’re proud
Save each other in every way, yeah
Feel the fear as we float in the sea, yeah
Look at us now, way past the clouds that haunted your dreams
I hope that you’re proud
The outro feels like a hopeful remark, while still mindful of how there will be hardships in the future, but the mother-daughter relationship is strong. The mother will continue to ‘save’ the daughter and vice versa. This part also shows how overcoming the hardship strengthens their relationship. The hardship that has been haunting the mother is over, as the daughter now understands why the mother acted the way she did back then. With time, the barrier of the relationship slowly fades away by trying to understand each other. Continuing the bridge, this outro also hints at how the daughter still wants to make her mother proud, and wants her mother to be proud of her.
