adaolisa – An Icon I Can´t Keep

“AN ICON I CAN’T KEEP” is a haunting ode to unattainable love; an atmospheric and emotionally charged track exploring the complexities of admiration, distance, and the painful beauty of idolizing someone—irrationally.
With modern lyrics sprinkled over a disco-esque instrumental, the singer tells the story of a common love trap—ascribing all the world’s positive qualities to a person without evidence. The cause for this phenomenon is unknown, but it likely has to do with a fear of being alone, or the need to elevate ourselves by proving that someone seemingly elevated has taken, even if only briefly, an interest in us.

The song immediately draws the listener into its intimate world with the opening lines, “Say my name in pictures, frame them in the dark.” It paints a vivid picture of a relationship fraught with a growing emotional chasm, where one person is elevated to a mythical status, becoming an “icon” that is impossible to hold onto. The track’s pulsating energy mirrors the internal conflict of admiration and the anxiety of losing connection. Lyrically, adaolisa navigates the shadowy territory of a captivating yet destructive dynamic, with compelling imagery of a “favourite villain” and a “bat cave,” suggesting a magnetic pull towards something thrillingly dangerous.

It’s about the moment you realize you’ve placed someone on a pedestal so high they are no longer reachable and your neck hurts like hell from trying to see them – this epiphany is accompanied by a violin personifying the beginning of a thunderstorm.
The song leaves us with a final, poignant moral: only to endure, and to love the person who reciprocates our feelings.

https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/track/6zrtDC3i1ihAEJqj4tZch2?si=9aa3113c2c084ec0