We were in love back in ’10

Lead me on for a week

So you can send me papers

While I do your laundry

stupid little me

fighting for you to stay

Left me for some little pixie

Someone who won’t do the same

But who you claim “fixes me.”

That didn’t work, seeing as

When you cried on my doorstep

Because you’d lost her

Begging me for help

Me? Help you?

You told me forever and then left

Like I was nothing

I was everything to you

Not so much anymore

You broke me

And left me with that scarlet letter

We fought for the next five.

But you never seemed to care.

How I saved your life

We destroyed them

You took him, and she came to me

Your words broke the boy I loved most

But you never broke the girl I love

Now he hates me

I don’t blame him

But at least I tried

I’m sorry, my babies

For the scarlet letter, I wear.

A little while ago, I started writing a song titled “scarlet letter.” (Yes, the lowercase is intended for now.) I’ve added to it over time and have fallen in love with it more and more. I never realized how well the title fit until I replaced the original title, “town crier.” I hated that title for it, but I needed something that fit the emotion of the song. I’ve written many songs in hopes of finally having an album, something of my creation to call my own. That’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was a kid, and “scarlet letter” was one of the first songs I started writing after I thought I’d finished writing my album. Clearly, I was wrong. The song keeps getting better and better the more I add to it. 

If you’ve ever heard of “The Scarlet Letter” By Nathaniel Hawthorne, you’ll know that one of the main themes is adultery. Cheating, sneaking around, having an affair; call it what you want. I’m not going to go into details about who it’s about specifically, but when I originally wrote it, it wasn’t from my point of view. I wrote it with the intention of it being from the point of view of someone I am very close to. I wrote it from the point of view of a divorcée who was cheated on, but I won’t say who. From elementary school to my college years, I’ve read a lot of Shakespeare, but I wouldn’t say I’d read a lot of Hawthorne. However, I’ve always wanted to. “The Scarlet Letter” was something I’ve always been fascinated by. I feel that Hawthorne predicted a lot of now-modernized taboos; babies out of wedlock, babies born through committing adultery, and adultery itself. I’d go on, but those are the main three. I’ve read bits and pieces of the book over the years but never go to sit down and engulf myself in the experience.

When I read, I am very visual. I can pick up a book that I haven’t read in two or more years, and I still remember all the scenes I’d created in my head. Looking at this painting by Hugues Merle representing the book, I probably would’ve pictured that or something similar as I’d read. Now, if you’ve ever seen the show “Pretty Little Liars,” there is a character who goes by “A.” In some of the promotional posters for the show, there are big red “A’s” that you will find. I’ve only seen bits of “Pretty Little Liars (however, the spin-off “Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists” is excellent), but seeing the big red “A’s” makes me think they’re doing a (loosely) modernized version of “The Scarlet Letter.”

Before writing this, I downloaded the book on Apple’s Books app (and it’s free! Who doesn’t love that?) I will read it to create my own mental and emotional experience. I’m excited to learn more and add more to my “scarlet letter.”

Hugues Merle – The Scarlet Letter: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hugues_Merle_-_The_Scarlet_Letter_-_Walters_37172.jpg