Send My Love to John

Song by Rina Sawayama

## Visualiser

"**Send My Love to John**" is a song recorded by Rina Sawayama, taken from her sophomore studio album *Hold the Girl*, which was released on 16 September 2022 by Dirty Hit.

Upon the release of the album *Hold the Girl*, "Send My Love to John" received critical acclaim from music critics, many of whom praised the song's lyrical content and Sawayama's vocals. Musically, the song is a country guitar-driven ballad written and produced by Sawayama, Lauren Aquilina and Marcus Andersson from the perspective of an immigrant mother apologizing to her queer child for not being able to love them due to her traditional religious beliefs.

Writing the song, Sawayama was inspired by the time where her friend's conservative mother, who was not supportive of her son's queerness, acknowledged it in a positive way after ending a "normal" phone call with the phrase "send my love to john", referring to her son's long-term partner.

## Background

In writing the song, Sawayama was inspired by one of her good friends who had a difficult time having actively homophobic parents that weren't supportive of their queerness. One day, Sawayama's friend was on the phone with their mom, and at the end of the call she said, "Okay, I'll speak to you soon, and send my love to John," referring to the long-term boyfriend of Sawayama's unnamed friend. "It was a breakthrough," she stated:

> And it's insane because the mum is never going to say sorry, but this is something they can hold on to. A lot of people need to hear the word "sorry" from their parents and they're never going to get it, so I wanted to write from the perspective of a parent who regrets not supporting their child to the fullest extent.
>
> — Sawayama on "Send My Love to John" for Apple Music

## Composition

"Send My Love to John" is a "dusky" narrative-driven country ballad, featuring Sawayama's "smooth" vocals accompanied solely by a "country-tinged, fingerpicked" acoustic guitar and some layered vocals.

Lyrically, the song was written by Sawayama, Lauren Aquilina and Marcus Andersson from the perspective of a "remorseful" conservative mom who immigrated to the United States in the 1970s, and who apologizes to her queer child for not accepting them, "as well as unpacking their own intergenerational trauma", as Jordan Currie from *Exclaim!* noted. *Pitchfork*'s writer Cat Zhang felt that the story of the song humanizes immigrant parents and "revels in making progress toward better familial relationships—a rare subject in pop songs." Hannah Mylrea, writing for *NME*, deduced that the track was created as a song for those who "may not get an apology from certain people in their life."

## Critical reception

"Send My Love to John" received critical acclaim from music critics, many of whom praised its lyrical content and Sawayama's vocals. While reviewing the album *Hold the Girl*, James Mellen from *Clash* magazine called the song a "great ballad" that supplies "arguably Sawayama's best studio vocal performance ever" and has some "amazing riffing work vocally" from Sawayama. He concluded that "[t]he Cohen-esque melody lifts adds a nostalgic element, an unexpected but welcomed juxtaposition to the high-intensity modern sounds of the rest of the record." *NME* writer Hannah Mylrea described the song as a "moving modern" country tune. She further added, "[i]t's a hugely affecting song, and a demonstration of the power that quiet moments can bear." Rho Chung from *The Skinny* felt that "Send My Love to John" is particularly memorable in the way it "highlights fractured relationships between parents and their queer children." Max Freedman from *Paste* magazine praised the way Sawayama "steps outside herself" on the album with "Send My Love to John". "When she explores queer narratives beyond her own, she creates some of her best work", Freedman wrote.

## Lyrics

Crossed the border in the summer of '73

Left my mother to go after the American Dream

Ooh, threw away my name

Ooh, it's easier when it sounds the same

All I ever wanted was for you to have a better chance

Go to college, find a good girl that you'd take to a dance

Ooh, pictured you with her

Ooh, but that was never who you were

And I'm sorry for the things I've done

I misguided love to my only son

Trying to protect you, but I guess I was wrong

So send my love, send my love to John

Saw the way the kids treated you every day at school

I should've blamed them, but instead I hid behind the Bible's rule

Ooh, prayed to God above

Ooh, but all you needed was my love

And I'm sorry for the things I've done

I misguided love to my only son

We had both had to leave our mothers to get the things we want

So send my love, send my love to John, ooh, John

And I see that he takes care of you from the food he makes

He's there for you in all the ways I never was, ooh

And I'm sorry for the things I've done

I misguided love to my only son

But I love to see you happy and right where you belong

So send my love, oh, send my love, send my love to John

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nugent, Annabel (15 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama, Hold the Girl review: Pop star makes therapy fun on her ecstatic, eclectic second album". *The Independent*. Retrieved on September 25, 2022.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mylrea, Hannah (16 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama – ‘Hold the Girl’: the NME review". *NME*. Retrieved on September 25, 2022.
3. ↑ "Tickets for Rina Sawayama | Galvanizers SWG3". TicketWeb.uk (18 May 2022). Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved on May 18, 2022.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Hold The Girl by Rina Sawayama on Apple Music". Apple Music (16 September 2022). Retrieved on September 19, 2022.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Zhang, Cat (16 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama: Hold the Girl Album Review". *Pitchfork*. Retrieved on September 25, 2022.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Zoladz, Lindsay (15 September 2022). "For the Gloriously Over-the-Top Rina Sawayama, Less Is Less". Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved on September 25, 2022.
7. ↑ Empire, Kitty (17 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama: Hold the Girl review – poetry, power and pure pop". *The Guardian*. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Currie, Jordan (13 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama Can't Hold Back on 'Hold the Girl'". *Exclaim!*. Retrieved on September 25, 2022.
9. ↑ Bedenbaugh, Thomas (19 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama 'Hold the Girl' Review: Artistic Growth at the Expense of Hooks". *Slant*. Retrieved on September 25, 2022.
10. ↑ Jenkins, Dafydd (12 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama - Hold the Girl - Album Review". *Loud And Quiet*. Retrieved on September 25, 2022.
11. ↑ Mellen, James (13 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama – Hold The Girl | Reviews". *Clash*. Retrieved on September 25, 2022.
12. ↑ Chung, Rho (12 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama album review: Hold the Girl". *The Skinny*. Retrieved on September 25, 2022.
13. ↑ Freedman, Max (14 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama: 'Hold the Girl' Album Review". *Paste*. Retrieved on September 25, 2022.