Tout prend son sens sans le miroir by Peter Peter in The Song Remembers When

I discovered this song while randomly searching for music on iTunes. This was a couple of years ago and I was just going through the French music section, and I came upon the title track from this album, Une Version Améliorée de la Tristesse (A Better Version of Sadness). Part of the reason I was looking through the music was because I was incredibly depressed that I was still in California. I know that quite a few people have this vision of California, and for many people that is true, it can be a land of dreams. For me, California has always been a cage.

I liked the title of the album because it seemed to reflect a truth I had been struggling to understand: I won’t be happy be here, all I can hope for is a better version of what I have now. So I bought the album. It turned out to be amazing. I loved the sounds. The artist, Peter Peter, sings with a kind of laziness that reminds me of John Mayer (I know, not necessarily a compliment, but when you hear how fast the rest of French singers go, it’s nice to have someone who lets you hear the words).

This album is filled with amazing songs, but I got to this song, Tout prend son sens dans le miroir (It all makes sense in the mirror), and I felt like I had been shocked with lightning. It’s this dark, depressing song about your bad choices and how you only recognize what happens when you see it reflected back at you. It’s very simple, and there’s this whole undercurrent about partying, family, children.... just choices.

I actually use this song as my alarm. I wake up every morning to this song as a kind of reminder to keep myself in check, to make sure I’m behind myself and my choices every day. I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but that’s what this song does to me. I think of the lyrics about harming yourself through deprivation and want to make sure I’m always seeing myself clearly.