high to death (2018) by car seat headrest is so jon/martin. high to death (2011) by car seat headrest is so jane/jonah.
i’m unwell in the head and my thoughts are often known to be incomprehensible and incorrect but the “keep smoking, i love you” section of both songs has an inherently different vibe in my mind.
the 2018 version is pure heartbreak. it’s watching someone you love slowly destroy themself, but you know you can’t stop them. “keep smoking, i still love you. but i don’t wanna die.” the love was always there, and it will never leave fully, but you have to put yourself (or everyone else) first just this once.
the 2011 version is more of a memory. an echo of something you already lost, but you have to keep going. it puts the emphasis even more on “i don’t wanna die, i don’t wanna die, i don’t wanna die”; i still love you, but i don’t want to follow you into death. the harm you cause yourself or others can never stop the love that exists, because love isn’t morally pure, it’s just something that happens.
or none of this is even remotely accurate to anyone else and i am speaking nonsense again