Released: 2018
“i wanna be your girlfriend” by girl in red is a raw, affectionate, and deeply yearning love letter set to music. It delves deep into unrequited love, exhibiting an intense longing to move beyond the confines of friendship to a romantic relationship. The narrative throbs with the vulnerability inherent in expressing one’s true feelings, underscored by an urgent, repetitive mantra: I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips.
“Oh, Hannah, I wanna feel you close. Oh, Hannah, come lie with my bones,” the song opens, already painting a picture of longing. The use of “Hannah” introduces a direct, personal approach. The songwriter isn’t speaking to a general audience; she’s speaking to ‘Hannah.’ The imagery is intimate, evoking a closeness beyond what they currently share.
Throughout the song, the protagonist maintains her stance on wanting to be more than a friend. She asserts, “I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips,” expressing a strong desire to cross the platonic boundary. The mention of losing her breath adds a sense of desperate urgency to her emotions.
In the following verses, she repeats, “Oh, Hannah,” invoking a mantra-like quality that echoes her fixation and longing. The reference to “flowers and blue skies” introduces brighter, happier imagery, suggesting a longing for shared joy, while “I will follow you home, although my lips are blue and I’m cold” could be an allegory for the cold, lonely walk back from Hannah’s place – a painful symbol of unreciprocated feelings.
As we hit the climax, “I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna be your bitch,” the language intensifies. The protagonist’s desire to be seen in a sexual light escalates the stakes and lays her longing bare. The phrase “like this” implies dissatisfaction with the current state of their relationship, while “the look in your eyes, my hands between your thighs,” gives us an unfiltered glimpse into her romantic fantasies.
By the end, we see the protagonist next to defeat, her dreams unrealized as she repeats, “It’s all just a dream.” The final refrains of the chorus underline both the urgency of her desires and the painful reality that those desires might not be reciprocated. This visible unreciprocation creates an emotional tug that pervades the song, cementing “i wanna be your girlfriend” as a gut-wrenching anthem of unrequited love.
