LUKE/HELENA + HEAT WAVES
This is basically me talking about how Luke and Helena relate to this song I love, Heat Waves by Glass Animals. These are all my own thoughts and feelings, and reflect how I view this relationship, and is mostly based around my own canon for Luke. Also this is out of order because I’m just talking about the parts of the song that I want to.
Usually I put somethin' on TV So we never think about you and me
Basically, the idea of trying to hide their relationship problems. I think we see this a lot throughout the show as Luke and Helena are often doing very separate things as far as jobs go. I think there’s a lot of time where the two of them are spending time together, but they aren’t really together. Even at events like parties and movie nights, they don’t seem to spend much time really talking or enjoying each other’s company. There are even lines that allude to fights, or to jealousy, but for the most part, they are ignored by both party, as they don’t want to deal with their issues.
But today I see our reflections clearly In Hollywood, layin' on the screen You just need a better life than this You need somethin' I can never give
There are two break ups that Luke and Helena have. One, before everything, and two, after the engagement and thanksgiving. I’ll talk about each and how this relates.
The first comes before the school trip. Luke breaks up with Helena after they have been spending the night hanging out with a few of their friends. I think the topic of the future gets brought up, and in that moment, Luke ends things. He has known that their relationship is not perfect for a long time, and it’s the idea of staying together forever that he knows he cannot do. He knows that they are not one of those couples. He knows that doing so will end up with both of them unhappy.
Throughout New Ham, after they get back together, I think we see these little moments that suggest that Luke cannot give Helena what she wants. She has this idea of a perfect relationship, of getting married, and I don’t know if Luke really wants that yet. He doesn’t agree with her on many issues, such as the gun issue, and Luke cannot protect her in the way she might need.
So that leads to their break up after Thanksgiving. This happens for a few reasons. One is because of Becca, and the baby, and another is simply that Luke realizes that he and Helena have been living in a fantasy. They haven’t been in love with each other, but instead, in love with the idea of a romance. The kind you would see on television.
Fake water all across the road It's gone now, the night has come
This relates above. The idea of a mirage created by a heat wave on water. There is a very fine line between caring for someone and being in love for them, and I think that because Helena and Luke really care for each other, they can sometimes create this mirage, this idea of being in love with each other. But eventually, the night comes, and the mirage is gone. Their relationship is not perfect, and they are not in love. They need to break up.
I just wonder what you're dreamin' of When you sleep and smile so comfortable I just wish that I could give you that That look that's perfectly un-sad
I also wanted to talk about this section a little bit? Luke and Helena have so many arguments that we see throughout the show, (and I’m certainly not saying that happy couples cannot argue), but I think that Luke often feels this way. I think there’s a kind of comfortable that he sees Helena being with other people, that he often feels that he cannot give her. And in the same sense, I think there’s a way that Luke feels comfortable with other people, that he doesn’t feel around her.
I also think about the idea of Luke saying that he can protect Helena, and then she hands him that gun. He feels as though he cannot protect her, and I think these lyrics play into that aspect of their relationship as well.
Sometimes all I think about is you Late nights in the middle of June Heat waves been fakin' me out Can't make you happier now
And finally, the chorus. I think this directly relates to the reason why Helena and Luke got back together in the first place. After their break up, it wasn’t as if Helena completely left Luke’s thoughts. He still thought about her a lot, felt awful for what he had done, and the good memories would play back in their head.
I think they have a few moments at the beginning of New Ham where that feeling of fresh love, of a new relationship is back, something that hasn’t been there in a while. I think it does fake them into thinking that things are suddenly okay, and that they should be together. I think that the idea of being stuck in New Ham plays into this mirage as well, giving them the idea that they should spend the rest of their lives together, because there aren’t many other options.
In reality, they are being faked out. They cannot make each other happy in the ways that they need to, shown by so many scenes in the show. They fight and they discourage each other and they disagree and when they talk about love they talk about this idea of love, this ideal, rather than about each other.
Road shimmer wigglin' the vision Heat, heat waves, I'm swimmin' in a mirror
For the end of their relationship, they don’t exist in the real world, they exist in a fantasy world of what their future could be. They are happy momentarily, and that stops them from seeing that the issues that they have will only get worse and worse down the line, not that they will get better.