The Lacy Saga - song playlist analysis
Sorry it’s taken me quite a while to push out the Lacy analysis, but I may have fallen down a two-week rabbit hole that I thought was only going to be a few days 😅. Sit down and buckle up! This is going to be a long one.
For those who don’t know, Lacy is a canon relationship in DDVAU that we don’t actually know who is in said relationship; Doody and Maruu are keeping their lips sealed, meaning we can only guess based on context clues and other tidbits that are dropped along the way.
The relationship name “Lacy” came about due to the song Lacy by Olivia Rodrigo in the DDVAU playlist. It was the first instance of running across this “hidden” relationship and people have been analyzing and theorizing about the Lacy saga to this day.
Thanks to an ask from shadexxxx (yes, I take and welcome theory and analysis suggestions, even just straight up questions!), I set out to do an analysis on Lacy and I wanted to start from scratch.
Midnightsdarkangel (also known as Middy) is a HUGE advocate of Lacy being Grityn (Grian x Martyn) and has done a ton of analysis and theories on the topic. Their work gave me info I needed to know what the Lacy saga was actually about and allowed me to start my own theories and analysis, so thank you so much Middy! If you are interested in reading their theory the link is here: https://www.tumblr.com/midnightsdarkangel/786921864795684864/im-back-again-with-another-theory-lads-one-i-have?source=share
Anyways, I have a ton of stuff swirling around my skull for the Lacy saga so I will be doing a few posts dedicated to it over the next few weeks; get ready for song analysis, timeline construction, family trees, relationship clues, Grityn and more!
This post is solely dedicated to the Lacy playlist and a surface-level analysis of it.
That’s right! It’s not just the song Lacy that talks about the relationship in the Lacy saga, there’s a whole list of sixteen songs! A while back, Maruu released a blurred version of the Lacy saga playlist.
Through comparing album covers, song title length, previously confirmed songs and the overall relationship vibe, DDVAU discord users managed to piece together what the song playlist could potentially be.
Before the blurred playlist, the five confirmed songs for the Lacy saga were:
The Ballad of Lucy Gray Baird by Rachel Zegler
Obsessed by Olivia Rodrigo
It Took Me By Surprise by Maria Mena
While the potential playlist derived from the blurred one hasn’t been confirmed, it does seem like the playlist is in line with the Lacy saga’s relationship in terms of vibes. Here's a comparison!
Below are my brief song analysis notes on each of the songs in the playlist. If you have some idea about Lacy or spotted something else while analyzing the songs, please let me know! I love to chat with people about DDVAU and anything interesting that people discover!
Feel free to also ask questions and poke at my analysis and theories for holes, I’m always looking for ways to improve or disprove my theories!
N = Narrator (person singing song)
M = Muse (person N is singing to or about most of the time)
Unrequited, unconditional, unattainable love from N
Just being apart of M’s life is enough
M’s is in love with someone else
N’s fear of a future without the person they love (don’t want to live without M)
Inevitability of everything not existing (things fade) - including relationship? Doomed from the start?
Clear to everyone but M (M didn’t believe even when confessed to)
Just being a part of M’s life is enough (footnote < main text) - give everything for so little
Doesn’t want to be forgotten by M
M’s is in love with someone else
I Kissed Someone (It Wasn’t You)
N and M’s relationship over, but N is still emotionally invested
N tries to force a relationship to try and move on
The forcing is unnatural and makes N miss M even more
N and M aren’t on the same page in their relationship (M wants it to be casual with no attachment, just physical. N wishes for something more emotional and is bitter about it).
N is willing to stay in this relationship, so long as they have M
N blames self for not leaving the relationship earlier
M - performative detachment? N has delusions? N is still close with M’s siblings?
1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back
M is an inconsistent partner (little progress, then bigger setbacks)
N makes M angry without doing anything (toxic relationship)
N is “fucked in the head” as their relationship with M has scrambled their sense of normal (at least in relationship terms).
N stays because they “enjoy” the cycle of abuse, guessing which M they will get today (cycle breaks when N realizes it’s M’s fault, not their own).
Blue Lips *this one feels a little out of left field, but here we go
N has a loss of belief in organized religion, presenting divine figures and sacred stories as human, fragile, and ultimately disappointed when confronted with reality ("God, this is all there is" - not enough).
“Blue lips” (like a corpse) and “blue veins” (like an old person) symbolize coldness, death, and the inevitability of mortality, a symbol that all life and creation eventually fade.
Blue is the most human color because morality is universal and always there. The entire Earth is blue, there is no escaping, old age and death are inevitable.
N struggles to find purpose in a vast, indifferent universe, where everyone is becoming the same, only seeming to care for themselves as well as never being happy (why survive if there is no real life to survive for?)
“Blue lips” can also represent N having a lack of oxygen, poor circulation, or simply being tired from trying to accomplish a goal. N seems to have procrastinated on something too long and missed their chance
The Ballad of Lucy Gray Baird
Difficulties in life/relationship -> M deteriorated mentally, N had to do adult stuff to help out (sex worker)
M stole and gambled, which N encouraged. Both drank alcohol (deal with difficulties in relationship?)
M left one day, saying N was no good (N betrayed by M?). N calls M out on them not being great.
N was privy to M’s personal stuff, including “the soul [they] struggled to save”.
N won’t make it/will die soon? Leaving M alone.
N and M’s relationship was built on verbal promises and future talk that were never matched by action. N realizes that they were planning both their’s and M’s life alone while believing the ideas were shared, reframing the entire relationship as one-sided.
With M’s inconsistency and lies, N realizes the relationship is dying.
The breakup isn’t sudden; it’s the slow understanding that M was never fully invested or permanent.
The most painful loss is not just the partner, but the years, faith, and identity shaped around a future that never existed.
Instead of “love of my life and romance”, “loml” means “loss of my life” and shows the magnitude of the damage the relationship caused.
N glorifies M as a symbol of perfection and beauty, an angel among humans
Toxic obsession and envy (self-hatred? insecure?)
N can’t help but be invested (angel dust (type of drug) comparison - unhealthy addiction)
N is comparing, then falling for M? (queer - envy or love?)
N tries to remind themselves M is human but fails (hell comparisons)
N wants love without shame or secrets, while M doesn’t want to commit and be casual (one-sided relationship where M doesn’t reciprocate)
N is hurt and needs both air and love, so they plan to call off the relationship because N needs more.
M has shame and guilt over the feeling they have (sexuality denial?). N tells them the feeling will always be there, no matter what M does (even if M ends up in what they deem an “acceptable” relationship, it won’t be genuine as M’s identity will be stripped away).
M betrayed N’s trust and hurt them deeply (N did damage to M as well but ended up hurt the most).
N tries to understand why M would hurt them like this (M was kind on the surface but full of cruelty)
There are things N wish they could have said to M but didn’t
Despite all the stuff M pulled, N always thinks about them and can’t bring themself to hate M.
N is obsessed with M’s ex - insecurity? self -doubt? N comparing themself to M’s ex?
N has anxieties about M’s ex and is feeling increasingly negative about themself
N’s jealousy and obsession is compared with love and admiration
N is bitter about all the traits and good things M’s ex may have that they don’t
Extreme possessiveness and violent obsession from N towards M
N is experiencing desperations, emotional turmoil and perhaps a psychological meltdown? -> get rid of perceived problem keeping them and M apart (with murderous delusion)
N and M are not a healthy relationship (twisted, manipulative, toxic romance)
M betrayed N before this (or N sees what M did as a betrayal). N forgives them, but they don’t really seem emotionally stable at the moment…
N is dominant and controlling while M is dependent on N for emotional stability.
N would react badly to the smallest things (including crocodile tears), probably due to doubt and insecurity.
M wants to please N and would try to accommodate, never complaining or speaking up.
M is now afraid of N and holds much hatred towards them; N now realizes they were psychologically abusive towards M, hurting and pushing M to their breaking point with their controlling behavior.
N, seeing that this is their fault, tries to change and fix the relationship, for example, by doing nice things and being less critical. However, this fails as M either doesn’t notice or thinks they are being punished by M with silence.
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
M showed off, hurt and ghosted N, making N wonder why M would ever love them and then do all that.
N thinks that maybe M was starry-eyed for them and only wanted a secret fling for the thrill (M does seem to do drugs - maybe chasing that high?).
N may have found M mean and petty and accuses them of setting out to ruin their life.
The relationship ended, but M is still being fake while they see other people.
N will forget, but will never forgive M.
