Lauren Caya

Professor Fields

English Composition

February 7, 2019

Faded Red Short Sleeve T

Instead of diving right into the true meaning of the song, t-shirt by gnash, he begins the

song with a short and quite intro. This establishes the soft, simple tone of the first verse while he

is somewhat reminiscent of a past relationship. This is evident in the line, “It’s in my drawer and

you’re all I dream, so.” When he looks in his drawer and sees her t-shirt or is simply trying to

sleep, he is reminded of her and what they had.

The song speeds up as he continues into the pre-chorus, which begins, “It kills me to

admit that I still want this bad.” Although he knows that the relationship they shared is not

something he can have he still wants it. He doesn’t want to admit this, maybe because he feels as

though he should move on. He wants to forget all of those feelings but every time he sees her t-

shirt, it all comes back to him. The last line of the pre-chorus, “’Cause I still got your t-shirt, do

you want it back?” indicates that he doesn’t want to have the memories anymore. He wants to

move on, and to do so he cannot have this t-shirt around reminding him.

The anger he feels about her leaving is evident in the chorus. The fourth line, “You broke

my heart and all I got was this t-shirt,” explains how he feels cheated of something. He gave her

all of his love and she just broke his heart and only left him with a t-shirt. The listener can

assume what he feels he did not get is closure or an explanation because all he “got was this t-

shirt”. The lyrics are really important to the message of this song. For example, “But I’ve learned
karma tends to be a b-word.” The saying is known to be “karma is a bitch” but he found a way

to change it to fit the pattern of his song without taking any effect away from the saying.

In verse two he explains all the ways he could get rid of the t-shirt such as burning it and

burying it. But neither of these would work because he would still be left with memories. “I’d

hold onto it longer, but you don’t like being held,” indicates he doesn’t want to let go, but he has

to because she does not like being held onto. She wants him to move on as well.

Once he gets to the bridge, the instruments die down, putting emphasis on what they

lyrics are saying. Here he is almost hoping they could get back together. He wants her to hold on

to him too, suggested in the line, “Maybe this time, you could take one of mine.” He begins to

think that if she doesn’t move on and she holds onto her memories of him that they could find a

way to work things out and can be together again.

The instruments start back up again, and he begins to sing louder because he is

remembering the pain he felt when she left. Following the line, “But I’ve learned karma tends to

be a b-word,” he goes on to hope that karma comes around to get her for breaking his heart.

Anyone who has had their heart broken can relate to this. Here the listener can feel all his pain

and anger which helps the listener to relate to feeling this way after a hard breakup.

The song concludes with him yelling the lyrics, “You broke my heart and all I got was

this t-shirt // T-shirt, this stupid, fucking t-shirt.” He is mad. He doesn’t want just this t-shirt. She

possibly left with more than just a t-shirt to hold on to. Or he believes that he should have gotten

more than just a t-shirt. As previously stated, he may not have gotten the closure or an

explanation as to why she left, and rightfully so believes he deserves this.

Not only are the lyrics important in what makes this song. Without the instruments the

true emotion of this song would be lost. The guitar and drums start out soft and quite while he is
sad, then pick up and get louder when he gets to anger. These sort of replicate the stages of grief.

Although it does not follow the stages of grief precisely, some of them are present. While the

instruments are soft at the start, this shows the stage of depression. When he gets to the chorus,

he is mad. He is yelling the lyrics. The instruments pick up and get louder. This represents his

anger towards the situation he is in. When everything dies down during the bridge, this would

represent bargaining. He suggests they try to work things out again. This is then followed by the

chorus again, which would show that he went back a step and is back to anger. By the end of the

song he has not yet reached the final stage, acceptance.

T-shirt is the fourth song on the track list for the album. Artists put a lot of work into an

album, and the order of the songs is important. There is a reason this song is the fourth. He could

possibly reach acceptance in the next song, or another after that.

In summary, the lyrics and instruments are important in this song. Both of these represent

his emotions and what he is going through. Nearly any listener can relate to this song because

they have gone through either the same thing, or something similar. Someone who may not have

their heart broken in the most traditional sense of the word, may have still felt heartbreak through

the death of a loved one, or simply losing a favorite character in a show. There are many forms

of heartbreak, and listeners going through all of forms can relate to this song.