SONG: The Fault in Our Stars
ARTIST: Troye Sivan
ALBUM: TRXYE
SONGWRITER: Troye Sivan

*spoilers of the novel ahead*

This song is inspired by John Green's book "The Fault In Our Stars".

When Troye Sivan read this book, he was so moved that he wrote a song inspired by it and not only that, but he also asked permission by the Princess Margaret Hospital to make a music video during a visit there.

Before posting the official music video onto YouTube, he posted the song to Tumblr. Over the period of that night he had more than 100,000 notes, many of which expressed support for a music video; Sivan decided he would make one. He went to Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, located in Perth, and filmed the official music video. There, he spent the day with two girls suffering from cancer, Kimmy and Montana. All the earnings from this song were donated to the oncology ward of the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

Even though a male has sung it, the song is actually from Hazel Grace's point of view (a female), who is the protagonist of this novel. The novel is about two teenaged cancer patients who fall in love. This song expresses Hazel's feelings when she realizes her love, Augustus Waters, is going to die.

♪ The weight of a simple
Human emotion weighs me down
More than the tank ever did ♪

Hazel suffers from thyroid cancer. This condition doesn't allow her to breathe properly without the use of a support. She has to carry an oxygen tank around with her everywhere, and there are pipes which go inside her nose to supply the oxygen.

So now Hazel is saying that the weight of a simple human emotion, that is "pain" is weighing her down, oppressing her, more than her oxygen tank. It is more difficult for her to to live with the pain of losing someone she loved, than it is to live with cancer. It is a heavier burden than carrying the tank around.

♪ The pain, it's determined
And demanding to ache
But I'm okay ♪

This has reference to a line from the book. "That's the thing about pain," Augustus said, and then glanced back at me: "it demands to be felt". As much as we try and hide from pain, we cannot deny it. It will always prod at us and catch up with us, until we acknowledge it. It is too difficult to pretend our pain does not exist.

But Hazel is okay. She will be okay, hopefully. She's not living, but she's alive and existing.

♪ And I don't wanna let this go
I don't wanna lose control
I just wanna see the stars
With you ♪

She doesn't want to let go of this beautiful life she has with Augustus. She doesn't want to lose control of her life again. She just wants to lie down with him and look at the stars.

♪ And I don't wanna say goodbye
Someone tell me why
I just wanna see the stars
With you ♪

She doesn't want to say goodbye to Augustus, who is going to die.

♪ You lost a part of your existence
In the war against yourself ♪

Cancer is like a battle against yourself, because it's your own body turning against you. You are constantly fighting against your own body. When the boy died, he lost his life and thus lost the battle. It is only a part of his existence because a part of him will still live on through the memory his love, Hazel, holds of him.

♪ Oh the lights, they light up
In lights of sadness
Telling you: it's time to go ♪

When a cancer patient undergoes a PET scan (positron emission tomography), it lights up to indicate that there is a tumour in the body. When Augustus goes for the scan, it lights up.

The line from the book is: He flashed his crooked smile, then said, "I lit up like a Christmas tree, Hazel Grace. The lining of my chest, my left hip, my liver, everywhere." Everywhere. That word hung in the air awhile.

So these lights are telling him that his body has tumours, and he is going to die.

♪ And I don't wanna let this go
I don't wanna lose control
I just wanna see the stars
With you.
I don't wanna say goodbye
Someone tell me why
I just wanna see the stars
With you ♪

♪ Don't give it up just yet
Stay grand for one more minute ♪

Augustus uses the word "grand" to describe himself when someone asks about him. "Oh, I'm grand. I'm on a roller coaster that only goes up, my friend."

So Hazel is asking him to fight this disease and to not give up on what they have. She is asking him to be okay, to stay grand, even if it's for one more minute.

♪