FOR LONDON [1: TOM HOLLAND]

MARIA, HER BOYS, & THEIR SONGS

AN EPILOGUE, OF SORTS, ABOUT MARIA, HER BOYS, AND THEIR SONGS

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Maria Franco is a singer-songwriter who grew up in New York, before relocating to Los Angeles to further pursue her career. To All the Boys I've Loved Before is her first official EP to be released, and chronicles the three epic loves of her life (so far.) It features previously unheard singles: For New York, For Vienna, and For London.

She states that the trio of songs are named after the places where she found herself falling in love; each is for a boy, but naming them simply didn't feel fair. She insists that this choice does not make the songs, their lyrics, or their meanings feel any less personal or emotional to her. Simply anonymous, if you will. Until she's ready to share more about what they mean in the future; perhaps when the words she has written feel less raw and real.

ABOUT THE EP, FROM MARIA FRANCO:

It only feels fair that you are given an explanation as to what each of these songs mean to me, before you delve into them a little deeper and form your own connections and theories (which I wildly encourage, please.)

These three songs are each dear to me, in different ways. The boys that they represent have taught me more than you can possibly imagine about myself, and relationships, too. Each details a different time and experience in my life, all of which are of equal importance to me.

For New York is always where I will start out; my first love, and — evidently — my first heartbreak.

We're taught by the media — in romance novels, on social media, and in those teen programmes where eighteen year olds are played by celebrities twice that age — that high school romances are perfect. And — okay — don't get me wrong, I'm sure they can be! But this is often far from the truth.

New York was someone who I refer to not entirely fondly, as my supposed high school sweetheart. He was older, allegedly wiser, and promised me the world. I believed him, and he tried, he did, but he broke his promises more than kept them. Left me waiting for calls, and rides, and answers. He was the type of boyfriend who would pick you up for a party, smile at your father, earn his respect, and then ignore you the whole time you were out in favour of playing up and showing off to his friends.

Now don't get me wrong, he wasn't a bad person, and I was by no means a princess, either. But it wasn't a good relationship, by any means. I handed my heart over to him too many times, and somehow came away surprised when he crushed it each time.

My memories of New York as somewhat fond, but often bittersweet. I don't miss him; don't mourn for what we could have been; but I do reminisce. First loves teach you a lot.

And then came Vienna. My god; Vienna is my best friend, and I hold him and that place perhaps dearest to my heart.

Vienna is light and brilliance; far away from the streets of New York. It was supposed to be a place I barely remembered; a stop-off on my way to someplace bigger. Better. And instead it became somewhere I didn't want to leave. Six weeks of skin on mine, flashes, and burning, and an arm around me to ground me; hold me tight.

I've never met a boy like Vienna before in my life, and doubt that I ever will again. He is the type that will accept his flaws; welcome them will open arms, and help you to do the same. He cares so much; still does to this day. Remembers the words you barely-whispered in the midst of a dance floor whilst you swayed against him, will tuck you into bed hours later, and then ask you about them when you least expect. He'll make sure you're okay; ensures that he asks because otherwise you won't tell.

He learns so much about you, but it never feels as though he's taking anything from you by doing so.

Vienna teaches you that loving can be easy if you let it be. And that an end to one thing doesn't have to hurt, that it can make way for something even better. A love that will stick with you for the rest of your life, no longer romantic but somehow stronger for it.

Vienna — as it turns out — was my place to land, and the boy I met there still is.

Then comes London.

Oh god, if only I had the right words to describe London. A song that lived a thousand lives, and still doesn't quite feel finished. But perhaps that's because it isn't, in a sense. London lingers, makes you wonder; an ever-present whisper in the back of your mind.

London brought fleeting moments; a night of shoulders brushing, and rain on sidewalks, and the buzz that just the right amount to drink will give you. London to me is warmth; a smile, a laugh, a hand in mine. A boy who snuck up on me; the one of my little trio that I least expected to fall for, but did so hard and fast.

London is an accent; sharp and clear in one breath, yet somehow soft and gentle in another. The place and the boy I loved there are so kind, so good.

London is the view from a bridge that waits for me behind my eyelids every time I happen to blink, or a reminder of an expression so soft and open that I could swear it made my breath catch in my lungs just for that one moment, on the rain-washed pavement in front of a landmark that couldn't even come close to drawing my attention away from the boy in front of me.

It's where this EP finishes, perhaps because it's where my mind will always end up if you give me long enough to think.

London and it's boy taught me that the way a heart breaks is one thing, but the way it can ache is another entirely. And you know what? That's okay. Maybe one day we'll find one another again, or maybe we won't.

My world will continue to turn, and I'll carry on writing. Telling stories with my lyrics that I've yet to experience, but can't wait to share with all of you.

Maria, x

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've seen so many comments about how you wish you could listen to the songs, or know more about New York — so I decided to delve a little deeper into it — I hope this answers some of your questions / thoughts and serves as an epilogue in a way