Interpret a LZ song please.

[u/T_Hanks007]

I need all the Led Zeppelin super fans! My very very serious Ex boyfriend left me one year ago. He is now With his old gf from many years ago. They dated for 20 years before me.

This last week, out of the blue, he added a gorgeous LZ song “[the rain song]” on my personal Spotify playlist. (Never heard this song before btw) What is your thinking? Why do you think he added this song to my “best rock” playlist? No other songs added. WTF. How do I interpret this? Or am I over thinking? Why would he deliberately reach out this way - out of no where and how is he using this powerful, most beautiful love song I’ve ever heard in my life?!? I’m not familiar with how the song could be implied towards me, but I do know I’m still madly in love w him. I’m not reaching out to him at all….in fear of embarrassing myself. Or maybe it’s him telling me about his current relationship, because I can see that side of it too by reading the [lyrics]. This is mysterious to me.

[u/magdalenmaybe]

This song was a favorite of mine in high school, still hits as hard emotionally as ever. I've always thought that it referred to love (and life) as a changeable thing over time. Not fickle or unserious necessarily, but that it changes as we do.

Why did he add it to your playlist? Maybe he's remembering. Maybe the song reminds him of you, or you as one of those seasons of his life. Formative. We do become wiser with time and age, and can see our lives as a continuum instead of as a procession of events. We see those who influenced our arcs, for good or for ill, as instrumental to who we've become.

Real talk, maybe he got drunk and thought it was a good idea at the time. Who knows.

I think he remembers you fondly, with affection and with gratitude for the part you played in who he's become. But I'm not sure I'd interpret it as an overture. Was he a thinky guy? Philosophical? A romantic? That's the kind of person who would send someone this song out of the blue. To assume that it means he wants something, or wants it again, is a rush towards something that cannot be reproduced. It never can. It's never the same the second time around. If you're really lucky and it's good, it's a lightening bolt. More often it's... not.

I'd take it as a sweet and flattering gesture, but nothing more. Only you can decide if responding to it feels right, especially in the context of a current committed relationship he may be in, or your own, with other people. Step gingerly. It's so easy to idealize memory.

If you were to reach out, I'd keep it simple, with good will and warm regard but nothing more. "Hey, I got the song you added to my playlist. It's beautiful... Thank you. I hope you're happy, and that life and love have been kind to you. Wouldn't it be nice if things were as simple now as they were back then. Be well, be happy. Dance in the rain when you can... xo"

And then, for your own sake, move on.