Mixtapemotions

  • “Runaway” by 3 Doors Down, Friday, August 16, 2024 (repost)

     We’re firmly in the territory of “butt rock” today. According to Houston Press, the origin of the phrase comes from a radio station in the ‘90s that had a programming slogan, “Nothing but Rock,” and listeners dropped “nothing” from the tagline. Loudwire points out that there are two distinct eras of butt rock: the ‘80s hair bands and the post grunge and nu metal of the late ‘90s and ‘00s. 


    HOPPIN’ ON A TRAIN, WE’LL BURN UP THE TRACKS. What, then, is the characteristics of “butt rock”? Like any musical sub-genre, especially if it is named more as a slur for the sub-genre not even used by the bands classified by the sub-genre, associations in the label are loose. Just as The Doobie Brothers & Daryl Hall and John Oats may be classified or contested alongside Christopher Cross and Kenny Loggins in the now so-called sub-genre of Yacht Rock, association with “butt-rock” seems to be more about music listeners disdain for certain characteristics. For the sake of today’s song, I’m only going to discuss second wave “butt rock,” music classified by  unimaginative, sometimes toxic masculine lyrics and boring melodies droned by a white male lead singer with a limited vocal range. It’s a copy and paste of the sound of grunge without any progressive politics—butt rockers tend to be nihilistic or even lean to conservative politics—or any of the novelty that made the the original sound of grunge unique to the music scene. Now that we have a loose definition of the label, music snobs start casting your favorite bands from 2001 into the pit. 

    AS LONG AS WE’RE TOGETHER, FOREVER IS NEVER TOO LONG. Creed is perhaps the first band that gets cast into the “butt rock” collection. There were a ton of bands in the Angsty Aughts who fit the definition from Three Days Grace to 3 Doors Down. Mississippi-based post-grunge band 3 Doors Down was huge from their first hit, “Kryptonite.” They had a string of hits both on rock and pop radio and even a few big movie placements like their massive hit “Be Like That” appearing in the film American Pie 2. For me, 3 Doors Down albums sound mostly the same except for their 2008 eponymous album, which feels like the most refined version of their southern blues rock with elements of gospel. The guitar tones are well recorded and add a longing sense that I think is absent in their earlier work and singer Brad Arnold’s voice plays on the guitar tones in a satisfying way. From the bluesy opening “Train” into the “support the troops” anthems of “Citizen/Solider” and “It’s Not My Time” the album are balanced by introspective tracks like “Let Me Be Myself,” “When It’s Over,” the R&B-drumbeat closer “She Doesn’t Want the World” make 3 Doors Down the best that the band has to offer. My favorite song, though, has to be “Runaway” for the meditation it presents on the rock ‘n’ roll theme of escape, which becomes escapism for those of us rooted to a job. It’s a simple song, but production is key in the delivery. If only the band stopped while they were ahead. But there had to be the 2017 presidential inauguration, which is certainly a topic for another day. 

    Read the lyrics on Genius.

  • “LALA” by Myke Towers, Thursday, August 15, 2024

     

    Last summer Puerto Rican singer-songwriter/rapper Michael Anthony Torres Monge, known professionally as Myke Towers, scored a massive Spanish-language hit with “LALA.” The song topped the charts in several Latin American countries and was his highest-charting US Billboard Hot 100 song. The reggaeton track was a perfect late-summer moment last year and spread on TikTok past the summer. The song has a very smooth, hypnotic tone, especially for those not fluent in Spanish. Today, I will create the Apple Music version of Música Española Favorita. I hope that my Apple Music listeners enjoy these songs as much as I have recently. I will keep adding music to this playlist as I get more into Spanish-language music.




  • "good 4 u" by olivia rodrigo, Wednesday, August 14, 2024 (repost)

    “My my, hey hey/ Rock ‘n’ Roll is here to stay” declares Neil Young in his 1978 song.  Rock music has had a lasting presence in pop culture since the age of Chuck Berry and  Little Richard. At some points in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s the genre took the primary spots on radio charts outside of the genre. However, around the end of the ’00s, Hip Hop decimated the genre. The rock bands left standing mostly traded their axes for acoustic guitars, keyboards, EDM beats, or Trap rhythms. Much of the rock music was indistinguishable from other genres, and that trend continues into the 2020s. However, just as rock bands crossed over to the pop charts, the late 2010s to 2021 saw pop singers experiment with rock music. From Miley Cyrus performing with Metallica to rappers like Post Malone and Machine Gun Kelly flirting with emo, some may argue that Rock is seeing a mainstream resurgence. Enter Olivia Rodrigo‘s “good 4 u,” the first guitar-driven song to top the British pop charts for more than four weeks since 2003’s “Bring Me to Life” by Evanescence. 

    YOU BOUGHT A NEW CAR AND YOUR CAREER’S REALLY TAKING OFF. Disney Channel star-turned-musician Olivia Rodrigo released her debut album Sour back in May this year. The album is one of the biggest of the year for several reasons. Critics loved how self-aware Rodrigo’s lyrics were for her late teenage years. Musically, listeners and critics loved the genre-bending of the songs. Rodrigo was influenced by pop, synth-pop, punk, and metal. The album’s second single, “good 4 u,” taps into the angry girl rock song, popularized in the ’90s by Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette–critics even calling Sour the Jagged Little Pill for Generation Z. While modern “sad girl” music influenced by these ’90s stars, artists like Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and Billie Eilish, has tended to avoid heavy guitars and drums as if it were an embarrassing trend, Rodrigo leans into it on “good 4 u.” Many listeners have cited a similarity between Rodrigo’s second chart-topping hit and Paramore‘s breakthrough single, “Misery Business.” Rodrigo admitted to taking the inspiration for parts of the song and eventually gave writing credits to Paramore’s Haley Williams and Zac Farro.

    I’VE SPENT THE NIGHT CRYING ON THE BATHROOM FLOOR. “Good 4 u” captures the grief of the “loser” of a breakup. This is in contrast to the “victor” who is doing great with someone new. While some breakups occur completely mutually, that kind of breakup doesn’t make good rock songs. Keane‘s “We Might as Well Be Strangers” takes a sad approach of two people who don’t know each other anymore. But in “good 4 u” the listener is either 1) passive aggressively rubbing the speaker’s face in her success or 2) genuinely misses the other person and is even looking for her affirmation. Either way, Rodrigo calls him a “damn sociopath.” Today’s song isn’t just sour; it’s as spicy as a jalapeño. Rodrigo’s hit takes a few jabs at her assumed ex, co-star Joshua Bassett, who reportedly got famous, according to Rodrigo, on the coattails of her success. The lyrics of the song use sarcasm, even including a singing laugh more commonly heard in musical theater than in pop or rock music. Whereas the lyrics are about rage, the video is pure revenge. Some may feel a similarity to the “Misery Business” video. The video shows Rodrigo burning down a house, losing her mind with rage, yet looking cute and pretty all along the way. 

    Read the lyrics on Genius.


      

  • “Killing Me” by Conan Gray, Tuesday, August 13, 2024

































    Last Halloween, Conan Gray released the third single, “Killing Me” from his 2024 album Found Heaven. The single followed “Never Ending Song,” which was a stylistic shift to ‘80s-styled production-based maximalist pop. The second single from the then-upcoming album was the personal ballad “Winner,” which was much more in the style of Gray’s typical confessional singer-songwriter mode. “Winner” would be the final track on Found Heaven. The third single, today’s song, returned Gray to the ‘80s pop sound that molded the album. Found Heaven is an album of glam rock experimentation, ballads, and new wave pop songs; sometimes these elements mix. The best example is when “Killing Me,” the album’s penultimate song transforms from a piano ballad to a synth rocker at the first chorus.


    TOO BUSY DECEIVIN’ AND CHEATIN’ AND LYIN’ AND COMPETIN’. The stories that Conan Gray tells in the album’s lyrics and promotional interviews he has given to Billboard, Zach Sang, and others are simultaneously raw confessionals and opaque concerning personal details.  Gray shares just enough to keep the story compelling and not too much to keep his privacy and the privacy of the others he is involved with. Gray even goes so far as to disguise the genders of the people he is talking about, refraining from using third-person pronouns in most of his songs and speaking of all unidentified persons using the third-person plural pronouns they and them. Conan could be speaking about non-binary individuals, but throughout the singer’s career, he has talked about multiple people using they/them. Since Gray’s breakthrough debut album Kid Krow, he has refused to label his sexuality. It’s ultimately nobody’s business and in the absence of details, his songs become about the listener’s experiences rather than a speculation about who Gray is singing about. The songs become universal because listeners see parallels in their lives. 

    I WANNA DIE, BUT YOU KEEP ME ALIVE. There are a few details that Conan Gray shared about Found Heaven. In interviews, he talks about falling in love for the first time and then being broken up after stepping off the plane in London after flying across the Atlantic to be with that person. Later, as Conan was recording the album, he got sick with the flu. But the flu that he caught caused a chain reaction of health issues, including tonsillitis. The music video for “Killing Me” was even canceled because Gray had to have his tonsils removed. As he was sick, Conan was also heartbroken. He said of the third single: “I think we all have those people who don’t treat us nearly well enough, but we just can’t seem to let them go. People who call you at 2 [] AM, and who you know you shouldn’t pick up……but you do. ‘Killing Me’ is for when you’re on your last limb begging this person to just please stop torturing your heart.” Found Heaven feels like a weird moment in Conan Gray’s life, and in turn, a weird moment in his musical career. But we all get over our first loves, more or less. We fall in love again and break up. We get sick and feel better. Found Heaven is like a weird ‘80s movie you watch on TV when you have the flu and hallucinate a bit as you drift off to sleep. I don’t think this is where Gray will stay, but it was certainly a fun phase. Sadly, it came from the pain of the artist.



     

  • “Heaven” by Troye Sivan ft. Betty Who, Monday, August 12, 2024 (repost)

    On December 4, 2015, Troye Sivan released his wildly successful first LP, Blue    Neighbourhood.  Building a large Internet fanbase, Blue Neighbourhood peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The standard edition of the album   contained 3 of the 10 songs from the previously released Wild EP. The LP, though, gave Sivan his first US Top 40 single, “Youth.” Four of the ten songs on Blue were singles, starting with “Wild,” a remix of which was rereleased with guest vocals by Alessia Cara as Sivan’s fourth single from the album, which was a major hit in South Korea.   

    TRUTH RUNS WILD. The final single, “Heaven,” was released on October 17, 2016. The Jack Antonoff-produced single features a second verse from fellow Australian pop star, Betty Who. After Sivan came out in a YouTube video in August of 2013, he became an LGBTQ+ icon, as he processed his sexuality in the lyrics of his music. Part of the promotion for Blue Neighbourhood was a trilogy of videos imagining the themes of two young gay lovers as they deal with the social and relational implications of their love. For the album’s final single, though, Sivan digs into his religious background. Raised Orthodox Jewish, Sivan had an early crisis of faith when he thought he might be gay. He revealed to We the Unicorns that he began to ask “really, really terrifying questions. Am I ever going to find someone? Am I ever going to be able to have a family? If there is a God, does that God hate? If there is a heaven, am I ever going to make it to heaven?” Taking these thoughts into the studio with co-writers Antonoff, Alex Hope, and Grimes (Clair Boucher), Sivan concludes: “If I’m losing a piece of me/ Maybe I don’t want heaven.” 

    WITHOUT LOSING A PIECE OF ME. The lyrics of “Heaven” deal with a personal crisis, but the video shows historic pride marches and footage of LGBTQ+ Rights activist, Harvey Milk. The queer-themed music video was meant to be released on January 20, 2016, the day that Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States, but the video was released on the 19th because of fans’ responses to the video’s teaser. When I first heard “Heaven” back in 2016, my Adventist-raised brain was triggered. In many Protestant denominations, there’s this delicate dance between grace and works. Adventists preached against more permissive denominations that didn’t take the rules from the Old Testament seriously. Becoming an Adventist meant giving up a list of things the world thinks are normal: 1) unclean meats 2) jewelry 3) smoking 4) alcohol 5) working on Saturdays, and that was just the beginning. I remember manipulative sermons that analyzed why ______ was sinful, and if you loved _____ more than God, you’d be sure to be left out of heaven. Adventists claimed to be more biblical than other Christians, and that grace leads to a reformed life. Of course, ask any denomination, and they would draw a line on something. And all denominations that I knew of when I was growing up,  the very basic thing was, don’t be gay. Sivan’s response is that if he has to change, he doesn’t want heaven. To an Adventist, this could be just as much for someone who doesn’t want to give up bacon as someone who is gay. They would say it’s all sin and a war with the flesh. Growing up in that religion it made perfect sense until I realized I couldn’t not be gay.


    Read the lyrics on Genius.



     

  • “Aftertaste” by Katie Gavin, Sunday, August 11, 2024

     


































    Many of the songs of the Indie pop band MUNA are about breaking up. The trio is composed of lead vocalist Katie Gavin and guitarists Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson, before releasing their first album Gavin and McPherson dated for three years. What could have been a messy situation turned into a lasting friendship and a critically acclaimed band whose music explores themes of self-acceptance, self-worth, and self-discovery. The band achieved a viral hit in 2021 with the lead single “Silk Chiffon” from their third and self-titled album in 2022.  The band headlined tours in 2022 and the Life’s So Fun Tour taken from the opening lines from “Silk Chiffon” as well as playing a set at Coachella. They also opened for Kacey Musgraves, Lorde, and Taylor Swift. Last month, the band released a live recording of the last date of their tour at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. 


    MY HAIR GOT LONG, YOUR HAIR GOT CUT. After MUNA released their self-titled record in 2022, MUNA released a post-album single “One That Got Away” and several collaborations. In March this year, the band resumed their weekly podcast Gayotic with a new season. Then on July 23, lead singer Katie Gavin released the first single from her upcoming solo album, What a Relief, which is set to be released on October 23. MUNA’s fanbase immediately panicked. Was the band that had so many heart-wrenching break-up songs breaking up? Katie addressed these rumors on the July 31st episode of Gayotic in a conversation with the other members of MUNA, saying that the group is not breaking up. Gavin talks about the upcoming project being a personal collection of songs that sound different from MUNA tracks. As a band, MUNA aims for big choruses and hooks. As the members of MUNA are signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ label Saddest Factory, Gavin first showed the songs to the indie folk singer who then recommended that Gavin work with her producer Tony Berg.

     

    I FEEL NAKED. On Gayotic, Katie Gavin assures listeners that her solo project does not sound like MUNA songs, except for two songs. The other members of the group chimed in, saying that the first single from the album, “Aftertaste” is one of the most MUNA-sounding tracks from Gavin’s solo project. Katie also said that without “Aftertaste,” What a Relief would lack a single. The country-twinged single musically sounds similar to MUNA’s single “Anything but Me” and lyrically similar to their promotional single “Home by Now.” The acoustic guitar-based song highlights Gavin as a vocalist as she seems to channel Shania Twain or even some of The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan. It follows the trend as many Nashville outsiders have taken an interest in the Country sound. The down-to-earth style is an effective mode of conveying heartbreak and it’s always refreshing to hear country-style songs that adapt the style and refrain from twang. It’s unlikely that Katie Gavin will emerge as a queer Country hit producer, but the variety that this sound promises to give to Gavin’s solo career is exciting as we get closer to the release date in October.




  • “Blame Brett” by The Beaches, Saturday, August 10, 2024

     The Beaches are a Canadian indie rock band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of sisters Jordan and Kylie Miller, Leandra Earl, and Eliza Enman-McDaniel. They have released two studio albums The Late Show in 2017 and Blame Ex this year. The band has been praised for their catchy hooks, energetic live shows, and feminist lyrics. The band, originally named Done with Dolls, came to fame in Canada when they performed the theme to the teen drama Really Me in 2011. The band evolved into more of a rock sound with the addition of guitarist Leandra Earl. The band has had two number 1 songs on Canadian Rock radio, “T-Shirt” from The Late Show and “Blame Brett” from their latest record.

    I’M DONE DATING ROCKSTARS. The Beaches have been included on a number of Spotify playlists, growing their listenership outside of Canada, the only country in which they have charted. Their sophomore and self-released record Blame My Ex offers summertime vibes punctuated with breezy guitars. Lead singer Jordan Miller’s cheeky lyrics delivered with vocals somewhere between The Bangles, Pretenders, Blondie, or The Motels make the album instantly catchier than their first effort The Late Show. The lead single and first song on the record from which the title Blame My Ex comes, “Blame Brett,” has over 60 million streams and peaked last year on America’s Alternative Airplay chart at number 17. Lyrically the song hides under an almost surf rock summer sound. But once a listener hears or reads the lyrics, the song gets even more interesting.

    I’LL BECOME AN ASSHOLE DISGUISED AS A BAD GIRL. Lead singer of The Beaches Jordan Miller dated Brett Emmons, lead singer of the band the Glorious Sons, a band they toured with. Miller declares “I’m done dating rock stars / From now on only actors / Tall boys in the [Toronto] Raptors.” But Blame My Ex and its first track “Blame Brett” are not exactly straightforward break-up songs demonizing the singer of the other band. Miller explains, “ It’s not really about my relationship. It’s about feeling vulnerable and afraid to open your heart to someone new. I’m basically talking to my future partners, explaining that I can only offer something casual while my heart heals—a song for all the hot messes out there” she told Hype Magazine. Maybe there are hard feelings, but pinning the speaker’s new casual attitude toward sex and dating on her ex-boyfriend both skirts responsibility in a rockstar fashion but also gives the speaker liberation to experience the good and the bad of casual dating. It’s so easy for us to blame our choices after something traumatic like a breakup on the one who hurt us, but “Blame Brett” seems to have a speaker who is aware of this fact. She’s out to make her own mistakes, and if others are going to judge her, she just pins it on the “guy who hurt her.” But there’s one other element to this narrative that should be addressed. If a man wrote this song and said, “Blame Jordan, my Ex,” talking about getting back out there and enjoying casual relationships, culturally he would receive less judgment. What about the horrible things that Ted Mosby did in How I Met Your Mother grieving the loss of the one he thought was right? Barney tells him to go have a night out; sleep around; take some time off before getting back to the search for Mrs. Mosby. “Blame Brett” is a powerful anthem of liberation–the speaker even gives a disclaimer in the lyrics that “I’m only gonna treat you bad” and that she’s “only in it for the sex.” So this song is not for the faint of heart.



  • “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims, Friday, August 9, 2024 + Inspired by the ‘50s Playlist

    Earlier this year, Teddy Swims scored a Billboard’s Hot 100 number one single with “Lose Control.” The single was released last year and holds the record for the longest climb to number 1 for a single on Billboard’s flagship chart. Jaten Dimsdale, better known as Teddy Swims, has been releasing solo music since 2019, starting with covers which he released on YouTube. Before his solo career took off, Dimsdale started as a rock singer, performing with several Atlanta-based bands. He was in the alternative rock band WildHeart, in which he took the fictional surname Swims, an acronym for “Someone who is me sometimes.”Jaten also performed in a post-hardcore band called Eris and a progressive R&B rock band called Elefvnts.  While he has covered many songs from a variety of genres, many songs on his 2023 debut album I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Pt. 1), sound akin to the influences his father introduced him to: Stevie Wonder, Al Green, and Marvin Gaye.


    SOMETHING’S GOT A HOLD OF ME LATELY. The R&B/soul rock sound of Teddy Swims’ hit breakthrough song, “Lose Control” comes at a time of a bluesy, ‘50s and ‘60s revival in music. Irish singer Hozier this year released a similar-sounding song, “Too Sweet,” which also topped Billboard’s Hot 100. It may be safe to say that we may not experience a ‘50s revival in the same way that we’ve been stuck in an ‘80s revival for nearly 20 years. There have been blues/R&B/gospel songs that have sprung up from time to time, whether in the music of Amy Winehouse or Adele.  The production style of doo-wop sounds, 12-bar blues, and the wall of sound appear as songs and entire albums for major and indie artists. This brings me to a long overdue playlist: Inspired by the ‘50s. Something about all these songs seems like they could have been heard at a sock hop on a Saturday night at least to me. This is a growing playlist so check back to see what songs I will add.




     Read the lyrics on Genius.

  • “Childhood” by The Rose (더 로즈), Thursday, August 8, 2024

    The Rose is an indie rock band formed when two members, Park Dojoon and Lee Jaehyeong, started busking in Hongdae, a college area in Seoul famous for birthing Korean hip-hop and many indie groups. Dojoon, however, had signed with DSP Media, entering a trainee program. Because of his contract, Dojoon could not meet with Jaehyeong until they met when they were rehearsing in the same studio. Eventually, the group added Lee Hajoon and K-pop Star contestant Kim Woosung, who would become the band’s lead singer. Debuting in 2017 on J&Star Company, the band gained recognition in Korea and abroad, including in Woosung’s home country of the United States.  In 2020, the band sued their label for not paying the band since their debut and for keeping the band in a draining promotional and concert schedule.
     

    DON’T LIVE YOUR LIFE LIKE YOU HAVE A THOUSAND YEARS. The Rose went on hiatus for nearly two years as three of the members were conscripted into the Korean military, a requirement for all male Korean citizens. Woosung, as an American citizen, was exempted from serving and focused on his solo career, releasing a solo album, Genre, on his own label Woolf Pack, and touring the U.S. with Epik High. At the end of 2021, The Rose released the song “Beauty and the Beast,” breaking their hiatus. In 2022, the band released the album Heal. Just as Woosung had formed his own label, the band formed their own label, Windfall, to release their post-hiatus record. The album was preceded by the single “Childhood,” a wistful piano and acoustic guitar-based ballad reminding listeners not to forget their dreams and not to live in regret for not chasing those dreams. The band also released a music video accompanying the single. LA-based Chinese director Curry Sicong Tian directed the conceptual music video in which interpretive dancers of multiple ethnicities dance in skin-toned underwear.

    SHOULD’VE FOLLOWED MY OWN DREAMS. There certainly is an innocent eroticism in The Rose’s “Childhood” music video. Adult bodies appear nude; they dance around in a kind of Rite of Spring ballet style–a ballet that was controversial at its 1931 Parisian premiere. The Rose is a band composed of handsome young men who participated in K-pop training. The band does not appear in nude costumes but rather spends much of the music video shirtless and in white shorts or frolicking in a body of water. The song is mostly sung in English by Woosung, though Dojoon contributes a verse in Korean with a few Korean interjections throughout the song. Entire genres of literature, movies, and songs are based on missing one’s childhood, and this is no exception for Korean ballads as well. However, childhood looks very different in Korea and other parts of the world, with parents pressuring their kids from a young age to study at private academies late into the night in the hope of a financially stable future. “What do you want to do when you grow up?” I frequently ask my students. “I want to be a doctor.” “Why do you want to be a doctor?” “Because my mom wants me to be a doctor.” “What about you?” Another kid answers, “I want to be an office worker.” “What kind of work do you want to do at the company?” “Office work.” Of course, some kids have dreams; some kids have cultivated an imagination through reading, traveling, or just daydreaming, but unfortunately, Korean culture tries to stamp that out of the kids way too early. Parents, don’t give up on your dreams. Let your kids be their own people.

  • “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish, Wednesday, August 7, 2024

    Billie Eilish released “Ocean Eyes” in 2015. The future star was only 13 at the time. Billie and her brother Finneas O’Connell uploaded the song to SoundCloud, intending it to be a simple sharing for Billie’s dance teacher. Unexpectedly, “Ocean Eyes” went viral, garnering significant attention and leading to her eventual rise in the music industry. The song’s success marked the beginning of Billie Eilish’s career as a major recording artist. Following the viral success, Eilish began recording more songs with her brother, culminating in the 2017 EP don’t smile at me and her debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL SLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? in 2019. Her first song, though, “Ocean Eyes,” is a bright and beautiful song with a touch of melancholy. Following the single, Billie Eilish began to adopt a dark, sometimes gothic, pop aesthetic in many of her songs.

    I WANT YOU TO STAY. Unlike most teenagers who grow out of phases and only have a few embarrassing yearbook photos we’d all feel like we’d die if they ever leaked, Billie Eilish’s gothic phase is well documented in pop culture history. Eilish rebranded her aesthetic on her second album Happier Than Ever. Musically, Eilish’s sophomore album evolves into a slightly brighter electronic jazz older sister to the angsty WHEN WE ALL GO TO SLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Billie’s third child, or album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT bears a resemblance to its predecessors especially lyrically. Musically, Eilish’s latest offering emphasizes Billie as a singer, particularly on “THE GREATEST,” “L’AMOUR DE ME VIDA,” and today’s song, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER.” Using a mix of guitar-based and synth-based songs adds a different tone than previous albums. Still, today’s song with its tropical house groove is really the glue that keeps the album cohesive. It’s different from all the others in how straightforward it works as a hit. It’s the happiest-sounding song on the record, even if the lyrics pack a characteristic Billie melancholy. Ultimately, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” adds versatility to the otherwise sad girl-meets-club-banger album. Because of the fourth track, we can take this album to the beach.

    BUT IF IT’S FOREVER, IT’S EVEN BETTER. Musically, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” is a natural evolution for Billie Eilish if a listener were only familiar with her first song.  But underneath the bright instrumentation, the lyrics hold the dark elements Eilish listeners expect from her recent work. The song is an intentionally misquoted English proverb. The proverb “birds of a feather stick together” means that people with similar interests, values, or characteristics tend to associate with one another. It draws from the natural observation that birds of the same species or similar appearance often flock together. This saying highlights the tendency for like-minded individuals to form social groups, suggesting that common traits or beliefs naturally lead to camaraderie and mutual support. Eilish twists the phrase. Rather than flocking together, Billie suggests “we should stick together” because they may be like birds of a feather, but they are in fact, human. Besides the comparison to birds, the phrase “Till death do us part” from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, commonly read at multiple Christian denominations’ weddings and secular weddings as well as one of the tenets of the song, perhaps stronger than the proverb the title bears.  Elish more graphically explores “Till Death Do Us Part” in gory detail that most songwriters would have shied away from. Eilish has been forthright with her mental health struggles, and if the song is autobiographical, it’s unnerving how the context is “until the day that I die,” never presuming the other person may die before the speaker. While listeners may feel worried about Elish–and they have every right to–, the song is ultimately about either catastrophizing about a partner’s possible exit from the relationship or trying to hold onto a dying relationship. If it’s the first case, the anxiety could be rooted in reality or an unfounded worry. So, just like every song on Eilish’s latest offering, the song can hit both hard and soft. It just depends on how deep you want to go into the “BLUE.”

     Read the lyrics on Genius.