#there are many many synth pop references in this

[w-t-k-n-s]

Let me see you stripped down to the bone

Leeds, March 1986.

They're off to a strip night, and Gwaine has no idea how much it will change his life.

He falls head over heels for one of the dancers, and a random encounter lets them meet properly, and Gwaine realises it isn't just Percival's body he likes. Slowly, they become an irreplaceable part of each other's lives. However, Percival's job starts to get in between them, and Gwaine's insecurities grow.

Will they make it together?

Weclome to my After Camlann Big Bang piece! I have absolutely loved writing this, and I am so excited to finally share it with the world!

Please feel free to leave any comments or messages, I would love to hear from you.

Huge thank you to @pkrosche for being an absolutely incredible beta reader, I can't thank them enough!

And the amazing icebreak1010 on deviantart who created a gorgeous piece of art to accompany this work! I am so grateful! Link to their work is here!

This fest has been so brilliant to be a part of, I have really enjoyed being a part of the community on discord and can't wait already to get back to writing!

Here is the @aftercamlann account and here is the livejournal to check out the other pieces completed for this wonderful fest. So happy to have been a part of it!

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoy.

[noitsjusttaylor]

The 'Lost' Midnights Aesthetic & Big Taylor

When Taylor Swift announced her surprise album Midnights to the world, she was quite literally covered in glittering jewels.

But when the promotional materials for Midnights were posted that night, everyone was really surprised by the aesthetic it seemed to have. No one could guess a genre. We thought it would be gut wrenching and 70s inspired, based on the photos and the blurb about her 13 sleepless nights.

We were fully prepared for our hearts to be ripped out of our chests, and hear a Taylor that was so incredibly raw and tragic. Gaylors specifically ere intrigued by the line

“We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t - right this minute - about to make some fateful life-altering mistake”

We wondered if she was about to blatantly tell the world what we had seen for years.

But when the album came out, people were shocked for a more synth, upbeat pop album. When she went to events she was star studded (literally) and glammed out. Or “bejeweled” you could say.

At first, people were surprised by the switch up. Where was the brooding darkness? Where was the 70s ballads? We tried to understand why these two sides didn’t seem to match up. As if the aesthetic of the promotion and the album itself were disconnected.

In comes the anti hero music video.

Suddenly, we see the two aesthetics side by side. Telling us that these two Taylors exist simultaneously.

This music video happens to also be where we are introduced to big Taylor. While she’s dressed a lot like the 70s version of Taylor above, but we know they are not the same Taylor because the video shows us so.

Big Taylor is the elephant in the room. She’s the one that makes Taylor too big to hang out…some think it’s because she’s “too famous” but I argue it is more about how she feels about herself. About how she feels like she is too big… takes up too much space.. too loud and too awkward. Something that she had to actively suppress about herself to get people to like her.

So why does big Taylor break my heart?? So many reasons!

The tour visuals truly show what big Taylor represents… it’s her. The real her. Not the sparkly Taylor that’s on stage, but the one who is so frustrated and over it and wants to tear down the city.

In the visual (which is played during Anti-Hero), big Taylor stands up and starts screaming and stomping her feet.

She’s massive and in any other situation, she would be the focus of the crowd… but she’s not… small glittery Taylor is. Even in TikTok videos, you can see the camera pan away from big Taylor.

Sparkly Taylor is the persona. We refer to her at Taylor™. She is the one performing I Can Do it With a Broken Heart. She’s the one who exists to survive in this profession.

And even when she shows us more of her… the duller, neutral, scared, sad her… all anyone cares about is the guitar smashing sparkles.

To the point where now, the sparkles and bejeweled Taylor is what everyone sees midnights as…

In fact, I think that everyone was so distracted by the sparkles, they forgot the prompt behind the album… Her 13 sleepless nights. There are meanings to these songs that are not immediately obvious. But everyone just wants the sparkles.

Did you forget about this Midnights Aesthetic? Let me know your thoughts!

This post is also available on Twitter, Substack, & Bluesky.

[petercapaldi-press]

INTERVIEW

'This is my tribute to 1980s Glasgow,' says Peter Capaldi

March 22, 2025

By Teddy Jamieson

We begin - and this may not totally surprise you - with a bit of swearing. There’s a line on your new album, I say to Peter Capaldi, that I have to ask about. At one point you sing: “I talk a lot and know f*** all.” Now, tell me, Peter, is that you singing in character or are you talking about yourself?

Sitting in his agent’s office some 400 odd miles south of me, Peter Capaldi - formerly the expletive machine that was Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It, formerly a Timelord, formerly of Glasgow but long resident in London - smiles before admitting, “Yeah, that’s true. I do. That’s me.” 

But then he adds, “It’s a lot of people really. That’s quite common.”

Yes, Peter Capaldi has made a record. Another one. After 2021’s Saint Christopher he returns this month with Sweet Illusions which has - as you now know - sweary bits (though, actually, not that many) and guitars and synthesisers and songs called things like The Big Guy and Bin Night.

It’s not really what you expect 66-year-old successful actors to do. Especially 66-year-old actors who are still busy with the day job. Right now Capaldi is shooting a second series of his Apple+ police series Criminal Record and you’ll see him soon in Black Mirror.

Today, though, he’s talking to me, and, yes, he’s talking a lot. About music and acting and ageing and anything else that comes to mind. 

We start with the music. Even though he has previous experience as a musician - back at the start of the 1980s he was in a band with future comedian Craig Ferguson called The Dreamboys - it was still something of a surprise when he released his first album. Clearly, it didn’t scratch the itch and now he’s back with another.

The explanation is simple enough. “I enjoyed doing the first one so much I just wanted to carry on doing it,” Capaldi explains.

“When I was a kid, if you wanted to record an album you had to be signed to a record label. I essentially do this myself. I have collaborators who I work with, but essentially if you have a computer and you’ve got GarageBand or Logic you can start to put songs together.

“I take it seriously but lightly, if you know what I mean,” he adds. “My intention is not to have a new career or be a pop star. It’s just a creative thing that is very accessible.”

It was his friend and producer Dr Robert - once of The Blow Monkeys - who first encouraged Capaldi to start writing songs. And now Capaldi can’t stop.

“I read that the only way you get a good song is by writing a hundred terrible ones. I think I’m still working my way through the hundred.”

That’s self-deprecation at work. Sweet Illusions is far from rubbish. Ask him to describe what it sounds like and he says, “It’s fairly nostalgic guitar and synth tribute to eighties Glasgow. That’s what I think it is. Because I’m really picking up where I left off,” referring to his Dreamboys days 40 years ago. 

But it’s also the work of a man in his mid-sixties. It’s unlikely that the twentysomething Peter Capaldi would be writing a song called Bin Night after all.

“I’m a big fan of bin night. The night, not the song,” he quickly adds. “Because the world is chaotic, and terrible things are happening, and there’s only five minutes you get when you can exercise any control over your fate. And that’s bin night. If you get your bins together and you get them all out, you think, ‘Well, I’ve done something constructive.’”

More than that, though, Bin Night is also a love song to his grandchildren. “I became a grandfather. I wanted to do a lullaby because I have babies back in my life again.”

There is a lot of love on the album, it’s worth saying. If you have a tendency to conflate Capaldi with the parts he plays you might be surprised by quite how romantic it is. As he sings at one point, love is all that matters.

“Yeah, it’s love that matters. That’s not a new line to have in a song, but you can do it in a song and it’s easier than doing it in a film or on stage. You can fill things with your own emotions.”

It’s possibly worth remembering at this point that Capaldi has been married to his wife Elaine Collins, herself an actor and now a TV producer, since 1991. They have been through the highs and lows of a life in acting together.

That twentysomething singer in The Dreamboys, I say, does he feel very far away from you now, Peter?

“Not very far. I mean, physically, yes. Because I’m an actor I get to see how I look and I’m always horrified to see this old guy with white hair. I don’t know where he came from. I don't imagine myself as that, but the parts I get are like that. I don’t feel that old.

“The younger one is still there. The optimism is a bit more crushed. I went to the art school and at the time there was a great ethos of just having a go. It wasn’t just the art school. I guess that’s what the whole post-punk thing was, so I still carry that.

“It doesn’t matter if what you do is great, what matters is you tried.”

The son of Nancy and Gerald John, who ran an ice cream business, Capaldi’s desire to be creative can be traced back to childhood in Glasgow.

“I could always draw from when I was little. I remember my granny felt that drawing was an Italian thing. She was talking about Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, not the son of an ice cream van vendor.

“But when I was little I remember I had a shoe box and - this is how long ago it was - I cut the front off of it and made a wee studio in it. It was Ready Steady Go, a programme that was the precursor to Top of the Pops, and I drew little people; little John, Paul, George and Ringo, and a camera and all that.”

What he wanted back then, he says, was not to be an actor or a musician. It was simpler than that. “I wanted to be on the telly. I wanted to be part of that whole thing.”

What eventually happened was that he met the film director Bill Forsyth who gave him a role in his film Local Hero.(Image: unknown)

"I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him and a lot of people wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him,” he says of Forsyth. “My career is thanks to him.”

Everyone asks you about Doctor Who and The Thick of It, I say, but what I really wanted to speak to you about was Ken Russell’s incredibly camp 1988 vampire movie Lair of the White Worm which also starred Hugh Grant and Amanda Donohoe. What was it like working with Russell, the master of excess?

“It was great. We laughed so much. Hugh Grant was so funny. Such a smart, witty guy. He’s great company. Great cast all together, happy days.”

As for Russell himself, “he’d be fine in the morning and then at lunchtime he’d go into his trailer and he would emerge as the enfant terrible of the sixties. I don’t know if he had been quaffing champagne, or what had gone on at lunchtime, but he was mad then. He would push the cameraman off the camera and he would take over.

“I remember he was very serious about that film. It subsequently became well known as a comedy, but that wasn’t intentional at the time.

“It was a wee bit weird. I’d stumble onto a stage in Shepperton and there were some quite racy sequences that didn’t appear in the film being shot.”

Capaldi had his own ambitions as a director. In 1992 he wrote and starred in the romcom Soft Top, Hard Shoulder alongside Collins and a year later he wrote and directed the short Franz Kafka’s It’s A Wonderful Life which won him an Oscar at the 1995 Academy Awards. At which point he was being courted by the Weinsteins and a career as a Hollywood hot shot seemed just a contract away, only for the Weinsteins to renege on the offer.

“I think it was for the best,” he says now. 

“At the time it was difficult. The rug’s pulled from under your feet. But if I’d done that I wouldn’t have gone back to acting and I’ve enjoyed acting so much since then.”

Still, a year to the day after winning an Oscar, he told Kirsty Young on her Radio 4 show Young Again in 2024, he was shooting a local dog food commercial.

“We had to shoot it within the range of the M25, the ring road that goes around London, but the product was from Cornwall,” Capaldi recalls when I bring it up. “I had to find a farm and a field and a dog because we didn't have enough money to go any further than that

“And the client, who was from Cornwall, said the soil was the wrong colour. ‘This is brown, the soil in Cornwall is red.’ What am I supposed to do with that information? So I thought I don’t want to spend my life doing this, apologising for the earth.”

What followed were what we might call his Midsomer Murder years; guest parts in TV series and small parts in films. 

“I think I was a bit disappointed,” he says of that time. “You start to go, ‘Oh well, I’m not going to do those great parts or whatever. I’m just going to be a bellringer in Midsomer Murders.’ And there is a delight in that, a grace and a dignity in that. And I love that in actors. They really get knocked about. They’re up and down. They’ve got mortgages to pay and look after their kids. I can see it in their eyes.”

Of course at that point he was also sharing a house with another actor. 

“That was where Elaine’s production career started because there was a period there where I really wasn’t earning anything. She made some enquiries with some friends who were working in production and she got a job reading scripts and doing reports for the BBC. And they were so impressed by her they said, ‘There’s a job going.’ A script assistant or something in the drama department. ‘Would you come in and try and go for it?’ “That’s how she eventually ended up becoming a producer.

“She’s my boss just now,” Capaldi says, referring to Criminal Record. How is that?

“She’s great. The show that we’re doing now I really enjoy doing. It’s very demanding,very modern, and the subjects that it deals with are hard. 

“And that all comes from her. Crime wasn’t a particular interest for her, but she’s extremely well read. People would come into the house and go, ‘Oh Peter, all these books, you must be very well read.’ I have to go, ‘They’re Elaine’s books. They’re not mine. My books are the Doctor Who annuals over there.’”

Have you written a song for her yet, Peter?

“Many songs. Many, many songs on the album.”

It was being cast as Malcolm Tucker in Armando Iannucci’s scabrous political sitcom The Thick of It that heralded the second act of Capaldi’s career. Those fey, gangly, awkward young men he played in his twenties were now pushed aside as he became the fire-breathing spin doctor with a caustic line in sweary putdowns.

“That’s just what life does to you. I couldn’t have played that part until the time I played it,” he suggests. He needed to have experienced the “various kickings” life had in store for him, he says, to be able to play Tucker

“I knew by the time I came to play that part that things could go wrong. I was tougher, I was a different person. That helped ignite Malcolm.”

It is now 13 years since he said goodbye to Tucker, eight years (and two Doctors) since he handed the keys of the Tardis to Jodie Whittaker. Capaldi has now moved into the veteran-stroke-legend part of his career. Or, as he would have it, his don’t-give-a-stuff years.

That’s what’s great about being in your sixties, he says, you don’t care anymore.

“Physically, you can’t escape the fact that things can get a little bit tougher. But, as yet, that hasn’t really impacted me. I get a bit knackered, more knackered than I used to.”

He pivots to the personal. “I love having grandkids. I love … I wouldn’t call it wisdom …There’s a kind of understanding, a perspective, about what’s important and what’s not important which you don’t have when you’re younger and I welcome that very much. You don’t waste your time. You’ve only got X amount.”

He smiles again. “It’s funny, my wife …” he begins, “I’ve never been obsessed with death or the ending of life. I think she’s been obsessed with it since she was a kid.

“So, it’s only recently I’ve begun to realise, ‘Oh, right, so this doesn’t go on and on and on. There’s a point where this ends.’ And if you’re lucky it ends neatly.

“So I am conscious of that, but it just makes me want to enjoy life more, be a part of life. 

“I’m very, very lucky because the shows that I’ve been involved in - obviously Doctor Who, but also The Thick of It -  have a large appeal to young people. So I have a lot of young people talk to me. And also with the music, I’ve got a band who are all so much younger than me and it's great to be part of all that, to be in that world.

“And it's very stimulating rather than just locking the doors and saying, ‘I'm going to be old now.’

“Is it a struggle? I don't know. It’s a struggle sometimes because it's physically a bit tougher. But I don't find that I struggle psychologically. Other than the ticking clock.”

Towards the end of last year Capaldi returned to playing music live with a gig in Stereo in Glasgow. He’s not sure if he’ll do many more.

“I’m not trying to have another career, so I don’t really want to have a big tour. I don’t want a pile of people I have to answer to. So, we’re going to do Belladrum Festival in August and that’s great. The big band’s are on the big stage and we’re on a little stage and that’s perfect. 

"And hopefully we’ll do a couple of gigs before that as well.”

Maybe you could see the current chapter in Peter Capaldi’s life as a sort of homecoming. He’s reconnecting with that young musician he once was. And he is also reconnecting with his own origin story in Glasgow.

“I’m in Glasgow much more now than I have been for years. My daughter, who was born and raised in north London, has moved to Glasgow with my grandchildren. Because although she was a north London girl her granny was in Glasgow and she’d come to Glasgow to see her granny who’s no longer with us. So she’s very familiar with the place. She loves Glasgow, she loves the scale of it, the kids love it, so we’re spending a lot more time there.”

There’s a sense of circularity in that, he admits, and a reminder of the city that made him who he is.

“I love Glasgow. The thing is you carry it with you anyway. Glasgow is part of me and I’m happy about that.”

Peter Capaldi talks a lot and, it turns out, he does know a thing or two. Whatever he might sing.

Sweet Illusions comes out on the Last Night From Glasgow label on Friday. 

Credits:

With thanks to the Lord Palmerston Pub, Dartmouth Road, London.

Blue shirt and both suits by Edward Sexton, plum shirt by Paul Smith. 

Paul Stuart's Assistant: Elvis Elliott

[vintagegeekculture]

The 1970s progressive pop band Klaatu was known not just for their futuristic iconography, with songs like "Calling Occupant of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day)" but for a very, very strange rumor in the mid-70s, that Klaatu were secretly the Beatles (or at least some of the Beatles), who reunited in disguise.

Why did people think this? Well Klaatu's name is a Day the Earth Stood Still reference, a movie the Beatles themselves referenced in songs like "Goodnight Vienna." It was also on EMI, which was the Beatles' label. The sun-symbol on their albums is reminiscent of Abby Road.

And most surprisingly of all, there were, suspiciously, no existing photographs of Klaatu at all, so nobody knew what they looked like. In reality, the reason there were no photographs was actually because Klaatu were just a random bunch of guys from Toronto, and there was no reason to include their images when they wanted the music to speak for itself.

The absence of photographs of the band isn't the entire reason people thought Klaatu were secretly the Beatles, though. Klaatu also sounded like many think the Beatles would, if they had continued making music, with a sort of surreal Electric Light Orchestra acid pop vibe, synth mixed with instruments like harpsichord. If you close your eyes and listen to "Sub Rosa Highway," the vocals are shockingly similar to Paul McCartney. On several occasions during the 1970s, John Lennon was asked what the Beatles would sound like if they stayed together, and the answer was something very much like the Electric Light Orchestra...and Klaatu sounds more like ELO than any other band.

When Klaatu got a sales bump because of the rumors they were the Beatles, their solution was extremely savvy: they initially refused to deny it. Ultimately, though, the band believes the rumors did them "more harm than good," as how could they live up to those expectations of being the Beatles?

[morganeactually]

Pet Shop Boys' Impact on Queer Culture

Pet Shop Boys, the synth pop pioneer duo consisting of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, have long been acclaimed for their contributions to queer culture through their music. They are considered icons within the queer community since their songs often contain subtle and clear references to LGBTQ+ themes.

As a big fan of Pet Shop Boys (indeed, my pseudonym is an allusion to one of my favorite albums of them named Actually), I would like to introduce you to them by tackling this fundamental aspect of their musical identity.

Let's start with "It's a sin" and "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show", two songs that address queerness and criticize the role of religion in perpetuating homophobia.

"It's a sin" is a critique of Neil Tennant's Catholic education. It tells a real-life story based on his personal experience of queerness in a Catholic family. So, the question of authenticity is beyond doubt. The song uses religious imagery, denouncing how the church's teachings made him feel guilty and ashamed of his desires. The lyrics mirror his internal conflict between faith and sexuality : respecting his religious beliefs means betraying one's true self. They also suggest that anything pleasurable, including queerness, is labelled as sinful. The stuttering effect in the chorus in "It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a sin" amplifies through the repetitive, almost hesitant delivery, the inner struggles faced by the victims of religious condemnation for their identity. This stylistic choice reinforces the impression of a speaker being trapped in a loop of guilt and confession imposed by societal norms. In the music video directed by Derek Jarman, the characters engaging in rebellious acts against religious constraints such as tearing pages of the Bible and smashing religious statues illustrate Neil Tennant's response to stay true to himself, no matter what the church's teachings say.

"Father, forgive me I tried not to do it Turned over a new leaf Then tore right through it Whatever You taught me I didn't believe it Father, You fought me 'Cause I didn't care And I still don't understand"

The bridge highlights the pressure to resist actions deemed sinful by religious beliefs. It epitomizes, through the apostrophe to God and the metaphor of “a new leaf”, the cycle of sin and repentance Neil Tennant and many queer people are subjected to. By asking God for forgiveness, Pet Shop Boys deliver a poignant commentary on how religious teachings can induce shame and remorse, even when all they do is trying to accept the parts of their true identity.

"The Sodom and Gomorrah Show" takes a more satirical approach to critique how society often demonize and sensationalize queer lives turning them into spectacles. Indeed, the introduction describes a fictional show whose promise of "Sun, sex, sin, divine intervention", "Death and destruction" is repeated throughout the song. Presenting the story as a show insists on the absurdity of such moral condemnation. The theatrical atmosphere is used to mock how religious institutions portray queerness. The title itself refers to the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah which are often mentioned in religious texts to condemn homosexuality. Hence, Pet Shop Boys defie traditional interpretations and utilize them to oppose homophobic attitudes. The lyrics underscore the importance of embracing one's true self, even if it goes against religious and societal norms, to live a fulfilling life. The message they convey is to embrace and celebrate queer identity.

Both songs challenge the negative perceptions and moral judgments on queer individuals and encourage defiance against oppressive religious narrative.

Moreover, Pet Shop Boys incorporate disco elements into their music like high-energy disco sounds, lush orchestration, celebratory lyrics, pulsing beat, and danceable, upbeat feel. Their songs "New York City Boy", "Domino Dancing" and "Always on My Mind/In My House" are perfect examples of that. The synth pop duo pays homage to disco which was historically associated with the LGBTQ+ community and alligns with its values : freedom, self-expression and rebellion against societal norms. Their use of disco music highlights their identity as artists who proudly advocate LGBTQ+ rights while making timeless pop music.

Pet Shop Boys' collaborations with queer artists show their commitment to support and celebrate them. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe teamed up with Dusty Springfield for the hit "What Have I Done to Deserve This?", produced Boy George's song "Crying Game" and have songs featuring Elton John ("Alone Again, Naturally", "Believe / Song for Guy" and "In Private"). In 1996, they also remixed David Bowie's track "Hallo Spaceboy" adding their own disco flair and additional lyrics. The result pleased Bowie a lot, so that he invited them to perform live with him at the BRIT Awards. In their lattest album Nonetheless, "Dancing Star" is even inspired by the queer ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev.

[granvarones]

Wham!’s "Last Christmas" arrived In December 1984 as a shimmering holiday treat, blending George Michael's lush vocals with a heartbreak-laden melody against an irresistibly festive synth-pop backdrop. 40 years later, it remains a snapshot of a transformative moment in music, culture, and queerness and one of pop music’s enduring Christmas songs.

George Michael, one of the MTV era’s first and most successful artists, captivated the world with his voice and soft, gentle aesthetic as one-half of the monstrously successful 80s bubblegum-pop duo Wham!. Composed of George and Andrew Ridgeley, the duo radiated a vibrant, youthful energy that helped define the glossy pop sound that dominated the decade.

Wham! exploded onto U.S. radio in 1984 with their 60s doo-wop-inspired hit “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 just as their holiday classic “Last Christmas” was released in the UK on December 3, 1984. Written and produced by George, "Last Christmas" spent five weeks at No. 2 on the UK chart, unable to surpass the charity juggernaut "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid.

In the U.S., the song initially garnered only minor spins at pop radio. Decades before Billboard allowed Christmas songs to chart on the Hot 100, "Last Christmas" remained absent until January 2017. However, the song gained in popularity every holiday season and In December 2024, "Last Christmas" reached a peak of #3 on the Hot 100.

Wham!’s meteoric rise occurred when queerness was beginning to emerge in mainstream pop. Michael, whose songwriting and performance dominated the duo, had to straddle dualities. He was marketed as the breakout star/sex symbol just as music was becoming more visual, yet his essence carried subtextual hints of queerness that resonated with LGBTQ audiences long before he publicly came out.

When "Last Christmas" debuted, much of the world was grappling with the devastating impact of the AIDS crisis. For the LGBTQ community, 1984 was a year marked by fear, mourning, and stigma and the re-election of President Reagan. Pop culture, including music, became a site of both escapism and activism.

Though "Last Christmas" doesn't explicitly reference the crisis, its themes of vulnerability and loss resonate differently when viewed through the lens of that era. Michael himself would later become a fierce advocate for AIDS awareness, treatment and LGBTQ rights.

George Michael died on December 25, 2016, at 53. His death, poignantly occurring on Christmas Day, brought new layers of meaning to "Last Christmas." For many, the song now serves as a bittersweet reminder of an artist whose work shaped pop music and soundtrack holiday celebrations around the world.

in 2023, “Last Christmas” finally achieved the once illusive accolade of the UK Christmas #1. It would repeat the feat in 2024 becoming the first song to do so.

Four decades after its release, "Last Christmas" is a testament of whimsical magic that was Wham! and the genius of George Michael. It is now more than a holiday classic—in part to remaining member Andrew Ridgeley who has been committed to both the duo’s and George’s legacy. “Last Christmas” is a fabric of queer resilience, pop revolution, and a melancholy anthem for every December.

[audehtz]

Songs we sing happily but are secretly heartbreaking

Music has a unique power to evoke emotions, but sometimes there is a huge gap between a song’s melody and the actual lyrics. These are the songs that we often find ourselves singing along to, tapping our feet, or smiling at, without realizing that the lyrics tell a much darker or more sorrowful story.

Why do some of the saddest lyrics get hidden beneath upbeat melodies, and what does that reveal about the way we process music?

“Another day in Paradise” by Phil Collins

On the surface, “Another Day in Paradise” feels like a calm, reflective song, with its soft piano and smooth vocals. But when you dig into the lyrics, it’s clear Collins is addressing something much darker: homelessness and the indifference of a society often shows towards those in need. The song describes a homeless woman asking for help, while a man (and by extension, society) walks by, ignoring her call for help. The song criticizes how society can be indifferent to the struggles of the less fortunate, going about their “paradise” (comfortable lives) while ignoring the suffering happening around them. But since the music itself is calm and soothing, listeners may not immediately realize the weight of the lyrics.

Another example could be “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat. On the surface, the song’s synth-pop beat and catchy rhythm make it easy to dance along to but “Smalltown Boy” tells the story of a young man who is forced to leave his hometown because of the homophobia and bullying he faces. The song captures the feelings of loneliness and fear experienced by many LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly during the 1980s, a time when discrimination and intolerance were widespread. Lines like “Run away, turn away, run away” highlight the young man’s desperate need to escape.

But why do we miss the sadness in these songs?

The mix of upbeat music and sad lyrics can create a unique listening experience. Often, the rhythm, melody, and instrumentation of a song set the mood and listeners focus on those elements more than the lyrics themselves. In some cases, the emotional weight of the lyrics only hits after we listened to it repeatedly. For many artists, this contrast is intentional, they use upbeat melodies to soften the emotional dimension of difficult topics, making their music more approachable.

These songs remind us that music has layers. We can dance along to catchy beats while unknowingly singing about heartbreak, violence, or societal issues. It actually shows the complexity of songwriting and the ways in which music can reflect the different emotions and situations people go through in life; everything from happiness, love, and joy to sadness, pain, and struggle. It refers to the ups and downs, the good and bad that everyone encounters as part of being human.

So, the next time you find yourself happily singing along to a pop hit, take a moment to listen a little closer…you might be surprised by the story it’s actually telling!

[luwukass]

OKAY TRACKLIST BREAKDOWN!!!!

so i have now had breakfast and coffee and my brain is on and FUNCTIONING lets get into this

putting a break here incase youre scrolling and dont wanna read all of this lol

so first things first i was watching tiktok and people were making a big deal about how its split up into sides similarly to midnights now i do believe that taylor posted the back cover of the vinyl and that the cd will be different but i could be wrong. even if it is split up like this on purpose on every physical copy this does mean that it is a two LP album instead of one like midnights

one vinyl (both sides) can hold up to 44 minutes of music on it so we can roughly estimate that the full album will be about an hour and a half long now if each side is 22 minutes long each track on side a, b and c should be about (if each song is in equal length) 5 and a half minutes long. side d has 5 songs on it so some of those might be short to fit in the manuscript

i have also seen people compare this back cover to the back cover of lover which is absolutely breaking my heart and im sure thats not gonna be the last lover comparison i see about this album

okay so lets dive into this track by track

SIDE A

track one: Fortnight (feat Post Malone)

okay so first of all this is obviously not a reference to fortnite the video game but i think all of those jokes are funny as hell. the fortnight shes talking about here is a reference to the measurement of time as seen down below google states that fortnight is a british term for two weeks.

according to wikipedia fortnight is derived from the old english term fēowertiene niht, meaning "fourteen nights".

now onto post malone i actually listen to some of his music from time to time. he mostly does do rap but his most recent album austin (which is coincidentally also taylors brothers name, but is also post malones real name) is listed on google as alternative rock, indie pop and synth-pop. so im unsure of what vibe post will bring to the track. i think its also surprising she placed one of the two collabs as the opening track. i think the vibe for this track will probably be either a story about what happened in a certain two week period or about what is going to happen in two weeks from the songs time standpoint (if that makes sense lol)

track two: The Tortured Poets Department

A TITLE TRACK!!!! now obviously we dont know much about the album yet so we cant really try and figure out what the title track will be about so im just gonna do a little yippee for having a title track

track three: My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys

this is a Whole fucking title good lord the only thing that really comes to mind when i think of this title is the lyric in better than revenge where she says “soon shes gonna find stealing other peoples toys on the playground wont make you many friends” which is if im not forgetting anything the only lyric as of now where she’s referred to being someones partner as someones “toy” but that lyric itself is a metaphor for relationships being playing on a playground. this will probably be a sad or angry song about how her ���boy’ goes around breaking/hurting his favorite ‘toy’ aka taylor

track four: Down Bad

okay now down bad if you dont know is a slang term to describe how badly you have fallen for someone (mostly used in a more sexual nature in my experience than romantic) so this song will probably be about how badly she is for the love interest of the song

SIDE B

track five: So Long, London

alright new track five lets go! so this is obviously seeming to be a reference to track 11 on lover, london boy. now like taylor said when she announced it this album has been a secret for two years so we dont know when these songs were written or who they are about but i feel like it is safe to say this song and most of the other will be about said london boy [i personally do not care who a song is about and it is not taylors job to tell us who a song is about and that isnt the point of her music, but i will be commenting on the joe breakup bc that seems to be a large idea of this album so far] i can see this probably being about the break up and possibly sampling some music from london boy like she did with cornelia street and youre losing me

track six: But Daddy I Love Him

okay so the first thing i thought of when i read this track title is the scene from the little mermaid where ariel is fighting with her dad over the eric statue and im gonna be honest i dont remember the plot points in order of this movie BUT i do remember when taylor dressed up as ariel for her new years party in 2019. so given what we know this will probably be a song about maybe her fighting/arguing with her dad over how much she loves the love interest of the song regardless of who he is/how he treats her

track seven: Fresh Out The Slammer

okay so im not sure what this song will be about bc i dont think taylor has ever been to jail before so it would probably be metaphorical type of “im back bitches” type of song im assuming this might be a bass heavy maybe more rock leaning song and if it is a “im back bitches” it might be about the amount of time she was single for with the ‘slammer’ being her old relationship

track eight: Florida!!! (feat Florence and the Machine)

alright so as we all know this album has been in the works at least for two years but we dont know when each song was written so take this with a grain of salt but the tampa eras tour shows were the first shows after the news of the joe breakup dropped. so this song might be about her feelings during those shows. for those that want to know these were the surprise songs for the tampa shows in order.

night one: speak now and treacherous

night two: the great war and youre on your own kid

night three: mad woman and mean

SIDE C

track nine: Guilty as Sin?

okay so my main curiosity about this track is the question mark in the title because guilty as sin isnt much of a thought provoking title to me but that fact that its a question is interesting. the current vibes im getting are that this might be a more sexy song? but i have no idea here

track ten: Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

okay so THIS is giving big taunting energy like “aww who would ever be afraid of little ol me 🥺 youre afraid of me?” which im Hoping thats what the vibes are bc that would HIT but i can also see it being completely different as well

track eleven: I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

oh my GOD this one sounds like its gonna be sad. so this is obviously a reference to the common seen online phrase “i can/could fix him” which as ive seen is normally used towards people who are attracted to hot fictional characters that usually have a lot of emotional baggage or are villains (i saw it a lot when ballad of songbirds and snakes came out about young snow) so this song will probably be about her promising that she Can fix him and really will despite ‘him’ being broken or maybe even possibly a bad partner

track twelve: loml

so i saw and rb a post earlier about how its very interesting that this is already an acronym which i completely agree with because taylor knows we are no strangers to turning her song titles into acronyms. so loml does usually mean love of my life but i think because its already an acronym it might be something different (i saw someone earlier say it might be loss of my life instead of love)

SIDE D

track thirteen: I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

this one i think will kill me personally. i think this one will probably be about her continuing to go on with life (and possibly the eras tour) post joe break up i think this one will either be a sad song or a light beat ‘picking myself up on my feet’ song

track fourteen: The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

this has so many implications but personally i think the interpretation shes gonna use for this song will be about how the said man is small emotionally and just as a person (i doubt she will talk about physical shortness in height or other areas)

track fifteen: The Alchemy

now im gonna be so real here i have no idea what this one will be about google says that alchemy is an older version of chemistry so maybe she will talk about the chemistry or alchemy she has in her relationships?

track sixteen: Clara Bow

alright Clara Bow! okay so i dont know much about old hollywood so i am NOT the person to deep dive into what this song will be about but all i do know about her is that she was The ���It” girl of the silent film era so im assuming this song will probably be like the lucky one and talk about the rise to stardom and being the Biggest Star Of The Time

track seventeen(bonus track): The Manuscript

alright so after looking at the definition of a manuscript this is the PERFECT bonus track?!!?!?! so a manuscript is normally a piece of work that is written or typed out but isnt officially published which is just genius for having it be a bonus track that probably wont be on streaming (if not for a long time) i have no idea what itll be about but i love that mastermind

that’s pretty much all of my thoughts as of currently PLEASE let me know what yall think and what theories yall have for this album i am SO excited for april 19th 💕

[mysadblacksoul]

Let's talk about Clancy, eh? (plus the livestream)

So I'm watching the livestream (the vod) and I decided to share my opinions about each songs!

without the first 4 singles

But tbh I think I'm an Overcompensate girly, that before hearing the rest of this album this is my top 1

With Backslide as a close second

Wait why should I increase my volume

Oh that's why

It was a trap

Okay Midwest Indigo, let's go I'm so ready

What an outfit Mr Joseph

Omg it's so bouncy

JIM

JENNA

I love the shouty lyrics

This MV is so goofy what the hell

Okay so it's so happy, so funky I love it!

The drums make want to do a lil dance

Hope the next one won't be sad

Yes Tyler, this song will go so hard live, I agree

And yes, put Josh on the mic!

Routines In The Night everybody

Oh so it's the rap one?

It's much less bouncy, but I can still tap my leg to it so I'm fine

You think that this is like the sister song to Ode To Sleep?

The chorous is so catchy what the hell

Yes! Give me those adlibs!

The dances, the visuals, the face card that never declines

What is he eating for Lord's sake

I can't pay attention to the songs when every time one ends those fools pop up on my screen again lol

"not every video is gonna be lore based" my ass

Wait so Routines is not lore oriented? But I see so many references :((((((

Vingette!

So it's a crowd's favourite? Aight

Oh it sound so nostalgic

More rap? okay, okay

Omg the vocals????

It's so different, like I can't predict where are we going with the beat

The bridge is so out of place but so in place???

What is going on

No but I see why they like it, for sure

God I love all the Joshes in the MVs

So Jenna's version will have another MV?

Sounds fun!

Oh it's soft version

So this is a fanmade mv for Jenna, how cute

No for real it is emotional, but in the best way possible

This version is filled with so much love, I can't even explain

The flashbacks to the young dudes? I might cry too

Yeah I se the vision. Like The Craving does feel more "right" played on the ukulele. It gives it much more emotion!

Now you just bully him lol. Tyler has two hands to hold two ukuleles, this is lore guys

Lavish whoo!

Before we start why the hell is the title of this song the only one written in different font in the lyric sheet in the CD, huh?

O damn man in black, get it I guess

The vocals are so dreamy, so different

Another leg mover

Why all of this songs are so catchy are you putting crack in it or what

It's also very chill so far

I also really like the use of the strings, it makes the song more full!

It kind of sounds like a movie soundtrack? Or is it just the MV that makes it feel this way

The silliest MV so far lmao

And seeing the amount of work that went into it makes it even better

And now Navigating!

I have to stop myself from looking for lore

I'm 3 seconds in, why it already sounds like a bop

This might be my new favourite song from this album

The electric guitar? With the synth? 11/10

The chorous is so amazing, simply

Will the bridge be sad or will he scream

Oh come through with this bass

JOSH ISN'T REAL THEORY WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE WE IN THE FOREST FIC

Where did he go irl lmao

No for real it might be my favourite now, sorry Overcompensate

The Bandito one is the real one, write that down

NO I THINK I JUST GOT IT, THE WHOLE LORE MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW

What the hell Tyler, we have such a different taste then

Snap Back let's go!

What is going on

I'm like a second in

Oh no, it's broken

Instead of Snap Back premiere we have the premiere of Next Semester (ukulele version)

I'm not mad at all

Okay, let's go for real this time

Oh it's so dreamy

So this is the MV with head shaving lmao

BACKSLIDE, I heard that everyone

The drums are really shining on that song

And I love the contrast between low tone verses and more melodic, high alibs in chorous

The bridge seems sad I fear

Or are we picking up the tempo?

Nah we are putting more adlibs now!

Even better

Oldies station better be nostalgic

And quick question before we start, what the hell did you do to Josh?

Is this ballad?

Soft, fun and with funky vocals!

The lyrics are so beautiful, god

Omg Josh lmao

What a contrast to the song lol

Oh we are switching

I don't know how to justify it, but it feels like such a twenty one pilots song

Like it just makes sense for them to make it

I really like it

Honestly At The Risk Of Feeling Dumb sounds silly from the start

So is the MV

I really like the rollercoaster of the vocals. They are kind of all over the place, but still makes a lot of sense

It's the beat drop on the "drop"

Oh rap some more sure!

Why does he want to fight in every MV

Very fun, very chill and then you have the post chorous that are hard hitting

Love the contrast

Am I crazy or did they use kalimba in the end? I might be wrong tho

That's so sad that we are already finishing

One last track

Paladin Strait whoo!

I'm afraid that this one will be the sad one

The tears producer

The heart clencher

The ukulele strikes back

Love those low vocals

It's a song to sway this time

The drums strikes back

I don't know why it kind of sounds like the end of the western movie. Like after the good ending the cowboy is walking towards the sun, you see my vision?

This song is full of hope, so amazing

God the lyrics sounds like Clancy is finaly free

I might cry

It sounds like good ending to the trilogy

So it feels like a scam

It's too good to be true

But I don't know, maybe after all the ending of this story is good for all of us

What, is the silence in the official audio or is it just the end of the livestream

NO WAIT THERE IS MORE

no

wait guys no

FPE?????

WHO THE HELL

IS IT BLURRY

WHAT THE HELL

Now I need the MV to see what the hell is going on

The End

Nah, I'm not leaving you like this

I still think that Navigating is my fav from the new songs

But I'm gonna go listen to the album some more and then decide for sure

It's a good mix of everything, very twenty one pilots style

I just wished for more rage and screaming, but we need to be calm sometimes, I get it

There isn't a song that I don't like, that's for sure

So yeah! This are my feelings, thoughts (and prayers)

Give me your favourite song in the comments!

[moonescent]

HEADCANONS: POPSTAR VERSE.

So I've been meaning to share what kind of pop star Hinata would be for awhile now and she is most definitely a dance/synthpop queenie. She's heavily influenced by the European EDM scene and many of her songs feature trance beats, deep house sounds, and/or synth-heavy songs with a lot of reverb on her voice. There are also funk influences stemming from delightful Japanese Citypop. When I think of music she'd make (meaning production mostly, but tbh some of the femme voices also), I think of tracks by Romy ( sample 1, sample 2, sample 3 ) , SG Lewis ( sample 1 feat. Tove Lo , Sample 2 w/ AlunaGeorge , Sample 3 w/ Shygirl ), and Magdalenga Bay ( sample 1 , sample 2, sample 3 ). Then the classic Plastic Love by Maria Takeuchi and Sweet Love by Junko Ohashi.

P.S.: Those are all you/tube links sorry for the ads

She sings in Japanese and English, though later in her career has focused more on using English because tbh it reaches a wider audience. She's heavy on choreography at her live shows because she wants to feel like she's dancing with her audience. Her concerts also double as a lightshow and feature a lot of lasers and massive glittery screens meant to look like the night sky. I would say 50% of her songs are about love and mostly uses they/them pronouns when referring to the lover in her song. 25% are about loving yourself, 25% about allowing yourself to feel deep emotions and being vulnerable.

TRIVIA:

Her stage name is Kaguya-hime. Yes like the moon princess from the Japanese folklore

Her mascot is a pastel purple bunny that has pastel yellow star eyebrows and a blue nose shaped like a star.

Like most pop artists, she has a makeup line featuring shimmery eye shadow palettes, high lighters, and lip glosses.

Deadass has a (kind) how-to-shower guide for fans coming to her live shows. You are gonna dance and get hot, so please don't come with pre-gamed swamp ass.

[n0wav]

Pinkerton appreciation

HELLO CHATTERS!!!

Today i did what i do on almost a weekly basis, which is to listen to pinkerton. i was in a good mood listening to this very awesome album... UNTIL! i noticed something that somewhat upset me not really but its really interesting.

you see back in the 90s pinkerton wasn't loved as much as blue album because it's messy dark and emo and not silly fun power pop like blue. it wasn't till many years later that pinkerton the the love and appreciation it deserved. Although it isn't nearly as popular as blue, green, or even make believe (really only because of Beverly hills), it is still very loved by weezer fans now.

Today while looking through the deluxe version i realized that "I just through out the love of my dreams" is more popular than any of the songs on the normal non deluxe album. Now don't get me wrong its a really good song (although this cover of the song is kinda better imo :3) and i do really enjoy it, i do feel like its a repeat in history.

now if you don't know what i mean by this repeat in history, i will shift the attention for a short moment to another band, PAVEMENT!!!

one side note i think is funny is that back when weezer started, people called them cheesy pavement rip-offs... just something i remembered!

pavement is an awesome band and they will get another post out of me at some point of me writing on this tumblr blog, but in the mean time... Pavement has always been relatively popular in indie rock circles, but nothing exceeds the popularity they got when harness your hopes blew up like crazy on tiktok, making it their most popular song on streaming services by a very large margin. AND Just like i just threw out the love of my dreams, harness your hopes is also a B-side that randomly got popular from social media.

Don't get me wrong I'm not upset at all, to be honest i don't care that much like it really isn't that deep, i just think its interesting how common this is, where a song from an older band gets big thanks to social media, more specifically tiktok.

The only thing i do wish is that people listened to more of the bands music rather than just listen to the one song they know, but then again i just realized not everyone is as obsessed with music as i am lol.

Back to pinkerton

i LOVE pinkerton, i def like it more than blue album, which isn't much of a hot take since the weezer fandom has been split on which album is better for prolly 2 decades at this point. For me the album is just more up with the kinda music i listen to, while being very different at the same time. the way the album starts with the synth, and you automatically hear the raw and underproduced sound this album has.

aside from the sound, i just personally kinda relate to some of the songs, maybe not the weird parts... but def many of the bit more normal ones.

With tired of sex, I have definitely grown tired of having relationships with people where there's no actual relationship or connection at all. for a long time i really didn't know who i am (weezer reference).

getchoo is hard for me to analyze or related it to anything so i will skip that one (good song tho)

no other one hit pretty hard home for me. i've been in pretty shitty relationships with people who treat me like shit, hence the shittiness, and for some reason i didn't leave because i didn't think i could do any better and that nobody knows me like her, that we're all we got and we don't wanna be alone (weezer reference).

why bother? is me when I'm scared to make relationships and friendships with basically anyone because of my fear that whoever i talk to will eventually not like me and abandon me, to where in my head i will think "why bother? its gonna hurt me. it's gonna kill when they desert me. It's already happened to me twice before. it wont happen to me anymore." (weezer reference)

i only semi relate to across the sea because i've e-dated as a young child on discord.... next song (still a good song)

the good life is me too because i used to be really cool and leave my house a lot and play shows and have lots of friends and just do things that aren't me sitting at home doing nothing being a pig and a dog (weezer reference). it is def time i got back to the good life (weezer reference) But to be fair i don't really want to go back to that time i just wanna be a normal person again.

i don't really relate to el scorcho much but its still an awesome song.

pink triangle is me because I've dated girls who turned out to be a lesbian but trust me i didn't turn them, they were already lesbian before we started dating i don't know why they started dating me maybe because I'm not very masculine so they thought it would be fine. (note that i didn't know they were lesbian till after we would break up)

i put falling for you in a mixtape i made my ex. whenever i would hear that song i would think of her because its how i felt about her. i was afraid of falling for her, but in the end i just wanted to settle down with her (weezer reference)

I don't relate to butterfly either but it is a really really good song

as you can see i really like pinkerton and relate to it very much. it is prolly one of my favorite albums of all time no doubt

this is the end of the post

we love pinkerton

pinkerton is our everything

here's a song rec from the album pinkerton by weezer

thanks for reading my weezer rant! idk what i will post about next but we will see!

Goodbye!!!! :3

[vitalix]

Lady Gaga - Mayhem album review

hey little monsters. overall review, individual song rants from as I listened to them, and more below the cut.

I have always loved Gaga - a queer pop icon that’s never failed to make this gay dance… this album isn’t hitting like her older music still always does, even the most popular singles of the album.

I am confused why the album is called Mayhem when it’s all basic pop love songs (read that she wrote these with her partner? is this true?) and ballads.

> Disease - suffers from the Tiktok phenomenon of ‘only 15-30 seconds of the song are good’ especially. A song I would have changed radio stations to avoid listening to if I still listened to music on the radio like I used to when she hit her fame. It’s repetitive and I’m not even sure what the theme is.

> Abracadabra - the first ten seconds hit like crazy but her vocals came in and the song was disappointing since then. I don’t hear any passion in her voice leading up to the chorus especially, but it’s an issue for the whole song (whole album maybe ????) I like the nonsense lyricism she’s bringing back with the chorus here though, reminds me of older Gaga, which is sorely needed in these singles since they’re so bland and basic. A much better single than the tiktok one, Disease, though. The bass … almost hits.

> Garden of Eden - noticing a boring naming trend by now, which I think includes the album title, as others have mentioned in reviews. Mayhem who? Biblical references, where? I wanted clever ones at least, just mentioning an apple with the obtuse adjective ‘poison’ doesn’t make sense to me to warrant the song name.

This one is the worst of the Basic Pop ‘anthems’ here, this doesn’t feel like Lady Gaga at all. more like a pop artist who wants to be here that Id never listen to. ‘girlfriend for the weekend, boyfriend for the night’ that’s so basic.

> Perfect Celebrity - I was tired of this album by this point. It doesn’t even feel like this song was spawned by her mind, just thrown at her to sing, with the egotistic tone and simplistic lyrics.. tired.

> Vanish Into You - okay I will admit I am really picky with romantic pop songs. I hate them easily, there’s too many and not enough variety. This one disappears into the vast ocean of boring love pop songs for me, at least pertaining again to simple lyrics & sound. I like how Gaga’s voice sounds in this song, though, her vocals seem less filtered/edited/turned and I did enjoy the little bit of belting.

> Killah (ft Gesaffelstein) oh my god I hate this one. The ‘wind down’ ending was incredibly unsatisfied despite the intention which I was, I think, to let the funky instrumentals of this song stand out, but they don’t. Boring production, the two artists’ voices are blending together in their overtuning/overediting, and (again) what’s the theme what’s the concept I’m confused.

> Zombieboy - this song breaks the boring basic naming convention I got sick of, which an actually unique idea, if only somewhat. Katy Perry’s ET but that one Disney Channel movie with the insanely socially awkward teen zombie. *

* Z-O-M-B-I-E-S is the title of the Disney Channel highschool zombies movie. ‘at seabrook high, it’s zoms vs poms’ amazing.

> LoveDrug - hasn’t this song been made before like 1000 times. they removed a space in the title between the words to make it different though. Her classy huskiness is coming out in the vocals for this one but Hardly.. and it’s drowned out by the try-hard producer’s pop synths.

> How Bad Do U Want Me - did this song really need three composers? Unsure. This one is especially Taylor Swift-coded; vague love song about one singular negative or complicated element of a relationship that’s still somehow romanticizing a bare-minimum relationship with a cis-het white middle class man,

> Don’t Call Tonight - Telephone ? I love that song but it may be helpful to note that song was a recession-pop banger from multiple pop icons of the time period that spoke on partying the stress away, women empowerment, and leaving your damn phone at home. Not just a Lady Gaga song about phone calls.

also.. this album has all the pop cliches, including ones I thought we left behind in the 00’s.. literally all of them. I was going to comment on how a breakup song isn’t much of a deviation from all the love songs but then realized that 70% of the lyrics for Don’t Call Tonight are exactly that. ‘don’t call tonight, don’t call tonight’ ingenious.

> Shadow Of A Man - couldn’t finish this one.

‘when I get this feeling, I can’t get enough’ If I didn’t tell you which song that lyric came from I’m sure you’d have had no clue. The faux-feminism messages of this one really remind me of the whole Woman’s World fiasco with Katy Perry.

When we need Recession Pop the most, our icons are failing us.

> The Beast - fascinating how she went for zombies and werewolves in this. Directly pulling on classic literature monster figures to try and force the edgy Dark Gaga vibes they were really pushing for before this release. Where there has been emotion in her voice, as this song demonstrates well, it comes off as forced in conjunction with the minimal lyrics and production…

> Blade Of Grass - I like the name of this song but I am disappointed that it’s going for even more of that Ballad vibe the previous song already flopped. The concept is a lot more unique here, but it still unravels in a way that doesn’t leave an impact. I don’t want to apply this to my own life, cry a little, get emotionally attached. Aren’t Ballads for that? leads me to believe that she only feels confident writing stuff like A Star is Born, with that Shallow song that’s … exactly that. I detested that era, Lady Gaga, sorry.

> Die With A Smile - no offense to Bruno Mars with my dislike of this song. his performance here will make my Bruno Mars-enjoying Mom very happy, but WHAT was Gaga doing on this track? What is she doing working with him, and why can’t neither of them sell the energy here. They thought they remade As The World Caves In as if that song had any room to improve.

> almost of an hour of my life wasted. I barely even liked one of these songs, and I don’t imagine I will be re-listening to this album like . ever again.

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #73 (The Finale!): 2022

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: Glass Animals, Harry Styles, The Kid Laroi, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Jack Harlow, Lotto, Justin Bieber, Kodak Black, Elton John and Dua Lipa. End description]

More information about this blog here

And now we're at the final poll. Much like the previous years, many of the songs featured here are from previous years. This is mostly due to how Billboard calculates their hits and there are other methods of calculating the charts. But since this blog focuses in Billboard, that's the metric we're going with.

It's hard to know for certain which direction pop music is headed at this moment since we're still in it. Depending on how things go, it seems like TikTok is going to continue to be a taste maker when it comes to popular music. This could also account for why pop songs are getting shorter. The "verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus" format is not set in stone. In fact if you followed this blog since the beginning, you've seen the beginning and rise of this pop song format in the late 1950's.

Also from what I can see, it looks like pop music is taking a more meta direction, with overt influences and references to recent pop music history. This can be seen in both stylistic choices, such as the synth-pop influences in Harry Styles' As It Was, to the way samples are used. Jack Harlow's First Class samples previous poll entry, Fergie's Glamorous, and Latto's Big Energy samples Mariah Carey's Fantasy -- which samples The Tom Tom Club's Genius of Love.

The charts are admittedly in an awkward place right now. I'm looking at the Hot 100 right now and I'm having trouble putting together a narrative (other than "wow, people forgave Morgan Wallen fast lol"). Between the lockdown, shifting tastes and listening habits of audiences, economic factors, and the splintering of the streaming industry, "pop music" doesn't mean the same thing it did fifty years ago. Or even twenty years ago. But between influences from the changing political climates, the rise and fall of different genres, developments in music technology, and the question over the cost of music, the one consistent thing about pop music is that it isn't consistent.

Thank you to everyone who took part in these polls. I'll post a follow-up post shortly wrapping things up and discussing the future of this blog.

[singlesablog]

A New Cool

“West End Girls" (1985) Pet Shop Boys Parlophone Records (Written by Tennant/Lowe) Highest U.S. Billboard Chart Position – No. 1 

There are two lines of thinking concerning the debut pop single for the seminal electronic pop band Pet Shop Boys; one, that the song is atypical of all of the hits they would ultimately create (and are still creating over 30 years later), and the other is that this is their signature song.  I am of two minds, that it is at once very them, and conversely not them at all; in some ways their first hit was a makeover of the band, whether by design, or not.  It is undeniable that in 1986 it was enormously successful, an evocative ear worm, and that the single introduced the strangely beautiful tenor voice of singer Neil Tennant, and ushered in one of the greatest pop duos ever. 

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in a hi-if shop in London on Kings Road in Chelsea in 1981, and discovering a mutual love of electronic music, formed a band.  Tennant was at that time an assistant editor at Smash Hits magazine, and Chris a college student studying architecture.  Immediately, they began writing songs together in Neil’s bedsitter apartment (which I believe translates as a studio in the US).  They signed with American producer Bobby O (who oversaw rather crude Miami-tinged 80s dance music) in 1984/85; together with him they produced for the first time many of the songs that would appear on their debut Please, and the follow-up LP, Actually. “West End Girls” was released in 1985 as a 12” disco version that was much cruder and sparer; it was a minor hit in Europe and a “Screamer of the Week” on the influential 80s radio station WLIR in Long Island, New York (who's djs had a nose for new wave talent).  Nevertheless, it sank, and they spent the next year extricating themselves from Bobby O and signing with EMI, relinquishing to him some of the future royalties on many of the soon-to-be famous songs they had already written, including “West End Girls”, “Opportunities”, and “It’s A Sin” (all of which were re-recorded and eventually went top ten in the United States).  It would seem that the Imperial phase for any great band must always begin with a lawsuit.

“West End Girls” was re-released by the band in late 1985 in a much different version produced by Stephen Hague, and it immediately conquered the world, selling 1.5 million copies.  Where the Bobby O version squawked and squealed and sounded dated even then, this new track slithered on to the airwaves with a newer, more insinuating quality.  Rather than a club banger, this was now a highly suggestive track, with droning, floating synths, every effect modulated downward into an expression of cool detachment.  It was an important single not only in introducing this idea of bored aloofness from the duo, but also by permanently stamping them with the image.  No matter how hard they would try in the future to produce bombast (say, on “It’s a Sin”, a truly bezerk pop hit) they would be forever labeled as sardonic, stand-offish, bored, or sarcastic.  These are words that really translated into one idea for me: that they were actually gay, and smart, and therefore happy to play along with any narrative the public chose for them as long as people continued to buy their records.  The song’s lyrics, written by former history major Tennant, apparently reference Eliot’s “The Waste Land”, which sounds hilariously high-toned, but for the then 19 year old that first experienced it, it was clearly a coded story of gay boys clubbing on the wrong side of town, because the gay bar is inevitably on the wrong side of town, and that perhaps West End Girls is a clever wink at describing gay men crossing over. On top of all of these suggestions was a very fey British man successfully talk-rapping lyrics (a rap I can to this day successfully recite), telling a story with no obvious conclusion, because, well, you know.  It is a coded song about a coded world.  And while the Pets didn’t invent the electronic pop song, like couturiers they certainly tailored it to the measure of some very strict gay signifiers, and when I fell in love with the hit (and the band) I was already acquainted with those ideas and understood them instantly.  Of course, I did not experience the duo as detached; instead, they were stylistically and artistically brilliant, and their songs were clever, propulsive, and unique. 

Please as an album can be examined as a cohesive slice of queer nightlife in the 1980s: escaping to the city (“Two Divided by Zero”, “Suburbia”), sneering at society (“Opportunities”), fighting oppression (“Violence”, “I Want a Lover”), and, finally, reconciling to life and love, whatever that might mean (“Later Tonight”, “Love Comes Quickly”, “Why Don’t We Live Together?”).   I am sure “West End Girls” does reference “The Waste Land”, but somehow, just perhaps, Neil, the master of collage, is actually speaking more allusively to the mating habits of the male homosexual circa 1985.  Chris Lowe, for his part, made absolute certain that the songs would be played were they belonged, which was in the club, his complete obsession in every way; the electronic sounds he produced are essential to the texture of what Pet Shop Boys ended up doing better than anyone else, which was to document gay lives by dropping clues and signals to fantastic disco music while leaving out the specifics. And this is possibly why the original Bobby O version was so awfully wrong, and not really them: the duo must have discovered that they didn’t need to bang bang bang, that they could be better than that.  In fact, they actually didn’t need Bobby O at all; they could conjure up these subtle and delicious scenes all by themselves.

Sadly, Bobby O still got the money.  Kind of just like a Pet Shop Boys song, isn’t it?  

A little cynical, but true.

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*The title of Please, which I always found entertaining, I imagined was a reference to gay men chastising one another with "Oh, Please", or "Girl, Please." This has never been substantiated. Instead, Neil was quoted as saying it was a little joke, so when a customer asked for it, they would be forced to say I would like Pet Shop Boys, Please. Hmmm. Regardless, this would still qualify as a double entendre.

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Dropping a hairpin (verb, gay, archaic slang term): to reveal one's sexual preferences by dropping broad hints; thus keep your hairpins up, and maintaining a 'normal' mask.

Who, who wants a cocktail?  (“Opportunities (Reprise)”)

Someone spread a rumor.  Let’s run away. (“Two Divided By Zero”)

In every city, in every nation, from Lake Geneva to the Finland Station.  (“West End Girls”)

You may not always love me I may not care But intuition tells me, baby There's something we could share If we dare, why don't we?    (“Why Don’t We Live Together?”)

And you wait 'til later, ‘til later tonight.  'Cause tonight always comes.   (“Later Tonight”)

Neil Comes Out

In the early 1990s, Jimmy Somerville, formerly of the very out, gay 80s band Bronski Beat, accused Neil and Chris of Pets Shop Boys of exploiting gay culture for career purposes, and of not putting anything back.

Neil came out officially in 1994, and commenting in print on the matter, said that he resented anyone telling anyone how out they should be, or just what constituted a “contribution” to gay culture: 

“I do think that we have contributed, through our music and also through our videos and the general way we’ve presented things, rather a lot to what you might call ‘gay culture’. I could spend several pages discussing the notion of ‘gay culture’, but for the sake of argument, I would just say that we have contributed a lot. And the simple reason for this is that I have written songs from my own point of view…”

He pauses again. “What I’m actually saying is, I am gay, and I have written songs from that point of view. So, I mean, I’m being surprisingly honest with you here, but those are the facts of the matter.”

Having finally got all that off his chest, Neil Tennant pours himself a glass of mineral water and takes his sweatshirt off. He is looking distinctly pink around the gills. Maybe it’s the effect of suddenly admitting that for all these years he has been singing nothing but the truth. Or maybe it’s just the unbearable heat in here. “Well,” he says, in a voice which carries a distinct [air of]‘moving swiftly on’, “what’s your next question?”

Source: Neil Tennant in Attitude Magazine, 1994

[luckystar2025]

(Konata is hunched over her phone, looking absolutely deranged)

Konata: "I know I’ve heard this song before."

Tsukasa: "Oh! What song?"

Konata: "A track from the ‘80s that everyone remembers but nobody can find. No artist, no title, just a fragment of a recording someone found on an old cassette. It’s all over the lostwave forums! I heard it once, late at night, on some obscure internet radio station. But now it’s gone."

Miyuki: "Oh, how fascinating! You’re referring to lost media cases where songs are recorded, aired, and then fade into obscurity due to lack of documentation."

Konata: "Yeah, it's this super cheesy ‘80s pop song, all synths and reverb, but with a weirdly haunting chorus—ugh! I swear I heard it!"

Kagami: "So you’re obsessing over some random song from decades ago that nobody cares about?"

Konata: "Nobody cares?! Kagamin, there are forums dedicated to this. Entire communities hunting for songs like this. There are people who have spent YEARS trying to find one song they half-remember from a childhood radio station."

Tsukasa: "That’s kinda sad…"

Konata: "It’s beautiful. We’re all bound by this shared nostalgia for something we might never hear again. Like, what if it was some failed demo by a forgotten band? A promo jingle that never got released? What if the master tape was just thrown away one day? And now, the only proof it ever existed is our fading memories."

Miyuki: "That is quite tragic. Many early recordings were lost due to poor archiving. Some record labels even reused tape reels, unknowingly erasing entire tracks from history."

Konata: "See?! It’s a race against time! One day, the last person who remembers this song will forget it, and then it’s gone forever."

Kagami: "Or, maybe… you made it up?"

Miyuki: "You could try recreating it based on your memory. Perhaps it would jog something loose?"

Konata: "No way. If I do that, it becomes the song. And then in ten years, some other poor soul will be searching for it, and I’ll be the ghost in the machine."

Tsukasa: "Whoa."

Kagami: "Stop encouraging her."

Konata: "I have no choice. I must keep searching. If you hear me humming in my sleep, don’t wake me up."

[cricket124]

MAYHEM Spoilers !!

Nobody is doing it like her. The album has electro-grunge and dark pop songs, but surprisingly most of the songs sound like David Bowie, Michael Jackson, or Prince songs. Many of the songs have horror themes, such as The Beast and Zombieboy. Some pop albums today reference the 80s, but mostly it's only new wave or synth pop styles. Gaga does go into some of those on this album, but some of the songs also go into alternative and funky rock. The production is INSANE.

I won't go too deep into the album, but the highlights for me (other than Disease, Die With A Smile, and Abracadabra) are Perfect Celebrity, The Beast, Garden of Eden, Zombieboy, and Killah.