Three Sirens (Lorde, Sia, and Tove Lo) and the culture of excess
Pop music of the teens provide disheartening moments of clarity.
Bouncing around various covers of Black Hole Sun I came across a wonderful channel on YouTube called “Postmodern Jukebox” that does jazzy other otherwise out of genre covers of popular songs showcasing talented singers. All the videos are done in one take and have some clever and creative choreography. The first videos to go viral came out in 2013 and featured a large clown called Puddles Pity Party or top three American Idol singer (usually the most talented) Haley Reinhardt.
Some startling revelations came from these songs. In absence of roboticized vocals and the addition of lush arrangements provided a melodic background for an otherwise depressing set of lyrics. Take “Habits” by Tove Lo for example. A young, beautiful Swede starts off :
“I eat my dinner in the bathtub
And then I go to sex clubs
Watching freaky people
Getting it on.”
Later she sings
“I come home and get the munchies
Binge out on some twinkies
Throw up in the tub
And I go to bed”
With the chorus
“I gotta stay high all the time to forget I miss you”
It’s hard to tell exactly who the “you” is in the lead characters life. In the second verse she mentions that she “meets with daddies on the playground, that’s how she gets her kicks now/loosen up the frown”. In the video Tove kisses other beautiful young ladies and the occasional man. There is no lack of physical connection for Tove. What is missing in Toves life is a sense of purpose, a spiritual void. Is it her parents? Her children? This ennui, a malaise that cant be remedied by addiction or sex, is a contrapuntal force to Miley Cyrus’ party in the USA or the entire Britney Spears and Madonnas oeuvre. While “Habits” is a reactionary response to the end result of sexual emancipation and consumerism run rampant, it doesn’t provide any resolution out of this pit of despair she’s in.
Almost a year to the day, in 2014, Sia, the sly fox, released “Chandelier” which is a fitting sequel to “Habits”. In contrast to Tove Lo’s melancholy resignation, Sia’s character is a defiant and Sia as always keeps it simple and focused on alcoholism. The simple interpretation of the song is that it is a moment of clarity for the protagonist that realizes the hopeless cycle of addiction they are trapped in, but nevertheless persist in their addiction. The problem with songs like these is that the soaring chorus’ of Habits and Chandelier only reinforce the addictive environment they are trying to escape from.
The most popular song of 2013, Royals, projects not only a repudiation of the culture of excess reminiscent of Roman vomitoriums and orgies, but also provides an antidote. Brand names are mentioned “grey goose, Krystal, maybach” and the subtext is that these are highlighted in rap videos celebrating the ascent of black culture. The pinnacle of this ascent is the 2011 album “Watch the Throne” by Jay-Z and Kanye, including the song “Ni**as in Paris”. Kanye name checks luxury brands as much as he promotes his entourage. The reality on the ground is that very few blacks care or understand the difference between Hugo Boss and Salvatore Ferrigamo.
Royals is the reaction to this ubiquitous and celebratory brand-dropping. It is a rejection of brand as status symbol. What is dangerous to the status quo is that it is a clarion call to her in group, which by the video is white suburban teens. If black rap culture is ascendant, Lorde embraces the niche of the white poverty and importantly the perceived future poverty. In the same way that early rappers up until the Wu-Tang clan repertoire (“Grits” from RZA is a good example of this) highlights the survival of a clan in the face of poverty, Lorde relates to a possible boyfriend or perhaps her fans. On Lorde’s second single “Team” she sings:
“We live In cities you won’t see on the screen.
Not very pretty but we sure know how to run free
Living in ruins of a palace within my dreams
And you know we’re on each other’s team”
This is a stark admission that western culture and civilization is on the decline and that the recourse of those that have suffered the fallout of globalization of jobs is to support in-group cohesion. Lorde thus conveys a stirring beauty in enduring.