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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

I Get Psychoanalytical on Kate Nash's Fine Ass

There are times when even I have to pull out the waistband of my sweatpants to check and see if my testicles are still intact.

Chud. Please. Stop reading my blog. I'm begging you. If I ever post about semi-trucks exploding, strippers with fake chest lovies, and large knives... I promise, you'll be the first to know.

I like to dissect songs. Especially songs people recommend to me with lyrics that cause your ears to perk during the first listen through.

During a conversation with Caitlin, she sent me a song that she admitted to strongly identifying with at one point in her life. And when anyone sends me a song, I instantly open up a link with the lyrics and read along while I listen. I'm a lyric fiend.

The song she shared with me was Kate Nash's "Foundations". Apparently this song is "fucking old" according to the few friends I decided to show this song to (thanks, dicks). But I'm not an up-to-date music guy since my tastes have not matured beyond embarrassingly, poppy punk music of the late 1990s and early 2000s. It's new to me.

And I dug this song. And let me tell you what my favorite part about it was: Not the lyrics itself, but how Kate decided to structure the song.

Ol' Kate Nash is singing about her relationship and yep, she's in a shitty relationship because she's part of a shitty couple. She knows it's a bad relationship. The guy is a total fuck and any sane, logical person would be done with it in a heart beat.

In fact, every verse is spun to tell very specifically detailed moment which illustrates how terrible it actually is. Listening to these verses made me cringe. Not that I was in one of these situations, but Kate forces you to experience it with her.

Kate throws each verse at you like some kind of circus showgirl tossing daggers at someone on a revolving circle. And she doesn't let up. Bam! Bam! Bam!

Goddamn, Kate.

But the chorus is used as a marker placed in between each of her horror stories; a breather. She's taking a moment to step back from the blitzkrieg and think out loud. She expresses that she "can't forget" and she acknowledges that she "knows it's not right". The chorus is the yin to the verses' yang; completely vague. If you say it enough, you might... just might... be able to rationalize it.

The structure of the song is brilliant in that it's a great representation of what happens with shitty couples, right before it's over. You can name everything wrong with the relationship, but when you're asked to give reasons to stay together... you can't.

...

She's a little cutey too. Give me a chance, Kate! I swear I'll be good to you!