Sometimes I just find myself caught up in a single lyric. Its presence makes itself known in my brain as I just go about my daily activities. Many (too many) of those are the eloquent and poetic lyrics of the 1975. Their songs have so much meaning to them and I think they are suitable for literary analysis for English Classes. Here are a few of my favorites:
1. "Loving Someone"
"I'm the Greek economy of cashing intellectual cheques"
Shade level: a palm tree
I still don't really know what that line even means so if you do please let me know what that means in the comments.
2. "Love Me"
"Caught up in fashion, Karcrashian panache"
Another snide remark aimed at the Kardashian Klan, which is suiting since the song is about fame and the fakeness involved. Panache apparantly means confidence, so kardashian confidence?
3. "Loving Someone"
"We shouldn't have people afloat If it was safer on the ground, we wouldn't be on a boat"
I interpret this as a reference to the Syrian refugee crisis, which is quite political, and though the song is mostly marketed as a pro-LGBTQ song, since Matty sings "it's better if we make them want the opposite sex," we should be viewing Syrian refugees as humans and loving them.
4. "The Ballard of Me and My Brain"
"And what a shame you've lost a brain that you never had Oh mum check the car it can’t have gone far"
Hahahahha I laugh every time. If I left my brain in the car, my mom probably won't be surprised. I love the first line though, "a brain that you never had," kind of like Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.
5. "The Ballard of Me and My Brain"
"And would you sign an autograph for my daughter Laura? Cause she adores you But I think you’re shit"
Hahahhaha again, this song is just funny.
6. "Loving Someone"
"Even Guy Debord needed spectacles, you see"
Guy Debord is most commonly associated with this meme:
With a bit of research, I found Debord was part of the "Situationist movement" which believed that media was all powerful in its influence over people, which is another theme in the song.
The song mostly talks about how the media is exploiting people and pushes a bad message to young people.
7. "She's American"
"Synthetic apparitions of not being lonely"
A reference to Los Angeles, the writer
8."The Sound"
"It's not about reciprocation, it's just all about me
A sycophantic, prophetic, Socratic junkie wannabe"
These crammed lyrics poke fun of the writer, who ironically uses eloquent and prophetic lyrics to make fun of how he is viewed as prophetic by some of his fans. If you've ever watched a Matty Healy interview, you'll see what he means by
Thank goodness they released neon signs for every single song on the album. This band is so in love with aesthetics. I hope this article showed you some of the profound lyrics and the meaning behind their songs.