It felt like every other typical Thursday- except it wasn't. Jan. 14, The 1975 released the next single off their newest album on BBC radio. The release was set for 7:50 GMT (1:50 CST), so I rush out of my 1:10 CST clarinet lesson at 7:40 GMT and open the British radio app that I had downloaded that morning and anxiously wait for Annie Mac to announce the song. I wait and wait and wait, only to realize that the song had been released almost 20 minutes earlier than I had thought. After a frantic search of the BBC radio website, I finally found "The Sound"... and my mind was blown. "The Sound" was the third single off of The 1975's highly anticipated sophomore album, I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it.
Right from the beginning of the song, "The Sound" captures your ears. The beat starts off catchy as always, the synth is front and center, and the piano part that soon comes in is noticeably complex in a simple way. The chorus that starts off the song is just enough to satisfy, but not quite enough to fulfill, leading you into the rest of the song. "Well I know when you're around cause I know the sound, I know the sound of your heart" gives off the impression of a love song, a seemingly super cliche love song. But, hearts don't give off individual, recognizable sounds or beats. The "sound" that the 1975 could be implying here could be what makes a person tick emotionally or mentally, instead of physically. You could know the “sound” of someone’s heart by knowing who they are past what is presented to the rest of the world.
The first verse starts off with “I can’t believe I forgot your name,” suggesting a one night stand that might be turning into something more, with the verse continuing with “She said ‘I’ve got a problem with your shoes and your tunes, but I might move in.'” This verse also seems similar to the line from "Girls" that goes: “One moment I was tearing off your blouse, now you’re living in my house.” A lot of the 1975’s songs seem like they could easily be mashed into one song or responses to each other, and this theme continues. The first verse finished up with the line “And I thought you were straight, now I’m wondering.” Matt has often opened up and talked about how unsure he is about his sexuality because he’s "not the manliest man" and this line is obviously a reference to that aspect of himself.
If the vibe of a cliche love song that the chorus might have introduced isn’t totally dead after the first verse, the pre-chorus definitely finishes it off: “You’re so conceited that I say that ‘I love you,’ what does it matter if I lie to you?” This relationship is obviously one that means a lot more to one party than the other. We’ve all seen those relationships where one person is confident in the security and longevity of the relationship, whereas the other person is obviously in it for the fun and the moment that the fun is over, so is the relationship. This idea continues in the next line that says, “I don’t regret it, but I’m glad that we’re through,” showing that he doesn’t regret the relationship (because it was fun for a while), but it wasn’t meant to last. The pre-chorus finishes with the girl being called out for saying the she “just [doesn’t] get it,” though the guy knows that she does. This could be tied back into the chorus about knowing the sound of someone’s heart, knowing who someone really is and therefore knowing when they are really lying.
The second verse takes a more narcissistic turn that seems to be playing upon the album as a whole. “It’s not about reciprocation, it’s just all about me” shows that Matt doesn’t care about what the girl thinks she deserves from him, because the relationship was about what she could do for him. The next line is Matt’s way of mocking himself, assumably calling himself a “sycophantic, prophetic, Socratic junkie wannabe.” Sycophantic is behavior or way of doing things in order to gain something from someone. By saying he’s a Socratic junkie wannabe, Matt is saying that people attempt to appear wise and have all the answers, but they’re just fakes who are no less addicted to themselves and their seemingly apparent awesomeness than a junkie is addicted to the drugs. This line plays back to the borderline mocking pop culture theme that the 1975’s single, "Love Me," had. The verse ends with “And we left things to protect my mental health, but you call me when you’re bored…” Apparently, this relationship took an unhealthy turn along the way, becoming toxic. While they broke off the relationship, she can’t seem to let go and uses him as little more than a booty call, creating an on again, off again relationship that seems never ending.
With the third single off their highly anticipated album, The 1975 continue to impress fans old and new. The Sound appears as though a love song gone wrong, much like the relationship it describes. Yet it seems to very accurately describe how we go about relationships today. Everything is all about us and how we feel and most people don’t seem to mind manipulating people to get what they want. How often do we read stories about relationships, romantic or otherwise, that started off so well, and then went so wrong when one or both people started making it about themselves? Maybe we should stop focusing so much on what we want, but rather on the sound of each other’s hearts.
