As much as we wish that every sexual encounter will be important, meaningful, and will eventually lead to some sort of perfect, life-long commitment, having been in college, we know that this is not the case. There are ten songs that I relate to, or see real honesty in on the topic. Hopefully at least one of them will be there for you on a particularly bright morning when you're throwing on your shoes, realizing that you're missing a sock, and hoping that no one will notice your current unfortunate hairstyle until you make it home.
1. Rilo Kiley - Portions For Foxes
Though not my favorite Rilo Kiley song, and in my opinion, written after the prime of their career, this song is a good opening because it describes exactly why I'm terrified to have sex, as well as the common unhealthy behavior brought on by loneliness. "And then there is no mystery left" is what I always fear when finally taking the big step.
2. An Horse - Camp Out
Other than the cheesy mention of Hole and the far too common line "it's okay to fall down", it is optimistic in a realistic way (if that makes sense). It's hoping for something but realizing that it might never exist.
3. Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
If you can get past the fact that Vampire Weekend is made up of frat boy rejects singing about daddy's money, this song is worth a listen. "Do you wanna fuck, like you know I do" is probably the most telling line. Although I'm not sure why they turn into The Cure in this video...
4. Pixies - Break My Body
I don't think the Pixies need any sort of explanation...
5. The Strokes - Is This It
Julian Casablancas describes the actions of every college boy in a sexual slump.
6. The Nails - 88 Lines About 44 Women
Maybe I'm growing more cynical as the list goes on, but I've been dealing with a lot of male friends like this lately. They feel like their sexual partners can be described in one line, to the equality of clothes tried on that didn't fit for various reasons.
7. Emilie Simon - I Wanna Be Your Dog
Originally by The Stooges (voiced by the talented Iggy Pop), the lyrics are incredibly masochistic. I like the sensual sound that Emilie Simon brings to the song, somehow making it sound much more romantic. We've all had those "so messed up, I want you here" nights...
8. Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats
Yet another cover, this time of The Knife's incredibly 80's and much less emotional original version. This is the most glorified description of a one-night stand that I've ever heard in a song; love is even formed from a drunken night. This would be entirely unrealistic if the feelings weren't one-sided.
9. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Love Connection
At times a bit (or outrageously) too honest, this song approaches everything a girl unfortunately feels or thinks after sleeping with someone and caring far too much about his opinion. While cliche, "I'll start watching my weight again" is a natural and often first reaction in the self consciousness brought about by giving yourself to someone physically.
10. The Beatles - Why Don't We Do It In The Road
These are the most simple, straight-forward lyrics out of the bunch. The Beatles know what they want, and they want it in the road.
Something a tad more personal coming soon!
I think I will comment on these as I listen to them, so I can do it individually or on a case-by-case basis, since it would take forever to go through all these at once and try to give them fair comments.
ReplyDeleteThe first song ("Portions for Foxes"): the sense of loneliness--that every person is an island (born alone, die alone, as Bethany likes to say)--in these lyrics reminds me of my favorite Dylan lyrics from "Visions of Johanna": "We sit here stranded, though we're all doing our best to deny it." That seems to at least capture the feel of these lyrics. There also seems to be that feminine fear like you said of a guy losing interesting after having sex. I could sit here and lie and say that the fear is ungrounded, but I do think there is some truth to it, just like there is some truth to all of our fears.
I love the visceral rawness of the Pixies' lyrics. Sex really isn't a particularly beautiful thing--like the romantic fantasies Bethany talked about girls have growing up thinking about sex (supposedly?)--and although it's a beautiful feeling, it isn't one of the most aesthetically attractive things I've ever seen.
I would like to hear your interpretation on the "Is This It" lyrics, por favor, Sydney.
love a lot of these but will comment more in depth later. in the mean time, here's a sex/love song...
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/G3Ac3Pc8etA
love love the Jose Gonzalez version of Heartbeats, but I also have to throw out credit to the live version of the Knife which pushes some depth where the studio one might have left out, maybe solely for that pulsing beat:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrjwqXwyzNU
Also, I can't not offer this one up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE6Qcc6VDo8