Throughout its dynamic history, indie pop (of the indie pop tied to Postcard, Sarah, Early Creation, etc.) has often crossed over into the realm of electronic music. Notable examples of this include The Field Mice, Even As We Speak, The Wake, Primal Scream, among countless others. I must admit that the first few times I heard my twee pop heroes venture into such territory, I was a bit turned off. I was closed minded and felt that everything just boiled down to mundane radio techno (though I must admit I’ve always had a soft spot for eurodance as a genre). However, over time I grew to enjoy these brilliant artistic efforts and began to understand the depth that electronic music can provide.
As far as the content and theme of the song, I was half envisioning the feelings one might have surrounding a school dance. While I’ve never been much of a casanova at any point in my existence, I still found myself overcome with nerves in any sort of social affair that involved any emotional undertones. The flashing lights, the loud music, everyone awkwardly trying to connect with the people they like. There’s a sort of definite timeline in the lyrics, which read more like a story than a dance track.
Trying hard to talk, bury my head in my hands
Still willing to listen, you would not understand
I still regret it to this day / Nothing I could say
Break up our dreams, I took the pieces with me
Tried to put it back together, much harder than it seemed
Would you remember me today? What more can I say?
‘Cause I’ve read your poems and I’ve been between those lines
I forget the rhythms now but that’s just between us
When I wrote these lines, I pictured myself in every writing class I’ve ever taken. The thought of only half paying attention to art that people have poured their hearts and souls into is a perfect summation of the human experience.
Don’t forget your music when you leave us behind
Sleeves and jewels might even protect you sometimes
I really wanted to have the line “jewel cases” in here somewhere, but I unfortunately found that it didn’t really flow. Kids carrying piles of CDs in their backpacks was the cool thing when I went to school.
Either way I’ll see you by next September
I carry the torch so you will never be that cold
Though this whole thing might convince you otherwise, I usually have a hard time tweeting my own horn. That being said, I feel like this line might be the best I’ve ever written.
Listen for the bells I shouldn’t be here right now
They’ve already started and they’ll leave me behind
Who can’t relate to being late to class because they were being a chatty Cathy.
Will we come back again? Would things be the same?
These halls heard the secrets that we whispered back then
So I turn to them because I always seem to forget
So I hope you listened well / Would you ever tell?
‘Cause I’ve seen you dancing and I’ve watched you turn away
And I’ve felt your push and pull / There’s nothing between us
I hope this line hits as hard as it did me when I wrote it.
You never looked for me when all the lights were turned down
No one would believe me if I told them right now
Either way I’ll see you by next September
I carry the torch so you will never feel you’re lost
Many years from now when you think back
And the memories blur together
Reaching out for something that’s not there
Dusting off the pages you’ve forgotten about
So you’ll catch a glimpse of something you had put down
Does it look the same today?
After catching a magnificent LCD Soundsystem show at the 2017 Sasquatch! Festival, I was more gung ho than ever to try doing a song with an electronic feel. Rather than go blind into uncharted waters, I figured it’d just try converting a song I already had into my idea of what a gothy club banger should sound like. After trying a few different compositions, I decided that this little tune I called “Torch” would be a good candidate. This song had struggled to take flight in its original form, but it got new wings when I slapped an assortment of synths on it. It was quite refreshing to work with a different set of tools than what I was used to, and I think it gives Bittersweet Defeat nice variety.
I read somewhere that a good pop song should overstate the most basic emotions. If we gauge this song by those standards, then this is surely a bad pop song. The message of the lyrics is so vague and convoluted (like most everything else I do) that anyone would have a hard time finding any true meaning. On the other hand, the fact that it’s so nebulous allows folks to inject their own meaning to the words, which is kinda better, in my opinion.
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