The I Guess + That’s Our Lamp combo closer is the thesis of Laurel Hell in my mind and I’m going to try to explain why in terms of music theory and also… themes and narratives.
Dissonance is core to Laurel Hell; things are often off kilter under the music in a very deliberate way. I’ve written a little something about this before here.
The I Guess + That’s Our Lamp pair play into this a couple of ways. First off, there’s the music theory aspect of it. I Guess doesn’t offer any musical closure.
So to get across what that means, if you don’t know, I Guess is in the key of D flat. A D flat scale looks like this:
To start you off, Db (D flat), is what you’d call the tonic, or root. Usually, with chord progressions and such, what you’re trying to do is lead everything back to your tonic; that’s what resolving is. Resolving is what gives you that satisfaction within music, that sense of completion.
The seventh degree (here, the C) is called the leading note, which is a half-step from the tonic (Db). This leading note really wants to resolve into the tonic, whether it be single note, or within a chord progression. It’s the most powerful resolution possible.
I Guess ends on this leading note; twice. Mitski sings the C-note, and the keyboard plays a V chord (Ab), which is what contains that leading note that’s made to resolve into Db.
Except the Db never comes. It’s why I Guess lingers, why it lacks closure in a way. You’re waiting for a resolution and it just doesn’t come.
And then you move into the next song, That’s Our Lamp, still hoping for that familiar Db resolution, and you’re greeted with Mitski going in the absolute opposite direction; she goes half a step down to a B, which is the tonic for That’s Our Lamp.
That leading note lingers and you’re waiting for a resolution but it doesn’t come! Instead you’re pulled into exactly what you weren’t expecting, which bring me to the thematic aspect of this.
I Guess is what would be the “traditional” Mitski closer. Slow, gentle, heavy. It’s what you’d expect after A Burning Hill and Two Slow Dancers and Last Words of a Shooting Star. And you’re given a moment to let it linger, to absorb it, but you aren’t allowed to wallow. Before you know it, upbeat, sparkly synths have taken its place.
Laurel Hell is a redefining of Mitski’s art; she’s making it clear that this is on her terms. She’s not made to be consumed, however hard you try. She’s here to share her art, whatever the cost may be. She’s here to dance through this!
That’s Our Lamp is upbeat and sad and hopeful all at once, but most of all, it’s telling. Because when the trumpets kick in, and Mitski sings under her window, listen to what’s bubbling in the background.
It’s the sounds of people.
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