Turn Paper Into Rocks Into Plastic

Röyksopp featuring Lykke Li “Miss It So Much”

Lykke Li did a clever thing with this song. The sound of Röyksopp’s track is very sweet and sentimental but it also feels a bit mechanical and removed from reality, and so she tapped into that tension by penning lyrics about wanting to feel things intensely, but being trapped in an aloof, calculating, and emotionally muted state of mind. Her vocals are appropriately understated, but just sad enough to tug on the heart strings a bit, particularly when her most hyperbolic and dramatic lines are delivered with a flat, matter-of-fact inflection. She thinks that she feels numb, but it’s so abundantly clear that she’s overflowing with love and pain. You hear this song, and you just want to give her a hug.

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Peter Björn & John “Nothing To Worry About”

What I thought this song was about when I first heard it and was not really paying attention to the words: Sex, or being sexy. That’s mostly got to do with the rhythm, and the flirty, slinky inflections in Peter Moren’s voice. Also, most songs are in some way about sex, so it’s a good guess.

What I thought when I saw the lyrics printed out: Wait, are they on some kind of Ayn Rand trip? Probably not, but the sentiment of this song is incredibly smug, condescending, and unforgiving. He’s probably singing about a bitter ex, but I think it’s pretty easy to take this as being some successful, handsome, stylish European musician demanding that the rest of the world refrain from bumming him out with negative vibes.

My impression of what the song is expressing now, factoring in both impressions: Petulant sexiness, I guess.

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