here they are:
"Hollywood" by Car Seat Headrest: Make no mistake. This is not a song glamorizing the famed city of movie stars. It is actually a song attacking Hollywood and the very concept of people taking advantage of aspiring actors and actresses just to make big bucks. You can tell this song is lyrically on the more sour side right from the very beginning, during which point the lead singer lists things he's "sick of", which include violence, money, drinking, drugs, and yes, even that thing that begins with the letter F that rhymes with "ducking". In other words, he's sick of the way people use their vices as a means to manipulate others. Musically, this song sounds like a very early Beck song (his not-so-well-known grunge spoof, "Fume", comes to mind here, specifically). It also comes with a trippy music video that looks like a sort of chalky graffiti come to life! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka9l8X8W03Y) As the world descends further and further into madness, it only figures we'd get a lyrical assault like this one, doesn't it?! Well, at least its trippy yet catchy sound makes up for its lyrical cynicism. I also wanted to give a shoutout to a friend of mine I met earlier this year for enlightening me to this band. I think I'll have to give them more of a listen now!
"Kyoto" by Phoebe Bridgers: So far, we have two song titles that are also city names (though that pattern will be broken with our third and final song of the week). Both songs seem to reflect stereotypes of the cities as well. "Hollywood" was loud and cynical, a bit like how some people picture Hollywood executives to be, and "Kyoto" sounds like the way some people, especially the nerds of the world, view Japan: a place that is both exciting and soothing. That is how Phoebe Bridgers' "Kyoto" sounds, happy and billowy. The song is told from the point of view of a naive explorer going to Japan for the first time. Underneath the wild eyed idealism, though, there is a bit of darkness, as she also addresses the feeling of what it might be like to live someone else's life, also known as "impostor syndrome". There is both city imagery and nature imagery in the video for the song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw0zYd0eIlk). The nature-y images are simultaneously psychedelic and innocent. Combine that with Phoebe looking ever so cute in her skeleton suit, and you've basically got what anime would probably be like if it happened in real life! The Miyazaki kind, not the giant fighting robot kind!
"Shameika" by Fiona Apple: And now we come to the song that breaks the pattern of city names as song titles, although it still fits the one-word-only category the other songs had. Alt-pop piano chanteuse, Fiona Apple, gives us the most anticipated song of the week with "Shameika" (pronounced "Shuh-MEE-kuh"). "Shameika" drifts away from the sweet piano pop she gave us during most of the 21st century and back into the more frenzied flurry of piano based alt-rock she started with in the '90s. It might surprise you, then, to know that this song is actually about one of Fiona's childhood memories, although not necessarily a pleasant one. Shameika is the name of a childhood friend of Fiona's who really did tell her, as the chorus states, that Fiona "had potential" during a time she was an unfortunate target for school bullies. At least she WAS a friend until another girl at her school convinced her not to hang around with her. Sadly, I've been through times like that too. Thank goodness they're over now!
