matter of time album exploration: Clockwork
Forever thinking of how LYRICALLY beautiful A Matter of Time by Laufey truly is. Yes, her vocals are AMAZING and the music production is ethereal but I think the lyrics -- the connected themes and motifs throughout the album and each of its songs, really make it a 10/10 for me. So I just wanted to give my personal analysis on each track, cool things and connections I noticed, and just my overall thoughts! Starting with the first track -- clockwork! Clockwork is so interesting because it sets the premise of the entire album with just its first line -- "swore I'd never do this again". Key word being - again. The album starts with history repeating itself and Laufey doing "this" again, tying into the motif of a clock/cycle that just keeps rotating again and again. I think its really cool that within the first lyric of the first track we are granted this preview -- that the events to come have happened before. Although clockwork is, on the surface, a fun little love song, like a playful crush -- it represents a cycle restarting. Her swearing she'd never do it again implies that last time it did not end well -- yet, like clockwork (an inevitable thing) she falls in love again.. and we as the audience are aware that it won't end well this time as well, which is the whole tragedy of the album : ( Laufey even describes this in the song as her "destiny" ("nothing brings me fear like meeting with my destiny"). Destiny is inevitable, just like clockwork. And just like clockwork, she falls into this cycle again despite fearing it.
This hesitance and anxiety is evident throughout the song (the mentions to drinking, caught in fight/flight, shivering, "oh shit he's here", "i'll run away", regurgitate). So already we can see foreshadowing that perhaps this isn't a healthy relationship. Yet Laufey seems excited still, and even though we know this is a first date, she's already saying she "wants him forever", and then "oh god, I've said too much". The entire song, to me, feels almost drunk? in a way -- like the way she sings -- the over-enthusiastic and exaggerated phrases, etc. This, coupled with her saying "now we're drinking" and then regretting everything she says, further adds to that feeling of "drunkness" and "delerium" of sorts -- if that makes sense. Like, it's all happening wayy too fast and she's overwhelmed with emotions and diving into this relationship head-first, despite swearing to never repeat it. Her comparing herself falling in love to "clockwork" can also be seen as her saying she's someone to falls in love quite easily, because clockwork is something nobody controls - it just happens. So, she could be saying she falls I also found it interesting how instead of the traditional "tick-tock" associated with a clock, she uses "ding-dong" in this song at the start and end, and in between the verses. There could be a few different reasons for this, or it could have no meaning whatsoever but I'm here to read into stuff so! 1) ding dong reminds us of a bell, which fits the first verse in which he arrives at her home. 2) ding dong is also slang for an idiot so maybe shes calling herself that because she falls in love so easily. This is also proven by her being self-aware of her dramatic-ness and irrationality when it comes to her lover throughout the song. Overall, I think Clockwork is such a perfect album opener for Matter of Time - it set the stage SO perfectly for whats to come and was riddled with foreshadowing. Whether intentional or not, you cannot deny this story-telling is really cool.
