congratulations, matty healy! (a collection of The 1975 lyrics about marriage) - part 1
After George taking the surname XCX, it's Matty's turn getting married. Congratulations to him and Gabbriette :)! With Adam also happily married to Carly Holt, who lent her beautiful voice for the iconic 'About You' bridge, I thought it would be fun to reminisce about marriage in The 1975 discography.
This is what happens when your favourite band hasn't released a new album in three to four years.
PART ONE. SELF-TITLED ERA (2012/2013)
The year is 2013, British band The 1975 release a self-titled album. Their first LP quickly becoming a landmark of early 2010s music, as well as a bearing wall in the Tumblr ecosystem architecture. Included in this sections are the EPs and singles precedent to the debut.
It's no surprise that their teenage and early 20s sensibilities referred more to girls, their boyfriends, weed/drugs, hometown crushes, toxic relationships, and in general feelings too painful to keep silent. The album also hints at Matty's childhood as the son of public figures, the aftermath of their divorce, and how that affected him and his younger brother, towards which he felt responsible for.
When we first meet the topic of marriage, it's in the iconic 'Menswear', set at a wedding that seems everything but a good idea.
She's dressed in white and putting off crying
Well, you're the best man, so what's the plan?
Why don't you talk to Matty about it?
[...] And free bar, that's the point
[...] Well, I think I'll say a couple of words if you don't mind
I never really got on with your bird the first time
I met her out, dressed in nowt
Telling everybody you were shagging about
Well, who's this, going for the kiss?
I'm probably gonna yosh in your mouth
the bride? stressing. matty? high as hell, sharer of joints, ready for a physical fight, progressively gets drunker until he probably throws up in some poor girl's mouth. The wedding is a chaotic mess, with drugs, last minute cold feet, free booze, and the snide remark that Matty didn't especially like the bride in the first place, back when he met her as a scantily dressed woman loudly complaining the future groom was cheating on her. ....Congratulations to the happy couple?
Taking a detour to the EP era, in 'So Far (It's Alright)',
She was talking marriage, so we had to get out
Now he's making up for it by sleeping about
we have one of the boys running away from a relationship that wanted to get too serious, followed by some sleeping around to completely get the concept of marriage out of the system. Safe to say, it's not in their plans yet.
PART TWO. ILIWYS ERA (2016)
This iconic pink neon LP proved that The 1975 could deliver a great album a second time. Instead of going home, they went bigger: bombastic, eclectic, achingly vulnerable yet often tongue-in-cheek, it remains one of those albums that comes at you like a giant wave with everything it has. Self-awareness and keen remarks about the fame the band was experiencing after debut never came at the expense of sincerity and feeling, with the shadow of addiction looming over most of these songs.
ILIWYS is 2016 in many ways: the aesthetic it helped define, the sonic landscape, but also the social issues it touches on with a sensibility that will become a staple of a more political The 1975 in the coming years. I find it relevant to point out how in this album, we get the first analysis of the overlap between technology and relationships, with 'A Change Of Heart' delivering one of my favourite and most scathing images:
You said I'm full of diseases
Your eyes were full of regret
And then you took a picture of your salad
And put it on the Internet
The irony of Matty now marrying an influencer is not lost on me and, I think, Matty himself.
Instead of discussing marriage and established relationships per se, ILIWYS shines, to me, when it deals with subtler, often nastier aspects of romantic love. 'A Change of Heart' is the disillusioned swan song of a relationship, 'Somebody Else' deals with the ugly possessiveness that remains when seeing a past lover with someone new. California and celebrity life are not made for real love, or real relationships ('She's American', 'This Must Be My Dream'). 'Loving Someone' and its genuine support to the queer community are not an exception to the disillusionment, with 'celebrities lacking in integrity' and heteronormativity at every corner.
Not marriage then, but anything else that mattered to the band in 2016. A gift of an album, not to be taken for granted.
