The original song is by Robert Palmer, an English rock singer from the 80s. Due to its popularity, "Addicted to Love" became his claim to fame - he wasn't exactly a one-hit-wonder but pretty close to it. It was also supposed to be a duet with Chaka Khan, but that never happened due to contractual constraints. There are several cover versions of this song but this version is my favorite. If you listen to the original, it is the quintessential 80s song - from the electric guitar and keyboards to the twang in Robert Palmer's voice. It's easy to imagine it playing as the backdrop to John Hughes movie - in fact, I would be surprised if I did some research and discovered it on the soundtrack for multiple 80s teen romances. It's also an extremely long song - the album version is slightly over 6 minutes long, which was frowned upon in the 80s and nearly unheard of for pop music of the time. The single version they cut down to 4 minutes - mostly getting rid of the unnecessary instrumental breaks and the bulk of the end where he's repeating the chorus. "Might as well face it, you're addicted to love." You know....it's catchy but after 4 minutes of that, you get pretty fucking bored and you're pretty much begging for the fadeout by the end. Florence + the Machine cuts it even further to just under 3 1/2 minutes, only leaving room for the essentials. And that's the important thing about any type of art - you gotta leave them wanting more. Give your audience just enough and they'll keep coming back. I just made that up but it feels pretty true some I'm just going to say it is and call it a day.
You see the signs, but you can't read
You're running at a different speed
Your heart beats in double time
Another kiss and you'll be mine, a one track mind
You can't be saved
Oblivion is all you crave
If there's some left for you
You don't mind if you do
Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh yeah
It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough
You know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love
Moving on, I'm not sure the emotion/feeling the song is describing is love, per say. It sounds more like infatuation - that all encompassing need at the beginning of a relationship to be with someone all the time. The obsessive thoughts. The pull that keeps you coming back for more. That "addicted" feeling fades eventually, but what you have remaining - should you choose to continue (and sometimes even if you don't) - is love. Infatuation (and Lust) is what's explosive like that; Love is much more subtle. Unfortunately, it's the fluttery, energetic pulse of the former that gets all the glory. The peaceful calm of unconditional love - well, that gets it's own songs, too, but they're not the ones you expect. They're usually the ones acknowledging that we're only human and things happen. Acknowledging that we are flawed but, at least for a moment, that didn't matter.
Just FYI: While working on this post, I discovered that there is a movie named "Addicted to Love." A Meg Ryan movie, in fact, and one that I haven't seen. Shocking, I know. It's a romantic comedy (naturally) where two people (Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick) are trying to break up a couple (his cheating girlfriend and her ex-fiance) but fall in love in the process. It looks delightful, even though it sounds like the main characters sound like they start off as assholes in the beginning. And it came out in 1997, which was peak Meg Ryan and peak Matthew Broderick (a powerful combination, I'm sure). To be honest, I've been trying to cut down my screen time, so I probably won't be watching this any time soon. But if you're looking for a 90s romantic comedy to break through a bout of existentialism, this one's probably about as good as any you'll find.
Side Note: Another revelation - the official video for Robert Palmer's version of "Addicted to Love" is the music video that Bill Nighy's character in "Love Actually" is parodying. Love. It.
Florence + the Machine Version
Robert Palmer Version
No comments:
Post a Comment