Just my latest musical obsession, this time because it has a good strong beat to run to. And it also has rather explicit sexual undertones and I figured that's absolutely the mood I want to set for Lupercalia. No, I'm not calling it Valentine's Day - I much prefer Roman fertility rituals and feasts than greeting card holidays. That being said, I'm a hopeless romantic in the worst way and would absolutely fall for a Grand Romantic Gesture, like in the movies. I recently watched "When Harry Met Sally" in its entirety (because that's the kind of lame thing I do on a Saturday night). On the surface, it has to be the most boring romantic comedy ever. It is literally just two people being friends for like a decade before realizing they want to be together. What makes the movie is Nora Ephron's dialogue. Harry and Sally are both uniquely ridiculous people....but their ridiculousness complements each other in a way that is absolute magic. Their conversations - if overheard by a curious bystander - probably sound insane. Of course they do - that's what makes them entertaining. And that kind of chemistry is rare. In fact, I'm sure most people think that only exists in the movies, which is why the world is full of cynical people. But I believe in it. At the very least, it's an ideal to strive for. And I'm always being accused of being an idealist (accusations which aren't exactly unfounded but that's irrelevant).
Am I out of my head?
Am I out of my mind?
If you only knew the bad things I like
Don't think that I can explain it
What can I say, it's complicated
Don't matter what you say
Don't matter what you do
I only wanna do bad things to you
So good, that you can't explain it
What can I say, it's complicated
My favorite musical duet combination is perfected in this song - rap music combined with beautiful lyrical interludes sung by a female voice. And I love Camila Cabello's voice - she has such a pure soprano, but she has a special ability to make it sound soulful. If the melody sounds familiar, it's because it is - Machine Gun Kelly sampled the melody Fastball's "Out of My Head" and the lyrics of the original song feed into the chorus. As you may be able to extrapolate from the lyrics, but it's about being into BDSM-influenced sex. Rough sex, in general. There's very much a "there's pleasure in pain" undertone to the words. But the good kind of pain. Pain that sparks memories when you see a familiar bruise on your thigh. Or the enjoyable excitement of having your hands tied behind your back, not being able to control the movement. Before I take this too far, let's talk about the video. Not surprisingly, the director went with a Bonnie & Clyde motif. MGK and Cabello are running from the cops for some unknown crime. The video is interspersed with their love story, which has some rough moments but overall, it's played to emphasize how much they like each other. They are friends first, and that carries them through the hard stuff. Then, at the end of the video, it looks like they attempt to pull a Thelma & Louise. Because - frab nabbit- there's no such thing as a happy love story apparently. Especially not in the music industry.
I meant to feature this song during September, during the "Where have I heard that before?" theme but I ran out of month. This song is played during the title sequence of "True Blood." Before Netflix got really popular and added the "Skip Intro" option, the most recent Golden Age of TV also went hand-in-hand with the Golden Age of Opening Sequences. The best shows of the early 2000s - "True Blood," "Mad Men," and "Grey's Anatomy" - had iconic title sequences to start off the show and set the tone. Netflix has been trying to bring that back - all of the Marvel shows had pretty brilliant title sequences, as do many of its other shows, but - let's face it - people don't feel like that's worth their time anymore. Which is a shame, in a way, because I know someone works really hard on those intros who I'm sure is super proud of what they created. As I was saying, the "True Blood" title sequence was wonderful, partially because of this song and partially because of the imagery used in the sequence. First off, this song is indelibly sexy, which is perfect for a show where the sexual undertones were a key factor for both its popular appeal and subject matter. All paranormal romance - no matter how "wholesome" the author tries to make it seem (lookin' at you, Stephanie Meyer and "Twilight") - is about society's uncomfortable relationship with sex. Particularly the "wrong" kind of sex, which is usually outside the confines of marriage and with people it shouldn't be with. Vampires and werewolves have an especially torrid subtext, which is why they are featured most often in these types of stories. Vampires often have powers of mind control and hypnosis - in a psychological context, seduction (even the non-paranormal kind) is about using sexuality to influence the behavior of another for your own benefit. Vampires do this prolifically, often with horrifying consequences for the victim. Werewolves, on the other hand, get at the animalistic side of human lust and the fear of not being able to control our urges for another. Again, the underlying context is that carnal lust leads to extreme pain, shame, and heartbreak for both the object of lust and the person trying to control it within themselves. The lyrics to "Bad Things" combines both of these concepts perfectly into one badass country song.
The second reason the "True Blood" intro is awesome is the imagery. As I've mentioned, I love the Southern Gothic aesthetic and the title sequence plays the song against a series of images that sum up the underlying contradictions of this style. The wholesome, hospitable image of the American South contrasted starkly against the unsavory underbelly of its history and culture, along with the heavy occult themes that give the region its distinctive flavor. "True Blood" takes place in a small town in Louisiana, deep in the bayou, where the locals seem normal enough until you get to know them. For every church, there's a seedy strip club or bar. For every welcoming face, there's a hidden viper pit of contempt and suspicion. The cinematographer very cleverly inserts an image of a Baptist church with a sign that says "God Hates Fangs," a play on the vampire underworld the story brings to the surface and the very real bigotry towards the LGBT community that exists in the South. Bigotry and standing up against it is a central theme in the Sookie Stackhouse series that Charlaine Harris used her writing to draw attention to. The diversity of characters in the world that Harris has built is definitely something to emulate as a writer. This dedication to showcasing the range of personalities within Bon Temps carries over into the show. The show does not really follow the books and, weirdly enough, it's one of the few instances where that doesn't bother me. The screenwriters took the idea - what if the invention of synthetic blood allowed vampires (and other supernatural creatures) to live out in the open? - and ran with it. Although the plot points changed a lot, they were true to the material and to the message of the story.
When you came in, the air went out
And every shadow filled up with doubt
I don't know who you think you are
But before the night is through
I wanna do bad things with you
I'm the kind to sit up in his room
Heart sick and eyes filled up with blue
I don't know what you've done to me
But I know this much is true
I wanna do bad things with you, okay
The lyrics are fairly straightforward. A man is hanging out in a bar or wherever....I don't think the lyrics mention a bar specifically, but I like to picture a dive bar with wooden accents, pool tables, and dirty glasses. And possibly a pay phone. Yes, there is definitely an old-school pay phone for some reason, even in 2019. Anyway, there's a man - probably wearing jeans, a leather jacket, and cowboy boots - sitting in a bar, minding his own business. Then, a woman walks in. He doesn't know who she is, all he knows is she's beautiful. And she has dark hair, because all femme fatales have dark hair. It's a weird theatre trope that everyone follows - ingenues (good girls) have blonde hair, femme fatales (sexy troublemakers) have dark hair, and redheads are wild cards - and when you know about it, you see it everywhere. Look at any movie with Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie, or Eva Green - all excellent "femme fatale" type actresses. Moving on, she walks in and he's just consumed by her presence. He can't think of anything but bending her over one of the tables, lifting up her skirt, and just going for it. But he writes a song about it instead of talking to her. Because he's lame, in spite of his sexy voice. Obviously, I've pictured this scene a lot. It's a good scene.
And, thus, I reveal the guiltiest of my guilty pleasures. I read a surprising amount of paranormal/fantasy romance novels. I call them "junk food" books but the truth is, after reading a classic by Jane Austen or Victor Hugo, your brain needs a break. I can read these novels quickly (usually within a weekend, if I have enough free time) and they're always fun to read. Also - and I'm just now realizing it - but this is basically my genre. It's what I feel most comfortable and skilled at when writing. As much as I'd like to be super literary and write the Great American Novel™, I enjoy writing about horror, magic, fictional monsters, and sex. And the best advice I've ever heard on writing is you should write what you know and what you would enjoy reading. Write for yourself. And so I do.
