Faye is…

… really sick of doing labs. Guh.

Personal, by Stars

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! That’s right, I’m far too awesome to be a cynic this year. Valentine’s Day isn’t just about romantic love, even if it is an arbitrary day where couples spend inordinate sums of money on each other for no apparent reason. Actually, as I was walking to class today, I heard someone on the street wish a girl a “Happy Birthday,” and thought about the lovely day her parents must’ve had. Though I wonder how she got along in her depressed teen years mixing her birthday with a commercialized non-holiday.

So in celebration of love, I’d like to share one of my favourite love songs. I have an allergic reaction to anything overtly saccharine, so this one is bittersweet. (”Samson” by Regina Spektor is also one of my favourites.)

DOWNLOAD: Stars — Personal

It is difficult to begin talking about this song wihout first talking about the band, Stars. After hearing their newest album last year, I’ve come to a conclusion: if Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boubil were Canadian and in an indie rock band, they would have written In Our Bedroom After the War instead of Les Misérables. Stars are a bunch of Romantic revolutionaries—Romantic and revolutionary in the 19th-century sense. Their storytelling bleeds through to their instrumentation, vocals, and lyrics, so that listening to them—even seeing them in concert, which I had the privilege of doing last semester—is pure theatre.

“Personal” is as much poetry as it is song, and not merely because of their loyal metre. Like many of their tracks, it features alternating male-female vocals. Torquil Campbell, the nameless male counterpart, wistfully sings out a personal ad:

[wanted:]
single f, under thirty-three
must enjoy the sun, must enjoy the sea
sought by single m, Mrs. Destiny
send photo to address, is it you and me?

Written in the typical format of personals, the word “wanted” flows into the rest of the stanza. It did not surprise me at all to learn that Torquil Campbell is also an actor. On a radio show he explained he sang this song an octave lower to emphasize his character’s darker personality. His words are annunciated with the precision of a miracle razor; resulting in a clean-shaven husky man. Although smooth, his voice is disjoint compared to Amy Millan’s, who sings the next verse:

[reply to single m:]
my name is Caroline
cell phone number here, call if you have the time
28 and bored, grieving over loss,
sorry to be heavy, but heavy is the cost
heavy is the cost.

Amy’s voice is so ethereal and fluid she will forever be known to me as “the voice I wish I had.” Fragile, vulnerable, yet fraught with meaning, Caroline replies to the personal ad with “sorry to be heavy, but heavy is the cost.” Here the double entendre is evident: the word “heavy” can either mean she’s overweight, or “heavy” in personality à la The Unbearable Lightness of Being, signifying emotional baggage and desire for a serious relationship. I’ve read some responses on SongMeanings arguing between the literal and figurative meanings. It would be just like Stars to intend for both. more »