I've Never Felt Comfortable In My Own Skin Until Now
Have you ever felt like an outsider or the outlier in a community you're a part of?
Have you ever felt like an outsider or the outlier in a community you're a part of? Have you felt as if you acting as yourself in the most authentic way possible felt wrong because of your skin? It sucks, and you don't know how to deal with it at first. You change your mannerisms a bit in order to fit the mold of what's expected of you due to your skin. You want to be a part of a community as much as the next person; You want to feel like you belong, and somehow you just don't even with the effort you put in.
These are feelings I have when it comes to the community I've never really felt like I belonged in which is the black community. I know, it's weird having this sort of attitude directed at the community, but it is in my own opinion as to why I don't feel belonged in the community and why I don't feel as connected with the community as I should really be.
Growing up I've dealt with the ideas of how I should act due to me being black, that the way I talk makes me sound white, that I should only be dating girls that are black, you know the usual. It has affected me in a way where I felt really disconnected from the community, or at least what it means to be a part of it.
Being me in my own experience was what made me feel uncomfortable in my own skin literally, it made me feel out of place. I don't know if this is a relatable thought or not, but it's something that's been in my head for a long time, and it one of the main reasons why I wasn't confident within myself. It caused me to feel as if the community wouldn't accept me for who I am and gave me the unfortunate idea that they wouldn't really like anyone like me.
Over time I started to not really let those sort of things bother me anymore, but they are still in my head from time to time, and I don't give them power over me and the life that I choose to live. I learned a very important lesson from my mom and it has stuck with me ever since. In broad terms, I don't have to satisfy anyone except myself and God. It is something that I've stuck by for a while and will continue sticking by for a very long time because it taught me that the only person I should only ever satisfy is myself, and if it's right with God up there or whoever is up there, then I don't need to worry about who I should be when it comes to others.
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The 1975 Uses Political Language And Societal Commentary To Draw Inspiration For Their Songs
Some of the lines are: "Selling melanin and then suffocate the black men/Start with misdemeanors and we'll make a business out of them."
When you first hear the words, "The 1975," you probably don't think of band, a year, definitely, but not a band. Well, prepare yourself, because you are about to be introduced to the best band of all time. I am a huge fan of the band, The 1975, and I am here to tell you why you should listen to them too.
The British-band consists of Matthew (Matty) Healy (vocals, guitar), George Daniel (drums), Adam Hann (guitar) and Ross MacDonald (Bass). So far, they've released two albums, the first one was self-titled, "The 1975." But the second one was a bit more lengthy with "I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it." But now, they have a third album coming out on November 30 called, "A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships," and I've never been more excited. To make things even better, they're planning on releasing a fourth album in May called "Notes on a Conditional Form."
Trying to describe the sound of The 1975 is a little hard because they're a little bit of everything. They're techno, pop, indie rock, rock, alternative, indie pop, electropop, and the list goes on (but that's the whole point.) They're the type of band that you can't really categorize because they don't want to be categorized and they shouldn't be. While some of their songs are similar, they're also dramatically different. One song has a gospel choir in the background and another song mostly consists of relaxing sounds and minimal vocals. A few songs have insane guitar riffs, another is a ballad and one only has an acoustic guitar.
4 out of the 15 songs on their upcoming album have been released as singles in the following order: "Give Yourself a Try," Love It If We Made It," "TooTimeTooTimeTooTime," and "Sincerity Is Scary." Of these songs, "Love It If We Made It" and "Sincerity Is Scary" are my favorites. I love the political commentary in "Love It If We Made It," which I will get into later, and "Sincerity Is Scary" is one of those songs that you can sit down and listen to relax.
Two of the best things about The 1975 is their lyrics and the topics that they address. There are a lot of amazing songwriters out there, but I have to say, The 1975 is pretty hard to beat. Take their single "Love It If We Made it" for example. It's an extremely political and topical song and its lyrics are pretty in-your-face. Some of the lines are: "Selling melanin and then suffocate the black men/Start with misdemeanors and we'll make a business out of them."
Just these two lines are already full of political commentary.
Selling melanin could be a reference to the slave trade as African Americans have a lot of melanin in their skin, which gives them their skin tone, and suffocate the black men is a direct reference to Eric Garner, a black man who was suffocated while he was in a choke hold sustained by a police officer. The part about misdemeanors relates to the prison system in the United States and how a large percentage of inmates are African American who are in prison just for misdemeanors.
The band loves to comment on society, more specifically American society, and there's a handful of songs that are about drugs and/or addiction, something that the lead singer Matty lives with.
Something to note about each album they have is that there's always a song titled "The 1975." The songs have the same lyrics, but different styles. It's meant to give a little taste of what the album will sound like and highlight the differences between this album and the one before/after it. For example, the "the 1975" song in "i like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it" includes some gospel singers in the background, more sounds that you can imagine might be found on an alien spaceship and crescendos to the end of the song, while in the first album, the song is more subdued and ends with a decrescendo.
The 1975 also has an interesting way of mixing sound. They'll overlay robotic sounds with a guitar riff or a prominent drum beat. In the song "Sincerity is Scary," they bring back the saxophone sound that was heard in the song "If I believe you" and instead of meshing it with a light doo-wop beat, they combine it with a piano and a soft drum. They'll always find a way to make two very different instruments work together in harmony.
A lot of people may not be into the sound that The 1975 has, specifically older generations as they might think it's annoying, but my mom really likes their music, so how bad can they be? If you're into a mix of songs and if you're always down for a groovy beat, I'd definitely recommend giving them a try.