As a die-hard the 1975 fan, I tuned in to Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show a few days ago to hear 'People,' the 1975's new single, for the first time.
I was buzzing with excitement for it to drop because I always love everything that the 1975 releases. I had a feeling that this new single would be touching on politics since the first single that was released from their new album was a speech by Greta Thunberg, a climate-change activist. My suspicions were correct, but in true the 1975 fashion, the song was much different than I thought it would be.
When the general public thinks of the 1975, they imagine a band that produces pop and alternative rock music. 'People' takes those labels and throws them out the window. The song opens with a punk rock drum beat accompanied by a guitar and bass as Matty screams the lyrics,
"Wake up, wake up, wake up / It's Monday morning and we only have a thousand of them left"
I was reading fan reactions on Twitter and everyone was shocked. A punk rock song was the last thing I thought the 1975 would do, and yet, they did it flawlessly. Punk rock was the perfect sound for 'People' because it perfectly captures the anger that Gen Z currently feels at our society.
There is so much inequality, greed, and fear in our world and at times everything feels hopeless. Matty's frantic declaration that we have a thousand Monday mornings left is a clear nod to our climate crisis and how it is making young people feel even more hopeless. The next line of 'People' highlights this frustration.
"Well, I know it feels pointless and we don't have any money / But we're all just gonna try our f*cking best"
The chorus of the song is what really gets me hyped up because in part of it Matty screams,
"Stop f*cking with the kids"
Most young people feel discouraged by the older generations' decisions in the government because many of them will not be alive to see the repercussions of their actions. For example, the older generations continuously vote against taking steps to fight against climate change. When young people, like Greta Thunberg, speak up about how their votes are endangering our futures, they look the other way because what happens to the Earth in the future is not their problem.
The single also calls out people that ignore the issues our society and planet are facing.
"We are appalling and we need to stop just watching sh*t in bed / And I know it sounds boring and we like things that are funny / But we need to get this in our f*cking heads"
When people try to spread awareness of an issue through social media, there are often people in the replies complaining about how social media should not be used to discuss politics and should instead only be focused on entertainment. Most people want to just mindlessly "watch s*it in bed." Complacency is dangerous and in order for the world to actually become a better place, we have to stop pretending like there aren't injustices going on around us.
If 'People' is any indication of what the rest of the 1975's new album is going to sound like, then I already know I'm going to love it.
