Feist - “How Come You Never Go there (Clock Opera Remix)”

every now and then, there’s a song that is so good - musically and lyrically - that speaks to us. music as a written medium for expression that is also heard is unique in that different sounds evoke different responses from each person. 

this song, while a remix (and a very good one at that), is one of those songs.

feist’s album Metals was important for me in 2011 and even now what the bible is important to Christians. that sounds a little silly, but it is with all seriousness that i make this comparison. 

this remix is merely an interpretation of the meaning of the original song. it focuses on a few fairly specific clips of the song and enhances them. it takes the lyrics out of context and makes it mean something different but not at all a departure from the overall theme of the original.

“how come i’m so alone?” - this is repeated throughout the song. it’s taken out of context and it’s what i was asking myself through much of 2011 and it’s something i’ve decided to stop asking in 2012. humans are social creatures, and left to their own devices things get extremely lonely. there’s nothing quite like feeling lonely because you’re not sure who to blame - yourself, or the person that left you feeling this way. 

“i don’t love you.” - this admittance is also repeated through the song. it’s also taken out of context from the original song. the actual line goes “you carry on as if i don’t love you”. whether unwittingly or for whatever purpose, the remixer focuses on this one part for a reason. sure, the actual line is said at one point in the song, but “i don’t love you” is repeated over and over again. in fact, it’s less of an admission and more of a mantra. maybe if one says it enough, it’s true. 

in relation to the first quoted lyric, it suggests an ironic but inherently human quality of love and loneliness. it’s something that i dealt and departed with in 2011. if we are out of a really meaningful relationship all of a sudden, we’re faced with getting over this person and questioning our loneliness. we don’t know who to blame for our condition but we’re trying to get over the fact that we’re no longer in a relationship by convincing ourselves that we’re not in love with that person anymore.

i think it suggests something about that post-relationship thought process which pits the question of loneliness between how much you loved that person. or something like that.