I’ve got an interesting artist for you guys today: Joy Crookes, a 20 year old up and coming singer songwriter from the UK. The first thing that caught me off guard was the tone of her voice, a huskiness that parallels Amy and Lauryn, with a jazzy bend calling back to the likes of Eartha Kitt.
I wanted to look at two songs off of her EP Reminiscence . As the title insinuates, this EP revolves around love lost and lost love. Thematically, Joy’s song revolve around the same things that your run of the mill pop star would be lamenting about; however she does it with a style and maturity way beyond her years.
Man’s World
On the surface, this song is a rejection of the significant other and a promotion of self reliance.
Pathetic with the fallacy
Fantasizing what the storm would do to me
Tornado hit the bedroom
Joy seems to be critiquing her past self for abandoning her ideals for more physical aspects of a relationships. She showcases her brilliance with wordplay here by using multiple layers of imagery. Fantasizing relates to something that is desired however she is yearning for a storm, a word generally associated with disturbance and upheaval. This goes back to the idea that she is actively pursuing a path of self destruction despite understanding the pitfalls. Another layer of meaning pertains to more physical cravings, she has a way to be so explicit with such harmless words.
The self reliance, however, breaks down at different points of the song because the listed coping mechanisms are inherently unsustainable.
I find my love in red wine
No chaser
I get by with my liquor and my paper
Starting with the chorus she’s replacing the man with other vices. However, the vices become more involved in the later verse.
Candy Crush and Novacane
I’m guessin’ that the purple didn’t need the rain
She’s distracting herself with media and medication. I’m assuming that the purple refers to lean and is a neat Prince reference. There’s more to verse two but I haven’t understood the deeper context yet. This song is a conflict between being in loving and loving someone. This is echoed in earlier songs of the album as well. These two concepts are not the same and at times mutually exclusive. These coping mechanisms are shields to the vulnerable person underneath. This vulnerability can be seen in the next song Don’t Let Me Down.
The sample in the end is an interview with Eartha Kitt. The interviewer asked her if she would be willing to compromise for a man in her life, which she finds hysterical and is downright defensive. At one point she even says “I want someone to love me with me.” This unflinching attitude is what Joy is trying to put up but the deeper context infers that it’s probably not working.
Don’t Let Me Down
There is so much open vulnerability in this song that it’s utterly moving. I find it a bit hard to relate to some aspects but the universality of unflinching affection stands out. The verses outline a deteriorating relationship that Joy has a hard time justifying because of the intimacy they shared in the past.
I know you’re the type to tip waiters with all your emotions
I wasn’t sure what this line meant but the repetition probably insinuates significance.
Rolling up
Cos my high is never enough
This seems like a response to Man’s World in regards to how the vices couldn’t replace the romance. Although, it might also be speaking to how she can’t be fulfilled thus the relationship was doomed from the beginning.
Here is another example of the lyrical cleverness. She manifests a moment of intense vulnerability in just two lines, to the point where I get chills everytime I hear it.
In the night I set my legs open
Made sure all my defences were broken
Although the unrequited aspect of this relationship makes me think that the sentiment is still a bit juvenile, she shows maturity by realizing that infatuation is fleeting and your perception of a relationship changes over time, which is something I think we can all relate to.
Now you’re fleeting
Like the smoke
Or our summers on Spanish coasts
In the end, it’s a bit sad that she’s subjected to the whims of someone else and she resorts to pleading for loyalty. But I have to admire the poetic aspect of it and the level of devotion that she herself has shown.
Lastly, I would recommend you check out the music video. The minimal production seeks to highlight her struggles in focus. The multiple hands are an obvious callback to Vasudhara (the bodhisattva of wealth, prosperity, and abundance) although the analogy is ironic because the song does not insinuate prosperity. Perhaps it was just an aesthetic. This was the limit of my understanding but perhaps you guys can shed more light into the deeper subtext.