There are so many songs that give me this feeling inside my stomach, my heart and cause my brain to just explode. It just blows my mind. I listen to a certain song, and I notice different parts of it. I study the layers of it intensely, to the point where I just annoy myself and think, “Olivia can’t you just listen to a song without wanting to pull it apart and analyse every part of it.” Well, most of the time I am not so obsessive. If I’m out and I hear a song I love, I will have a bit of a dance (by dance I mean my limbs just decide to do what they want.) I don’t stand arms folded thinking about key changes and the way a word is sung. Far from it. But, when I’m on my own listening to music- especially through headphones, I just notice so much. When I close everything off and concentrate, I notice so much. Maybe too much, and this doesn’t just apply to music. However, as this is a music based blog- I will keep it on music.

This song I want to write about is Undertow by Warpaint.

I had been a fan of Warpaint before Undertow. It was Billie Holiday that got me hooked. Heart first. It was like falling in love, but better. Better because there was no hurt. I heard Undertow last year and I have no idea what happened. All I know is that nothing mattered. I felt like I was being thrown into a dreaming state. Warpaint’s music makes you feel like you are constantly floating. It makes you feel so weightless yet at the same time invincible. There’s something about their music that grips you. When you listen to them, you are in this trance. You are in a state that you never want to leave. It is euphoric, it is divine. To feel this is to love Warpaint with all you have- and that I do.

What is it about Undertow that makes me feel this way? I have no idea where to start so I will start with….THE LYRICS! The lyrics when I first heard the song, well they just caused me to stop what I was doing. I thought “Fuck……” I was in awe of such words. How could a band put forward how I felt in such a mindblowing way? Simple really. When a band is THAT good, they can do anything. “Your brown eyes are my blue skies. They light up the rivers that the birds fly over.” That is just so poetically gorgeous. Someones eyes can either make you feel entirely loved or disgustingly broken. “Open your eyes and there was someone else.” We’ve all felt like that. We have all, at some point felt like someone or something other than ourselves. It’s like your reflection just isn’t you anymore, but it is okay.  There is one part of the song that, lyrically, I find to be so beautifully stunning. Every time I hear it, I just find a part of me break yet fix itself at the same time: ” I lay on the floor, pressing in my eyes. Seeing little lights. Please light these decisions that only one could make. I wanted to stay home, but I went running running running running from the troubles.” There is something about how Emily sings this line, the words, that just make it feel like a blanket of reassurance covering me. This part just makes me feel, as daft as it sounds, alive. I’m not saying I feel dead or anything- far from it. But there is something about this song that just wakes up a dormant part of me.

Now for how the lyrics are sung. The way Emily and Theresa sing with each other is stunning. It sounds so pure and angelic. I love the clarity in Emily’s voice. I love how certain words are sung. I love how at the end Theresa sings over Emily. It’s just so so beautiful. It is inspiring. Warpaint are inspiring. They make me wish I could play an instrument so I can start a band. A girl can, as ever, dream. The way Emily sings is like something just falling so freely and gracefully. The way she signs the chorus and Theresa’s voices echoes underneath is beyond description. I feel that whatever I write about this song, or anything to do with Warpaint just does not do them justice. I hope dear reader, if anyone actually sees this, you go and listen to the song after you’ve read this. Just so you can see what I mean.

I have so many favourite parts of this song. I’ll try limit it. I bloody love at 2.44 when Emily sings, “Nobody in my mind.” and Stella’s drums really kick in. The drums on this are perfect. You know how sometimes you think, “Oh maybe if it was done that way….” NO. Not here. This song is utter perfection, nothing needs adjusting at all. It is so perfect. Oh god, Jenny’s bass playing. It’s so free. It is like a waterfall. In fact, that’s how I wish to compare Warpaint’s music- like a waterfall. So beautiful, so relaxing. From the 3 minute mark, it just becomes so euphoric. You feel like your head is tripping out. You can’t control yourself. Yet the best way to listen to Warpaint is to just lay in the dark in a room with your headphones in so you can hear everything so clearly. Theresa’s guitar on this is heavenly. It’s astounding. From 4.44, HOLY HELL! Emily’s voice, Stella’s drums, Theresa’s guitars and Jenny’s bass just come alive. They reach a point where you are stunned. Jaw dropping, euphoric and electrifying. I just don’t think a song has done anything like this to me in such a long time. The way the vocals are layered over each other and the music is so, I hate the word, but it is so “dreamy.” It’s a dreaming state. That’s the only way to describe it.

So there you have it, over a thousand words to describe how this one song just stole my heart. How one song has affected me in a way that I’m not sure even I understand. The album has done something to me that I only thought Morrissey and The Kills could. But Warpaint? Oh Warpaint, you have caused a whirlwind in my heart, body, mind and soul. You’ve given me faith in music and maybe in myself.

I will leave you with this version of Undertow that won so many hearts last summer, enjoy!