By Callum Wilsie
WHO REALLY CARES
Who Really Cares is a 2016 indie pop album by San Diego band TV Girl. It has lots of unique features that make it stand out from other indie pop albums– its use of various and seemingly random samples, and its dreamy sound, to name the main two. In the past few years Tv Girl has become more popular again, and I decided to check it out.
I listened to Who Really Cares, and pretty much instantly fell in love with it. After a couple more listens, I started actually paying attention to the lyrics, and something occurred to me. Who Really Cares is not just any album. It’s a concept album.
WHAT IS THAT, EXACTLY?
A concept album is an album that is meant to be thought of as a storyline. Concept albums’ storylines can be loosely woven and out of order, or they can contain very obvious storylines and meanings. I think that Who Really Cares is the latter.
OH, WELL, WHAT’S THE STORY THEN?
Well, this is just a theory. But I think that Who Really Cares follows the journey of the main character; an unnamed guy who for the purpose of this article I will refer to as TV Guy. TV Guy is the main voice in the album– the deeper voice that isn’t pitched higher.
TV Guy was dating a girl, who is represented by the pitched-up voice in the album, but they broke up because he was always more interested in her body than her personality. The girl is totally over him, while he’s still hung up on her. The girl sleeps around, but eventually settles on one new boyfriend. This album follows the journey of TV Guy as he attempts to get over the breakup and eventually realizes he was the problem.
PROOF
“Taking What’s Not Yours”, the first track, sets up the whole plot perfectly. It sets the scene: a lonely guy thinking about his ex, and how he’s got so many things of hers still in her apartment.
“Song About Me” is partly the girl’s perspective, who we learn may be named Maddie. This song is about TV Guy being depressed and writing an album about the girl (who I’ll refer to as Maddie from now on, because that name comes up at least twice in the album.) Maddie isn’t impressed, and basically tells him that he’s being unreasonable and that he’s the problem.
Lyric example:
Yeah, I heard your song but I wasn’t impressed / So you got your feelings hurt, now you’re feeling depressed
“Cigarettes Out the Window” begins TV Guy’s reflection on his past relationship with a girl named Liddy. This may either be the same girl as Maddie, with a different nickname, or him reflecting on an entirely different relationship altogether. The sample that is used in this song supports the idea that his past partners don’t care about him, and know he was the problem, despite him not knowing it himself.
(“We’ll find moonlit nights strangely empty because when you call my name through them, there would be no answer.” “Rather melodramatic, aren’t you?”)
In “Till You Tell Me To Leave” and “Not Allowed”, TV Guy longs for Maddie, trying fruitlessly to get her to come back. Instead of acknowledging these efforts, Maddie sleeps around with various other people in “(Do The) Act Like You Never Met Me” and “Safeword.”
TV Guy begins to get angry that his efforts aren’t working, talking about how much energy he put into Maddie only for it all to be pointless. In “For You” he sings about this.
Lyric example:
(I used up all this latent energy for you / Tell me, was everything you ever said to me just for you?)
He blames her for all that went wrong. Meanwhile, Maddie has found a solid new relationship. TV Guy finds this out.
The next song, “Loving Machine”, shows TV Guy bitterly commenting on his ex’s new relationship.
Lyric Example:
(Maddie Klein sure loves her little loving machine / Sometimes he holds her hand too tight / Ooo, but that’s alright) (When he gets obsolete, she can always just throw him away / And get a new one).
TV Guy knows it’s over now, and is left to reflect on his own faults.
The conclusion of the album, “Heaven Is A Bedroom”, shows TV Guy has accepted the end of the relationship. He recognises he had a part of it, and needs further improvement. He still thinks about Maddie, but for now is letting her go. It’s a bittersweet ending to a beautiful album.
Not everyone will agree with this theory, but the album is fun to listen to under these lenses. And if you haven’t heard the album all the way through in order, you should. It’s magical.
beniciapaw.com 