Being inspired by tons of different artists and fusing genres together is what I have the most fun doing when writing a song. — Anastasia of NYC-based band Tchotchke
Worlds by Jason Lee; Cover photo by Taryn Segal
We just gotta ask: what is it with all these jerkface, flaky, noncommittal guys getting some of the best and most majestic songs of all time written about ‘em and by some of the best female artists of their respective times too like, for example, some total putz just ups and leaves Mary Weiss ’round about 1964 who responds by recording one of the most aching songs about heartache ever created, “Remember (Walkin’ In The Sand)”, while scoring the Shangri-Las’ their first big hit in the process and who cares if Shadow Morton wrote it cuz Mary made it totally her own with devastating delivery of lines lamenting how her “baby went away” with all the tragic bearing of Desdemona as the other Shangri-Las add equally tragic-sounding “ooh-ooh-ahhs” over the funeral-procession piano chords…
..that is until the “oh no oh no no no noooo” breakdown part enters after which the song abruptly jumps back in time as Mary is repeatedly urged to “REMEMBER!” by her sister and the beehived brunette twins who made up the rest of the Shangri-Las and boy does she remember walking in the sand, hand in hand, complete with seagulls squawking in the background all of which makes “Remember” one of the more innovative pop song arrangements of its day but it’ll tear your heart out all the same and to think it’s all being sung to some shitheel without deserving or earning it…
…and then there’s the guy in Blondie’s “In The Flesh” who flirts with Debbie Harry even tho’ the douchbag has got a serious girlfriend already (“hands off this one sweetie, this boy is mine!”) in one of the most swooningly forlorn yet sexy songs of the past 1,000 or so years and seriously what kinda dude leads on Debbie “freakin” Harry like that with the “shitheel subgenre “perhaps not reaching its apotheosis ’til the ‘90s with the collected works of TLC in instructive songs ranging from “Creep” to “No Scrubs” with the latter at last holding these sort of dudes to account…
**************
…and now after 25 years we got the next worthy entry in the canon of perfect songs about deeply imperfect romantic partners in waiting with Tchotchke’s “Did You Hear?” checking all the necessary boxes from sparkly pop hooks to opulent three-part harmonies and an arresting arrangement besides–a compelling song to listen to on a purely sonic level even if you don’t know what the heck they’re talking about which is a guy so flaky and noncommittal it leads our hero to wonder aloud “Will he ever really love me?” despite “what he did to me” as devout fervor that if he heard “Did You Hear?” it’d make the new pope reconsider his vows if only to go if he heard the song somehow, yet inexplicably the guy being sung to won’t take the bait apparently…
…with Anastasia (who also plays drums) backed by Eva (who also plays bass) and Emily (who also plays guitar) as she asks us (these girl group-type songs commonly address the listener as a trusted confidant) to “don’t repeat this, please” to which we offer our apologies in advance as Ana goes on to elaborate on the subject of “what he did to me” regarding which she can’t stand the shame thus leading one of the other Tchotchkes to inquire yo what’s the word (call-and-response is big in girl groups songs) to which Anastasia replies that he’s been playing it cool, and that she’s no fool, what with him never asking her yo what’s the word anymore all sung over a bouncy, bright ‘n’ spritely musical backing…
…and that’s what makes this such a perfect example of the genre cuz even as the narrator reveals some rather troubling facts about both the dudetski in question (“it’s always someone new / he’s gonna hurt her too”) and about her own complicity in this co-dependent what-appears-to-be-a-situationship (“it’s nothing new / he does this all the time / I stick around / because everyone lies”) all of which is impressively clear-headed and forthright whereas the music itself (ditto the vocal harmonies) is anything but clear-headed but more like the sound of a butterfly tripping on MDMA it’s so light and fizzy (in the best sense) yet starkly vivid and blissed out sounding…
…with its yearning melodies and super-cute arrangement which gives the listener a much clearer picture of how truly in love the song’s narrator is despite everything and there’s even a Baroque, Beatlesque harpsichord section right in the middle and it wouldn’t surprise us to hear if the Lemon Twigs produced this single as they did Tchotchke’s first full-length but either way we gotta begrudgingly give it up to the total jerkface who inspired this cotton candy confection of a song…