Naked, vulnerable and self aware, the 1975 expose their inner psyche in new song “Part of the band”
With frontman Matt Healey deep into his sobriety after receiving equine therapy in Barbados it appears he has more of an insight into himself and what it is to be a member of a band.The drugs, the success, the sacrifice. The lyrics nod to his embarrassment with his few relapses with heroin “So many cringes in the heroin binges, I was coming off the hinges”.
The relationship one has with others when the are at war with themselves is usually a toxic one. The lyrics “And I fell in love with a boy, it was kinda lame I was Rimbaud and he was Paul Verlaine” are interpretational. It both nods to Healey’s experience ‘kissing beautiful men’ and thus the slight fluidity in his sexuality but also to the turbulent relationships he has with the band and himself. There is an abundance of fierce and feral love in our lives.It is difficult to navigate certain scenarios when we dress them the way we want them to look and when we can’t dress them but can’t leave some may cope by turning to substance abuse.
The coercive relationship between doing what we love and doing what we need can leave us in agony. When we haven’t quite made it to where we want to be and we are forced to take the route in the opposite direction, its as though our limbs are torn from us and we are left to get on with it. We have to do the expected or be extraordinary, how do you become extraordinary if you have to do as you’re told?
The single is both satirical and personal, exposing the politics in people’s lives. Who’s is to say what is wrong or what is right? Just because someone is telling you what to do does not mean it is what you should do. It is easy to be offended by individualism when we do not agree with it. If someone acts or looks defy what we have already worked to understand we defy their identity, their ideals. We have to self reflect, we have to be better, not to be “woke” or to avoid being cancelled, but because it is best for humanity when we work to understand one another.
The final line of “Part of the band” is cutting. It will resonate with those who have suffered an addiction whether this be to a substance or to a person. It reassures us that things take time, that there is a both a daily struggle and nightly joy when yet another moon has gone by and you have not sent a text or injected, smoked, snorted or drank. You have breathed clean air, you have reflected, you have screamed and you have sang and you will survive tomorrow. And in Healey’s words ” it’s just not cool to be a heroin addict, is it? [Young people] don’t look up to junkies. I don’t look up to junkies”.
If you or anyone you know needs help ending drug use please consult these websites or speak to a health professional. In an emergency call 999.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support/drug-addiction-getting-help/
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