Like a lot of music enthusiasts, I am incapable of just enjoying a song.
If I think a song is good, it will be played at every conceivable moment until it is overplayed and cannot listen to it anymore.
This is a blessing and a curse.
This month, my obsession is with the song Dylan Thomas by Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst from their collaborative album Better Oblivion Community Centre.
Dylan Thomas undoubtedly has Phoebe's touch: the lyrics, that are deeply complex and allegorical, float on top of a buoyant rhythm and melody that works to disguise the catastrophic meaning of the song.
In true Bridgers style, this song can either make you dance or contemplate life, depending on your mood and the way you chose to listen.
Politcs has become something of a spectacle
Bridgers and Oberst use Dylan Thomas to relish in the chaos that shrouds modern politics.
In the first verse, the pair sing about watching a general speak at some sort of political event. Their view of the speaker, however, is blocked by banners and a cloud of confetti and blaring anthems make it difficult to hear.
The lyrics allude to the idea that politics has become something of a spectacle. It is more about the performance than what is being said.
And what is being said creates no further clarity as in the next few lines the pair sing that, “the truth is anybody’s guess."
In the modern world, politicians bend the truth so often that it has become impossible to detect what is a lie and what is not. The upbeat atmosphere of the song adds to the sense that we accept, in a rather blasé way, that we are being lied to.
There is a glimmer of hope, however, in the solidarity conjured by the blend of their voices singing side by side. It gives a sense of hope that this chaos of modern politics can be fought.