There’s a line in Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” (see: inescapable radio hit of March 2012) where she sings, “Before you came into my life/I missed you so bad”, which I find a strangely profound thought in such an otherwise boppy, playful song (one that Justin Bieber absolutely loves, in case you hadn’t heard). The line captures something about that weird feeling of rightness upon finding something or someone that simply works for you. Balance restored, and all that. Robyn sings about a similar feeling in 2011’s “Call Your Girlfriend”, saying “Don’t you tell her that I give you something/That you never even knew you missed...” She’s even more reluctant than Carly to name exactly what it is that was missing, though we all have our guesses.
Philosophical conundrum aside (as in, how can you miss what you can’t perceive, UGH), these two ladies fleetingly mention something genuinely interesting. Is
this a particularly 2012 thing, this longing for what we don’t quite have,
this sense of dissatisfaction that comes with having incredible access to the
world through your screen but not being able to physically touch it? Or am I overthinking it and it's actually just human nature and you're saying to yourself, "Man, what is this, a Grade 11 Media & Culture Studies class in 2005?"
It’s hard to say. But as Carly and Robyn know, you can
certainly recognize a real thing (minor or major) when you stumble onto it, as
vague as that sounds.
A minor example for you from my life: I found THIS today.
Not only did I immediately “get” Matthew & the Atlas,
they get me. And even if I wasn’t specifically thinking, “Please, universe,
give me a mash-up between The Decemberists, Civil Wars and Mumford & Sons,
STAT”, the universe obliged and made me click on it and now I feel like I have
a new friend x 5.
See? Minor example. But real nonetheless.
And also don’t get me started on books as friends. That’s a
whole other discussion.
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