Music Review: Chris Wallace "Keep Me Crazy"

Chris Wallace

Keep Me Crazy

Album: Push Rewind

Year: 2013

            Chris Wallace enjoys his girlfriend’s manic episodes in the sophomoric  “Keep Me Crazy.”

     Ecstatic guitars open the single, setting a delighted tone.  If it weren’t for the fact that she would sit by him and read, he wouldn’t ever think she liked him. Mostly, whenever he tried to talk to her she would grumble and shrug her shoulders. After he got the hint, he learned that she was a good person. Even with six months of dating, he isn’t entirely sure what she’s thinking half the time. He can only guess and hope he’s right. He adds that they have sex regularly. There’s a part of him that thinks that maybe something is off with her. However, he prefers not to dwell on it. (“You were an angel on the run/That I caught somehow /I tried so hard to figure you out/But baby you're a pretty little mystery/That makes no sense to me/You got me stayin’ up all night, burnin’ inside/The voices in my head won’t quit/I may be losin’ my mind and goin’ insane/But I put up with your... ha ha.”)

        In the pre-chorus, every date with her is different. Some nights, she’s willing do everything. Other nights she will complain endlessly. She whips the spoon around as she talks, emphasizing her words. He just backs away and tries to stay out of range. He reasons that’s it just how she is. (“And it's a wild ride/Every single night/Even the worst of times/Are the best of times/Got me singin'”)

        In the chorus, she likes to drink Jack Daniels with her dinner. She’ll pop open the bottle, hand one him and suck hers dry before the spaghetti is off her plate. She drives fast. He’ll see the police cars lights flash and wonders if they are going to get a ticket. But they always seem to be heading towards somewhere else. She has mood swings and gets upset easily. But around her, he feels fun and energetic. The drama of their fights excites him. (“Sunday dinner with a bottle of Jack/Drive around town, like a heart attack/Baby you’re a mess, but it's meant to be/Cause you keep me crazy/Tell me you love me and everything's alright /57 seconds and you start a fight/Baby somehow you're the one I need/Cause you keep me crazy.”)

          She slammed the door, telling him she won’t ever come back. This has happened over and over again. By5 am, his cell phone will be ringing and it’ll be her. She’ll tell him that she didn’t mean it. He can only laugh when she says it now and wait by the phone. (“Another little fight/You say you're done/We'll see about that when the mornin’ comes/Cause first you're out then you're right back in/Here we go again.”)

            The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

           She makes sure his life is never boring. There’s always a story to tell. His friends ask what’s going on with their relationship, wanting to hear the latest. He’s incredibly happy to be able to lead the conversation instead of casually drinking his beer, wishing he had something to say. (“Oh you keep me crazy/So much that I want more/You're just the lunatic I've been lookin' for/Oh you keep me crazy/So much that I want more/You're just the lunatic I've been lookin' for/You got me singin'”)

          The chorus is sung again to close the single.

         Wallace’s buffoonish vocals wave away the questions people are asking him about her. They wonder if she has a disorder and hasn’t told him or even if she’s been diagnosed at all. Something wrong’s and he doesn’t really seem to care or want to listen. She likes him, which is enough. People find him more interesting because of her. Somehow, it ends up being more with how the relationship benefits him than any true feelings.

            It’s hinted that she’s bipolar and outright says she’s psycho. A mental disorder is. It’s unfortunate, given how much bipolar is talked about nowadays, that it’s reduced to a joke. It hardens the stigma even more. Somehow, it tries to right itself by doing nothing. The crazy metaphor is taken further than it should have been.

            The emasculated “Keep Me Crazy” is in love with love, afraid to lose the only person who has ever shown any interest.