Music Review: The 1975 "Chocolate"

The 1975

Chocolate

Album: The 1975

Year: 2013

       Matthew Healy dreams of escaping his hometown in the ambitious “Chocolate”

        Buoyant synths open the single, setting a light-hearted tone. His friend dangles a cigarette in his mouth. Healy waits for him to say his line, his usual joke whenever he smokes. His friend tells him they’ll run away to France or Sweden, a place where people don’t know who they are. They can start over somewhere else and be themselves. It’s the one thing they have both held onto since middle school. (“Hey now call it a spliff 'cause you know that you will/Oh you bite your friend like chocolate/You say, we'll go where nobody knows, with guns hidden under our petticoats/No we're never gonna quit it, no we're never gonna quit it no.”)

        They are the first to be suspected whenever someone has done something wrong. After so long, he’s begun to question his friendships. He has started to wonder if maybe the adults are right about him. He’s has gotten more careful with what he says. It has made him self-conscious. (“Now run, run away from the boys in the blue, and my car smells like chocolate/Hey now I think about what you do, I think about what they say, I think about how to think/Pause it, play it, pause it, play it, pause it.”)

      In the chorus, they are the outcasts. Since they are dressed in black, people automatically assume they are troubled and criminals. (“Oh we go where nobody knows, with guns hidden under our petticoats/No we're never gonna quit it, no we're never gonna quit it no/Yeah we're dressed in black from head to toe, we've got guns hidden under our petticoats/No we're never gonna quit it. no we're never gonna quit it no/Now you're never gonna quit it, Now you're never gonna quit it/Now you're never gonna quit it/If you don't start smoking it, that's what she saidShe said we're dressed in black, head to toe, with guns hidden under our petticoats/And we're never gonna quit it, no we're never gonna quit it no.”)

          They are running up the hill. For a minute or so, he’s enjoying himself and being young. His friend spots a lonesome guy sitting on the bench. They decide to find a bush and spy on him. (“Hey now we're building up speed as we're approaching the hill/My hair smells like chocolate/Hey now you say you're gonna quit it but you're never gonna quit it/Go get it, go get it, go get it, go get it, go/And play it cool!”)

            A second chorus is sung. (“Oh and you said we go where nobody knows, with guns hidden under our petticoats/No we're never gonna quit it, no we're never gonna quit it no/Yeah we're dressed in black, from head to toe, we've got guns hidden under our petticoats/We're never gonna quit it, no we're never gonna quit it no.”)

            In the bridge, a man walks up to the lonesome guy. Healy gets an awful feeling and says they should go back home. He’s noticed some federal police cars parked on the other side of the street. He tells his friend to text Rebecca. She would know what to do in their situation. (“Well I think we better go/Serious you better go/Said the feds are here you know/Serious you better go, oh oh/Well I think we better go/Said the feds are here you know/Said Rebecca better know/Serious you better go/Well I think we better go/Serious you better go/Said the feds are here you know/Serious you better go, oh oh/Well I think we better go/Said the feds are here you know/Said Rebecca better know/Serious you better go.”)

            A third chorus is sung. (“We go where nobody knows, guns hidden under our petticoats/No we're never gonna quit it, no we're never gonna quit it no/Yeah we're dressed in black from head to toe, guns hidden under our petticoats/We're never gonna quit it, no we're never gonna quit it no/No no no.”)

          The bridge is sung once to end the single.

          Healy’s nervous vocals jump at every little thing, scared of being caught. Whether it’s from love or society, it’s entirely up to intrepretation. Something is going on with him, it’s confusing as to what it is. It relies too much on the “we’re never gonna quit it” lyrics to carry the main idea of the single.

       The  ambivalent “Chocolate” has several things going on, garbling its message.